Demography of the Southern Cone

Population density of the Southern Cone by first level national administrative divisions. Population/km²

Southern Cone (Spanish: Cono Sur, Portuguese: Cone Sul) is a geographic region composed of the southernmost areas of South America, south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Although geographically this includes part of Southern and Southeast (São Paulo) of Brazil, in terms of political geography the Southern cone has traditionally comprised Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In the narrowest sense, it only covers Argentina , Chile and Uruguay.^[1]

The population of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay is 40, 16.8 and 3.6 million respectively. Buenos Aires is the largest metropolitan area at 13.1 million and Santiago, Chile has 6.4 million. When part of Southeastern Brazil is included, São Paulo is the largest city, with 19.8 million; in the Southern Brazil, the largest metropolitan area is Porto Alegre, with more than 4 million. Uruguay's capital and largest city, Montevideo, has 1.8 million, and it receives many visitors on ferry boats across the Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires, 50 km (31 mi) away. Asunción, Paraguay's capital city has a population of 2.1 million.

Ethnicity

As far as ethnicity is concerned, the population of the Southern Cone was largely influenced by immigration from Europe. Whites make up a majority, 80%, of the total population of Argentina, Chile,^[2][3][4] Uruguay and Southern Brazil.^[5][6][7] Mestizos make up 15.8% of the population, being a majority in Paraguay.^[8] Native Americans make up 3% of the population, and mulattoes (0.2%) and Asians (1.0%), mostly in Southern Brazil and Uruguay, the remaining 1.2%.^[9]

Argentina, along with other areas of new settlement like Canada, Australia or the United States is considered a country of immigrants^[10] and a melting pot of different peoples, both autochthonous and immigrants. Most Argentines are descendants of colonial-era settlers and of the 19th and 20th century immigrants from Europe, with 90% of the population being of European descent^[11][12] for generations, the majority of these immigrants came from Italy and Spain, as well as other European countries. An estimated 7% of the population are mestizo.^[11] The last national census, based on self-identification, counted about 600,000 Argentines (1.6%) of Amerindian heritage.^[13] A further 3-4% of Argentines were of Arabic or East Asian extraction.^[11]

Recent censuses in Brazil are conducted on the basis of self-identification. In the 2000 census, 53% of Brazilians (approximately 93 million people in 2000; around 100 million as of 2006) were white and 39% pardo or multiracial Brazilians. White is applied as a term to people of European descent (including European Jews), and Middle Easterners of all faiths. The census shows a trend of fewer Brazilians of African descent identifying as white people as their social status increases.^[14][15] Demographers estimate that of the Brazilians who classify themselves as White, as many as 15% have enough of a trace of African ancestry to be considered Black by methods used to classify groups in the United States.^[16]

In 2009, Chile had an estimated population of 16,970,000. Of which approximately 8.8 millions or 52,7% are white European, with mestizos estimated at 44%.^[2] Other studies found a white majority of 64% to 90% of the Chilean population.^[3][17] From Chile's various waves of immigrants Spanish, Italians, Irish, French, Greeks, Germans, English, Scots, Croats, and Palestinian communities. The largest ethnic group in Chile arrived from Spain and the Basque regions in the south of France. Estimates of the number of descendants from Basques in Chile range from 10% (1,600,000) to as high as 27% (4,500,000).^{[18][19] [20] [21] [22]} Furthermore, Chile is the country with the highest number of people of British origin in Latin America, which is reflected in certain costumes, habits and the historical good relation between Chile and Great Britain. In 1848 an important and substantial German immigration took place, laying the foundation for the German-Chilean community. The German Embassy in Chile estimated 500,000 to 600,000 Chileans are of German origin.^[23] Other historically significant immigrant groups include: Croatia whose number of descendants today is estimated to be 380,000 persons, the equivalent of 2.4% of the population.^[24][25] Other authors claim, on the other hand, that close to 4.6% of the Chilean population must have some Croatian ancestry.^[26] Over 700,000 Chileans may have British (English, Scottish and Welsh) origin. 4,5% of Chile's population.,^[27] Chileans of Greek descent are estimated 90,000 to 120,000.^[28] Most of them live either in the Santiago area or in the Antofagasta area. Chile is one of the 5 countries with the most descendants of Greeks in the world.^[29] The descendants of Swiss add 90,000,^[30] an estimated that about 5% of the Chilean population has some French ancestry.^[31] and 600,000 to 800,000 Italians.

