El Sur del Sur: The present of Argentine people

El Sur del Sur
The Southernmost South

ARGENTINE PEOPLE OF TODAY

The great challenge awaiting the Argentinians in the next century is the balance of their demographic situation.

It is important to emphasize the quantitative growth in the urban centers. They increased from 589 in 1960 to 785 in 1991, basically in the Patagonia and the North-West. At the same time, there was a relative decrease in the population of the outskirts of Buenos Aires, the North-east, the Cuyo area and the Pampa region.

Death rate

One of the most important achievements of the country was the decrease of its child death rate, which followed the same decreasing tendency of the general death rate. As from 1914, it was reduced to a fourth.

1991 Census

The 1991 Census shows the intensification of the migratory process from the countryside to the cities. There are around 4,200,000 inhabitants in the rural area and 28,300,000 in the urban sector.

Indigenous population

Another significant point is the existence of about 500 indigenous populational groups in the country, amounting to a total 500,000 people.

Argentine people abroad

Another sector of the population (hardly ever taken into account) is the one made up by Argentinians living abroad. About 500,000 are estimated to live outside the country where they were born. The significance of this phenomenon lies in the fact that most emigres have a very high educational level.

The demographic future

According to some estimates, by 2000, the Argentine population will only reach the 40 millions, which will turn the country into one of the most uninhabited places in the planet, where the majority will live in urban centers and with a high educational level.

Those who foretell new populational relocations in the world state that Argentina will again become a choice when the time for immigration arrives.

The Way We Are

Table of contents

Surfing the South

webmaster@surdelsur.com