Ethnic groups of Argentina

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Argentina has a racially and ethnically diverse population. The territory of what today is Argentina was first inhabited by numerous indigenous peoples. The first white settlers came during the period of Spanish colonization, beginning in the 16th century. The Spaniards imported African slaves, who would go on to become the first Afro Argentines. Following independence from Spain in the 19th century and well into the 20th century, numerous migration waves took place, with Argentina being the second most popular destination for migrants in the early 20th century, after the United States. Most of these migrants came from Europe. Most modern day Argentines are descendants of these 19th and 20th century immigrants, with about 97% of the population being of full or partial European ancestry, while an estimated 56% have some indigenous or mestizo ancestry, In the , some 955,032 Argentines (2.38% of the population) identified as indigenous or first generation descendants of indigenous peoples, while 149,493 (0.37% of the population) identified as Afro Argentine. In addition, Argentines of Arab (mostly Syrian and Lebanese) descent constitute a significant minority, and the Jewish population is the largest in all Latin America and the seventh largest in the world. In the formative years of the Argentine Republic, a period marked by efforts to foster national unity and identity, assimilation played a significant role in shaping the cultural landscape. This phenomenon particularly influenced immigrant groups, including the Syro Lebanese, encouraging them to ideologically self identify as "Argentine." The term "Argentine" during this period predominantly connoted a Spanish speaking, Catholic, and fair skinned national identity. Author Ibrahim Hallar, a Lebanese Argentine, delves into this complex interplay of assimilation and identity in his 1963 work, "El gaucho." Hallar notes that, during this era, the pressure to assimilate was evident, with certain immigrant groups being more encouraged to blend in than others. According to Hallar, only Spaniards, Italians, and Lebanese were perceived as having mixed with the native population. Civantos (2006) provides a critical analysis of Hallar's assertions, pointing out that grouping Lebanese together with the Spanish and Italians who intermarried and had offspring implies Hallar's Lebanese community's claims to European ness, and perhaps more explicitly, to whiteness. The assimilation process, as observed by Civantos, becomes a nuanced journey wherein the Syro Lebanese community strategically positions itself within the broader Argentine identity spectrum. Indigenous peoples continue to have significant populations in the country's north west (Quechua, Diaguita, Kolla, Aymara); north east (Guaraní, Mocoví, Toba, Wichí); and in the south or Patagonia
(Mapuche, Tehuelche). Asian peoples have increasing minorities in some Buenos Aires neighborhoods and are expanding to other large Argentine cities. More recent migratory flows have come from other Latin American countries, with Paraguayans, Bolivians, Peruvians and Venezuelans making up the bulk of Argentina's modern day immigrant communities.

Neither official census data nor statistically significant studies exist on the precise amount or percentage of Argentines of European descent today. The Argentine government recognizes the different communities, but Argentina's National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) does not conduct ethnic/racial censuses, nor includes questions about ethnicity. The Census conducted on 27 October 2010, did include questions on Indigenous peoples (complementing the survey performed in 2005) and on Afro descendants. Over 80% of the Argentine population, per the 1914 Census, were immigrants, their children or grandchildren. The Hotel de Inmigrantes, built in 1906 to accommodate the 100,000 to 200,000 yearly arrivals at the Port of Buenos Aires, was made a National Historic Monument.

Italian immigration to Argentina began in the 19th century, just after Argentina won its independence from Spain. Argentine culture has significant connections to Italian culture, in terms of language, customs and traditions. Italians became firmly established throughout Argentina, with the greatest concentrations in the city of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Province, Santa Fe Province, Entre Ríos Province, Córdoba Province, Tucumán Province, La Pampa Province, and the nearby country of Uruguay. There are many reasons for the Italian immigration to Argentina: Italy was enduring economic problems caused mainly by the unification of the Italian states into one nation. The country was impoverished, unemployment was rampant, certain areas were overpopulated, and Italy was subject to significant political turmoil. Italians saw in Argentina a chance to build for themselves a brand new life. The Italian population in Argentina is the third largest in the world, and the second largest (after Brazil) outside of Italy, More than 20 million people (47% of Argentina's population according to Argentine government websites). Italians form a majority of the population of Argentina and neighboring Uruguay: up to two thirds have some Italian background. Among Latin American countries, only Brazil has more people of Italian descent (28 million, approximately 15 percent of Brazil's total population).

Croats number of 200,000 in Argentina, settling primarily in Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Chaco, and Patagonia. At the turn of the 19th 20th centuries, there were over 133 settlements. Many Croatian Argentines can trace their ancestry to Dalmatia and the Croatian Littoral. Many Croats came after Nikola Mihanovich developed the merchant marine.

