Post by geirr on Mar 27, 2004 1:59:18 GMT -5
Indefens said:
Geirr-Really? There are that many AmerIndian Argentinians? I don't know all the number I've seen have put Europeans at 97-98%. I put it at 90% because I thought it couldn't possible be THAT high, but all the pictures I've seen of Argentinians, they always looked really white to me. It's true that poverty and hunger have a way of changing appearance into something less recognizable, as was mentioned. Maybe that was it.
I've read that the number of illegal immigrants from neighbouring countries such as Bolivia, Peru and Chile is as high as 1 million, so many mestizos in Argentina are infact foreign giving a distorted picture of numbers of mestizos nevertheless I think you were being astute with your figure. Most official stats say that around 97% of Argentinians are of white European descent. You have to take into account that a proper census hasn't been done in Argentina for decades mainly because of the cost as well as political ramifications of finding out what the population really is. It's not just the level of amerindian/mestizos but levels of poverty and all round social conditions that many Argentinians truly face, it would have serious political consequenses for the Government of the day. Argentinians are well known for living in denial.
My educated guess is that there is a sizable number of full blood Amerindians living in the north particular in the Andean region probably about as high as 5% of the population. Mestizos would number between 10-15% of the population, a large number would consider themselves white because they either don't want to be seen as different or their racial identity does not affect their opportunities anyway. Argentinians are the world champions in the I'm whitier than you contest, it's a national passtime to convince your friends just how 'pure' european you are. Poverty and hunger are a relatively new thing to Argentina, the site of starving babies in the north and food riots in Buenos Aires is amazing when you consider that the country produces 7 times more food than what it needs, enough to feed the entire USA. Many of the whites look desheveled and gaunt because of the economic downturn, making them look darker than what they really are.
New outbreaks of Hunger in Latin America deals with the growing problem of poverty and hunger Latin America.
"In Argentina, a country that has been considered the "breadbasket of South America", half the population of 37 million lives in poverty, and 6.5 million people are indigent, although the numbers do not reflect the true scope of the food crisis. "