In the case of Uruguay, the majority of the population is of Spanish and Italian descent. The indigenous populations are now extinct, yet retains a visible minority with mestizos and blacks making up 12% of the population.^[32]

Meanwhile, although the majority of the population of Paraguay is composed of mestizos (mixed European & Amerindian),^[33] the European contribution has impacted significantly. It is not uncommon for the admixture in their mestizos to lean more towards the European element, as opposed to a relatively equal amount of both in the rest of Latin America, and in some cases it is the only discernible element. This situation has led to the often contentious question on the proportion of white people. Paraguay has an undetermined number of unmixed White Europeans, as well as a visible Amerindian minority. The number of people of European descent in Paraguay is not greater than 20% and the vast majority of Paraguay is not inhabited by peoples of European descent, known as whites.^[2]

Genetic classification & Whiten ideology

Since interethnic marriages are widespread in Latin America, complex ethnic classifications emerged, including 16 "racial" categories created in 18th century Hispanic America, including "bizarre" terms like castizo, morisco, cambujo and ahí te estás. In Brazil, about 190 "racial" categories were detected by the Census of 1976.^[34]

The "whiten ideology" has deep roots in Latin America and on its racial classification. Blacks made up 25% of the population of Buenos Aires in 1810, 1822 and 1838. In 1887, the government decided to cease asking Argentine citizens about their race. According to Laura López, it was a way to "hide" the Black population, not only from the Census, but also from the public opinion.^[35] Nowadays, 87% of Argentines self-report to be "White".^[11] Chile does not ask its citizens about race, but some studies concluded that Whites make up the majority would exceed 52,7% to 64% of the Chilean population.^[2][17][36] Other study conducted by the University of Chile found that within the Chilean population 30% are white, the mestizos predominantly white ancestry is estimated at 65%^[37] while the CIA World Factbook describes 95.4% of the population as white and mestizo.^[38]

In the last years Brazil started to reverse this trend, mostly through incentives of the Brazilian government, like affirmative actions. While in the past most of the Brazilian population tended to identify themselves as "whites",^{[citation needed]} more recently many people are "migrating" from the White category to the Brown category in the Censuses. However, many of the Blacks self-report to be Brown in the Censuses, which reflects that the racism and stigma of being Black is still very strong in the country.^{[citation needed]} Historically, the African-descendant population was divided into gradations of skin color, which led to a huge number of racial categories.^{[citation needed]}

Different ethnic groups contributed for the composition of the population of the Southern Cone. The original population, the Amerindians, was in large part exterminated. As in the rest of Latin America, in the first centuries of colonization the region was settled by Spanish and Portuguese colonizers and most of them were men. Soon after their arrival, an intensive mixture between those European men and the local Amerindian women began, producing a new population named Mestizo in Hispanophone countries and Caboclo or Mameluco in Brazil. Amerindian ancestry is widespread in the region, mostly through the maternal line, while European ancestry is mostly found on the paternal line. African ancestry is mostly found in Brazil.

A genetic study concluded that the dominant female ancestry found in Argentina is of Amerindian origin (60% of Amerindian lineages found among Northern and Southern Argentines, and 50% among Central Argentines).^[39] A different study concluded that 56% of the European descent population in Buenos Aires have some degree of DNA indicating Amerindian ancestry, while 42% have European DNA in both parental lineages.^[40] Another study found that 2 million Argentines have a small variation of African ancestry and that 10% of the population of Buenos Aires have some degree in African DNA.^[41] In a sample from Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, Amerindian DNA was found in 20.4% of the population.^[42] The Chilean population low genetic studies "the use of mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome test results show the following: The European component is predominant in the Chilean upper class,^[43] the middle classes, 72.3%-76.8% European component^[43][44] and 27.7%-23.2 of mixed aboriginal^[43][44] and lower classes at 62.9%-65% European component^[43][44] and 37.1%-35% mix of Aboriginal.^[43][44]

In Southern Brazil, a sample conducted on Whites from this region found on the paternal side total (100%) European DNA, while on the maternal side European lineage was still predominant in 66% of people, while 22% of people had an Amerindian lineage and 12% had an African lineage.^[45]

Similar to the rest of Latin America, the genetic ancestry of the population of the Southern Cone reflects the History of the continent: the Iberian colonizers were mostly men who arrived without women. In consequence, they had children with the local Indian women or with African female slaves. The intense European immigration to this part of the World in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (particularly to Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Southern Brazil)^{[46][47] [48]} brought more European components to the local population (mainly Spaniards in Chile, Italians and Spanish in Argentina and Uruguay, while Italians and Germans in Southern Brazil and Southern of Chile).^[23][49] European immigration was encouraged by local governments, among other reasons, to "whiten" the local population, which reflected the scientific racism that considered the Amerindian and African elements "inferior", while the European element was seen as "superior".^[50] As a consequence, the White phenotype came to dominate these areas that received larger numbers of European immigrants. But the predominantly non-White majority before the mass European immigration did not disappear, of course, but was largely assimilated into the White population.