German immigration to Argentina occurred during five main time periods: pre–1870, 1870–1914, 1918–1933, 1933–1940 and post–1945. Argentina and Germany have long had close ties to each other. A flourishing trade developed between them as early as the German Unification, and Germany had a privileged position in the Argentine economy. Later, Argentina maintained a strong economic relationship with both Germany and Great Britain and supported them with supplies during World War I. There are around 50,000 German descendants living in Buenos Aires. After the United States and Brazil, Argentina is among the nations with the largest number of German descendants in the world, together with Australia, Canada, South Africa and France. They arrived in the 19th century and then before and after World War II. Their arrival continued over an extended period, from the middle to end of the 19th century, until 1960 of the 20th century. Germans, Swiss, Belgian, Luxembourg and French people founded the Colony of Esperanza, establishing the first agricultural colony and then founding others. The influence of their culture has also impacted Argentine cuisine; this trend is especially apparent in the field of desserts. The pastries known as facturas are Germanic in origin: croissants, known as medialunas ("half moons", from German "Halbmond"), are the most popular of these, and can be found in two varieties: butter and lard based. Also German in origin are the "Berliner" known as bolas de Fraile ("friar's balls"), and the rolls called piononos. The facturas were re christened with local names given the difficult phonology of German, and usually Argentinized by the addition of a dulce de leche filling. That was also the case with the "Kreppel", called torta fritas in Argentina, which were introduced by German immigrants, and similarly with the "Achtzig Schlag" cake, translated as torta ochenta golpes. In addition, dishes like chucrut (sauerkraut) and many different kinds of sausage like bratwurst have made it into mainstream Argentine cuisine. More than 7% of Argentines are of German descent. Over 2 million ethnic Germans in Argentina are of Volga German descent. and 1,000,000. Argentina is the home of the fifth largest Irish community in the world.

after the First World War, between 1925 and 1930, and settled mainly in Buenos Aires, Berisso and Rosario.

From 1888 to 1890, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was literally overwhelmed by a transatlantic migration wave, the so called "Argentinienfieber", literally ‘Argentine fever’. In less than two years, more than one thousand Luxembourgers representing 0.5 per cent of the entire population decided to emigrate to Argentina.

The first organized immigration from the Netherlands occurred in 1889, when immigrants came from the area of Friesland. A second immigration took place around 1924. Most of them settled in Mar del Plata, Bahía Blanca, Comodoro Rivadavia, and Chubut.

n began in 1897 and had a decisive influence in the Argentine population. Between the two world wars (1918–1939) large numbers of Poles emigrated. They mostly settled in Llavallol, San Justo, Valentín Alsina, San Martin, and Quilmes. Between 1946 and 1950 around one hundred thousand Poles settled in the country.

There is a significant number of Russians in Argentina. Most reside in Buenos Aires and northeastern areas. The majority of them arrived between 1880 and 1921. Another small wave arrived in the country in early 1990. As of July 2023, more than 18,500 Russians have come to Argentina after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Ukrainian regular immigration to Argentina began in the 19th century. The first Ukrainian settlement in the country was in 1897. Subsequently, groups of immigrants settled in Buenos Aires, Misiones, Chaco, Corrientes, Formosa, Mendoza, Río Negro, and Entre Ríos. Estimates of the Ukrainian and/or Ukrainian descended population range from 300,000 to 470,000 people (the latter figure making Ukrainians up to 1% of the total Argentine population).

There are 1,300,000–3,500,000 Argentines whose ancestry traces back to any of various waves of immigrants, largely of Levantine cultural and linguistic heritage and/or identity. Most Levantine Argentines are from Lebanese background, originating mainly from what is now Lebanon. There are people from other Arabic speaking countries in lesser numbers. Most are Christians of the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic (Maronite) churches. The first Levantine settled in Argentina in the 19th century, and most who came during this time period were Lebanese. From 1891 to 1920, 367,348 people of Levantine heritage immigrated into Argentina.

The Mapuche (from the Mapudungún Mapuche autonym) are the largest indigenous people in the Southern Cone, inhabiting central and southern Chile and part of Argentina. Mapuche languages are spoken in Chile and Argentina. The two living branches are Huilliche and Mapudungun. Although not genetically related, lexical influence has been discerned from Quechua. Linguists estimate that only about 200,000 full fluency speakers remain in Chile. The language receives only token support in the educational system. In recent years, it has started to be taught in rural schools of Bío Bío, Araucanía and Los Lagos Regions. The Mapuche traditional economy is based on agriculture; their traditional social organization consists of extended families, under the direction of a lonko or chief. In times of war, the Mapuche would unite in larger groupings and elect a toki (meaning "axe" or "axe bearer") to lead them. Mapuche material culture is known for its textiles and silverwork.

The Toba, also known as the Qom, are an ethnic group of the Pampido people who live in the Central Chaco. Around the 16th century, they began to inhabit a large part of northern Argentina in what are now the provinces of Salta, Chaco, Santiago del Estero and Formosa.

