Argentine Brazilian

Argentine Brazilian
Argentino-brasileiro  · Argentino-brasileño

Total population
(27,700 Argentine Brazilians)
Regions with significant populations
Mainly Southeastern Brazil
Languages
Rioplatense Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese
Religion
Predominaltely Roman Catholicism, Atheism and Agnosticism minorities
Related ethnic groups
White Brazilian, Argentine people

Argentine Brazilian (Portuguese: Argentino-brasileiro, Spanish: Argentino-brasileño, Rioplatense Spanish: Argentino-brasilero) is a Brazilian citizen of full, partial, or predominantly Argentine ancestry, or an Argentine-born person residing in Brazil.

After gaining its independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Argentina adopted an open immigration policy and encouraged immigrants to embrace the country as their own. For a short period at the end of the 1880s, the government went so far as to subsidize immigrant boat passages. It is estimated that the country received over seven million immigrants, predominantly from Spain and Italy, between 1870 and 1930.

Argentina proved attractive to many foreigners confronted with harsh economic conditions in Europe, they were drawn by the appeal of the New World and an underpopulated country rich in natural resources and employment prospects ranging from agriculture to factory work.

Argentina is witnessing an enormous increase in emigration, with Spain, Italy, the United States, Brazil, and Israel making up the main destinations, according to the country's National Migration Directorate. Analysts place the lion's share of the blame for increased emigration on the country's faltering economy.

According to National Migration Directorate estimates, in the past two and a half years Argentina has witnessed an exodus of 255,000 people, or roughly six times the total number of emigrants in the period 1993-2000.

History

For most of its history, Argentina has been characterized as a country of immigration. Yet global forces, combined with a recent history of economic, political, and social instability, have slowly transformed Argentina into a country of immigration, emigration, and transit.

Most recently, Argentina's economic collapse in 2001–2002 saw significant emigration flows of Argentine nationals and immigrants alike. According to the National Migration Directorate, remittances to Argentina reached $724 million in 2004, triple the 2001 figure. Some of this growth is attributable to improved calculation methods, but remittances to Argentina, as in the rest of the region, have increased remarkably. Remittances are used for a combination of basic needs, debt repayment, and investment purposes, although their primary uses in Argentina have not been thoroughly studied.

An estimated 255,000 nationals have emigrated in the past two and a half years, according to the National Migration Directorate. Although emigration from Argentina has been on the rise since the early 1990s, a sharp upward spike of this type is uncharacteristic for the country. Only during the 1976–1983 military dictatorship, which saw many students, intellectuals, artists, and left-wing activists flee brutal oppression, did Argentina previously see such significant emigration. In order to assimilate to Brazilian society, a majority of Argentine-Brazilians today only speak Portuguese, but in their homes they use the Spanish language privately.

Argentine people in the world

Brazil-Argentina border.

In the past five years, an estimated 300,000 people have left. An estimated 1,500,000 Argentines were living abroad as of March 2005, double the number from 1985. In 2004, 157,323 native-born Argentines were living in Spain, up from 64,020 in 1999. In Italy, the stock of Argentine citizens nearly doubled in the period 1999–2003, from 5,725 to 11,266. Canada has also seen a marked increase in Argentine immigration: up from 455 permanent residents in 2000 to 1,783 in 2003. More significantly perhaps, Argentina has risen in the ranks of top Latin American source countries to Canada, from 13th to 5th in that same time period. The United States is one country that has experienced an increase in Argentine immigration flows over the last decade, with over 60 percent living in just three states: California, Florida, and New York. The majority of permanent immigrants enter under family reunification provisions, whereas most temporary immigrants enter the United States as specialty workers, exchange visitors, and intracompany transferees.

Notable Argentine Brazilians

• Adriana Prieto
• Amaury Pasos
• Carolina Ardohain
• Claudio Slon
• Fernando Bengoechea
• Fernando Meligeni
• Hector Babenco
• João Paulo Cuenca
• Juan Darthés
• Leonardo Lucio Nascimento
• Miguel Rolando Covian
• Patricia Maldonado
• Renata Fronzi
• Sebastián Cuattrin

See also

• Argentina–Brazil relations
• Immigration to Brazil
• White Brazilian
• Argentine people