Guarani People are distinguished from the related Tupi by their use of the Guarani language. The traditional area of distribution of the Guaraní people is found in several countries (Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina), within Argentina they mostly inhabit the Misiones and Corrientes Provinces of Argentina. In the Corrientes Province, Guaraní is a co official language. The Guarani had a great impact on Argentine culture, for example mate was consumed by the Guarani and Tupi peoples in pre colonial times. Other influences could be in the famous Argentine expression "che", which could come from the Guarani language, where "che irú" means "my companion".

Ava guaraní is the denomination currently adopted for a mixogenized indigenous culture guaraní arahuaca formerly better known as chiriguana', which is settled mainly in southern Bolivia, from where it expanded into western Paraguay and northwestern Argentina.

The Mbyá Guaraní, are a branch of the Guaraní people who live in Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. In the Argentine region of Misiones, Mbyá coexist, in the same familial communities, with members of the Xiripá Guaraní and Pai Tavytera groups. There are 120 such communities, known as tekoás, in the region, and there are approximately 11,000 Mbyá in Argentina as a whole. Two large communities in Misiones near Iguazu Falls, Fortin Mborore and Yriapú, are home to more than 2,000 people.

The Diaguita are a group of South American Indians from Chile's Norte Chico and northwestern Argentina. According to the 2010 census there are 67,410 self identified Diaguita descendants in Argentina.

They are a people who live in countries such as Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. In Argentina they are mostly located in the Corrientes, Jujuy and Catamarca provinces.

The Quechua people have historically inhabited from Ecuador to Argentina. The Quechua languages have and had a great impact on the Spanish dialects of the region. Words like "Cancha" (Stadium) or "Palta" (avocado) have their origin in Quechuan languages. According to the 2010 census, the Quecha People would be composed of 55,493 people only in Argentina. The 2010 National Population Census in Argentina also revealed that there are self identified Quechua people all over the country.

They are a people who have historically inhabited Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. In Argentina approximately fifty thousand people have identified themselves as Whichís.

Comechingón is the common name for a group of people indigenous to the Argentine provinces of Córdoba and San Luis. They were thoroughly displaced or exterminated by the Spanish conquistadores by the end of the 17th century. According to the 2010 census there are 34,546 self identified Comechingón descendants in Argentina.

The Aónikenk people, also referred to by the exonym Tehuelche, are an indigenous people from Patagonia in South America, with existing members of the group currently residing in the southern Argentina Chile borders. The 2010 National Population Census in Argentina revealed the existence of 27,813 people who considered themselves Tehuelche throughout the country, 7924 in the Chubut Province, 4570 in the interior of the Buenos Aires Province, 2615 in the Santa Cruz Province, 2269 in the Río Negro Province, 1702 in the city of Buenos Aires, 844 in the Mendoza Province, 738 in the Neuquén Province and 625 in the La Pampa Province.

The Mocoví are an indigenous tribe of the Gran Chaco region of South America. They speak the Mocoví language and are one of the ethnic groups belonging to the Guaycuru peoples. In the 2010 Argentine census, 22,439 people self identified as Mocoví.

In the 2010 Argentine census, 20,822 people self identified as Aymara. The Aymara people are an indigenous people in the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America; about 2.3 million live in Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Argentina. Their ancestors lived in the region for many centuries before becoming a subject people of the Inca in the late 15th or early 16th century, and later of the Spanish in the 16th century. Beginning with Spanish missionary efforts, there have been many attempts to create a writing system for Aymara. The colonial sources employed a variety of writing systems heavily influenced by Spanish, the most widespread one being that of Bertonio.

According to the 2010 census there are 3,658 self identified Querandí in Argentina.

According to the 2010 census there are 7,379 self identified Mbayá in Argentina.

The Ranquel or Rankülche are an indigenous tribe from the northern part of La Pampa Province, Argentina, in South America. According to the 2010 census there are 14,860 self identified Ranquel in Argentina.

The Selk'nam, also known as the Onawo or Ona people, are an indigenous people in the Patagonian region of southern Argentina and Chile. They were one of the last native groups in South America to be encountered by Europeans in the late 19th century. In the mid 19th century, there were about 4000 Selk'nam; by 1919 there were 297, and by 1930 just over 100. The exploration of gold and the introduction of farming in the region of Tierra del Fuego led to genocide of the Selk'nam perpetrated by the regimes of both states (Argentina and Chile). Joubert Yanten Gomez, a Chilean mestizo, has taught himself the language and is considered the only speaker; he uses the name Keyuk. According to Argentina's 2010 census, 696 people recognise themselves as descendants of the Selk'nam people, but they are mestizos and do not speak the Selk'nam language.

The Atacama people, also called Atacameño, are indigenous people from the Atacama Desert and altiplano region in the north of Chile and Argentina and southern Bolivia. According to the Argentine Census in 2010, 13,936 people identified as first generation Atacameño in Argentina. In the past they spoke a language known as Kunza, to day the Kunza language is an isolate extinct language once spoken Chile, Argentina and Bolivia who have since shifted to Spanish and Quechua, to a lesser extent. The last speaker was documented in 1949. However, there are elderly people who can remember the meaning of many words and a dictionary has been created with the intention of recovering them. Julio Vilte, a native of Toconao, was able to compile a vocabulary and publish a dictionary in 2004.

Since the 15th century, groups of African slaves were exported to Argentina. From the 16th century, most Africans brought to Argentina belonged to ethnic groups who speak Bantu languages, coming from the territories now comprising the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Mozambique. Many slaves of these countries were bought in Brasil, a country where most of the slaves were from these countries, especially from Angola. In 1680–1777 came at least 40,000 slaves in the region, while among the latter date and 1812, when traffic was halted, some 70,000 were landed in Buenos Aires and Montevideo (that figure must be added another, unknown, admitted slave overland from Rio Grande do Sul). Afro Argentines were up to a third of the population during colonial times, most of them slaves brought from Africa to work for the criollos. The 1813 Assembly decreed the Freedom of Wombs Law of 1813, which automatically freed slaves' children at birth, forty years later, in 1853, the abolition of slavery became law. Many Afro Argentines contributed to the independence of Argentina such as María Remedios del Valle who is known as "La Madre de la Patria" (mother of the fatherland in English) and Sgt. Juan Bautista Cabral. Also there is a debate, among the historians, as to whether or not Bernardino Rivadavia, the first president of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, was of African descent. A number of myths have surged to explain the apparent disappearance of Argentina's black population. One popular myth claims that during the Paraguayan War, thousands of black citizens were forcibly conscripted and used as front line soldiers, leading to large casualties that decreased the number of Afro Argentines. Historian George Reid Andrews retorts that composition of the Argentine Army in 1853 meant that only two battalions of blacks served in the war, and thus this could not have been the cause of the reduction of the Afro Argentine population. Recent historical studies suggest that that state led blanqueamiento policies and miscegenation with an increasignly white population and with indigenous people could be the real causes of this reduction in the Afro Argentine population. Censuses were used as a way of making black populations invisible, for example by creating new categories. Of the population of 40,117,096 in the 2010 national census, 149,493 (0.37%) self identified as Afro Argentine. According to genetic studies, Sub Saharan African admixture in Argentines is around 4%. have been attracted by Argentina's flexible migration policies. November 8 has been celebrated as the National Day of Afro Argentines and African Culture. The date was chosen to commemorate the recorded date for the death of María Remedios del Valle.

The first Asian Argentines were of Japanese descent, arriving in the 1900s. For most of the 20th century they were the only Asians in Argentina. Japanese immigrants were primarily from the island of Okinawa; the majority of dry cleaning establishments in Buenos Aires were, by the mid 20th century, Japanese businesses. During the 1970s the main Asian influx was from South Korea, and during the 1990s from Taiwan and Laos. Unlike most immigrants who arrived earlier in the century, they tended to remain in close social circles and not mix with other local ethnicities. This excluded the Japanese who were the first to arrive and therefore the first to produce a native generation of mixed race Japanese Argentines, thus integrating more so than the other Asian groups.

Argentine Koreans are the second largest Korean diaspora community in South America and the 16th largest in the world, according to the statistics of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Their population declined by more than 50% between 1997 and 2003. Despite the small rebound in their numbers since then, they have been surpassed in size by the rapidly growing Chinese Argentine community (which since the 1990s has been increasing non stop and is expected to become one of the biggest immigrant groups in Argentina, together with Paraguayan, Bolivian and Peruvian immigrants). In the 2010s decade, the Korean community in Argentina has fallen behind Korean communities in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Canada, Singapore, The United Arab Emirates and Southeast Asia.

Chinese Argentines are Argentine citizens of Chinese ancestry or Chinese born immigrants. The Chinese Argentine community is one of the fastest growing communities in Argentina. As of 2018, the community was made up of 200,000 people, the 0.45% of the Argentine population.

Among the most numerous immigrants from neighbouring countries are Paraguayans (the biggest foreign community), Bolivians, Peruvians, and in lesser number Ecuadorians and Brazilians. There have been reports of discrimination to these groups, as well as exploitation; Buenos Aires Police have released Bolivian citizens working in textile factories, some run by South Korean immigrants, others by Argentine businessmen and women. The former first lady, Mauricio Macri's wife Juliana Awada, was involved with illegal sweat shops, where Bolivian immigrants were treated as slaves. Uruguayans represent a special case; many have crossed the Río de la Plata to live in Argentina, mainly in Buenos Aires, searching for opportunities in the bigger country. Given their cultural resemblances with the porteños, they are rarely discriminated against.