Genetic studies on Southern Cone populations

In Argentina the European ancestry is predominant, but with significant Native American ancestry, and the African contribution is present. According to a genetic study from 2009, the composition of Argentina is: 78,50% European, 17,30% Native American, and 4,20% SSA African.^[51] In Buenos Aires, a genetic study found out a 15,80% degree of Native American contribution and 4,30% of African ancestry. In the region of La Plata, the European, Native American and African contributions were, respectively, 67.55% (+/-2.7), 25.9% (+/-4.3), and 6.5% (+/-6.4). ^[52] As for the population of Mendoza, a genetic study found out the following autosomal composition for the population: 46,80% European, 31,60% Native American and 21,50% African.^[53]

The Chilean population is marked by the European and Native American ancestries, with a greater degree of European ancestry generally. A genetic study found out the composition of Santiago to be 57% European and 43% Native American. Concepción, another Chilean town, exhibited 65% European and 36% Native American ancestries. In Puerto Montt, the composition found was 53% Native American and 47% European. ^[54]

A genetic study from 2009, published by the American Journal of Human Biology revealed that the composition of Uruguay is mainly European, but with Native American (which varies from 1% to 20% in different parts of the country) and African (between 7% to 15% in different parts of the country) contributions. ^[55] The native american contribution in Uruguay was estimated to be at 10%, on average, for the whole population. This number rises to 20% in Tacuarembó and goes down to 2% in Montevideo. Native American mtDNA reaches 62% in Tacuarembó. ^[56] A genetic study from 2006 found out the following autosomal DNA results for Cerro Largo: 82% degree of European contribution, 8% of Native American ancestry and 10% of African contribution. On the maternal line, mtDNA, the results for Cerro Largo were: 49% European, 30% Native American, and 21% African. ^[57]

The Brazilian population has European, African and Native American contributions. The European is the most important, generally, among the "whites" and "pardos". African ancestry is greater among the "blacks". The Native American ancestry is present throughout Brazil, in "whites", "pardos" and "blacks", though in a lower degree. According to an autosomal DNA study from 2008, conducted by the University of Brasília (UnB), European ancestry is predominant in all regions of Brazil, accounting for 65,90% of the heritage of the population, followed by the African contribution (24,80%) and Native American ancestry (9,3%). ^[58] According to an autosomal DNA study conducted in 2011, with nearly 1000 "white" "pardo" "black" Brazilian samples, European ancestry is predominant in all regions of Brazil, with African and Native American contributions. According to this study, European ancestry accounts for 70% of the heritage of the population. .^[59] This study verified that Brazilians from different regions are genetically much more homogenous than some expected. ^[60] According to an autosomal study from 2010, published in the American Journal of Human Biology, European ancestry is predominant in Brazil, accounting for about 77% of the heritage of the whole population. ^{[61] [62]} The results also showed that physical features did not correlate well with ancestry in many instances.^[63] According to an autosomal DNA study from 2009, the Brazilian population as a whole exhibits a predominant degree of European ancestry, with African and Native American ancestries. ^[64]

Footnotes

1. ^ Steven, F. (2001). "Regional Integration and Democratic Consolidation in the Southern Cone of Latin America". Democratization (Routledge) 14: 75–100. ISBN 9789507380532. http://books.google.com/?id=npOUfgC8qkMC&pg=PA3&dq=%22cono+sur%22+chile+argentina+bolivia+peru+paraguay+uruguay. Retrieved 12 May 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Fernández, Francisco Lizcano (2007). Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI. ISBN 9789707570528. http://books.google.com/?id=LcabJ98-t1wC&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=chile+60%25+blancos+Esteva-Fabregat. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Argentina, como Chile y Uruguay, su población está formada casi exclusivamente por una población blanca e blanca mestiza procedente del sur de Europa, más del 90% E. García Zarza, 1992, 19.
4. ^ "Genetic epidemiology of single gene defects in Chile.". http://ukpmc.ac.uk/articlerender.cgi?artid=1352132. 
5. ^ SOCIAL IDENTITY Marta Fierro Social Psychologist.
6. ^ massive immigration of European Argentina Uruguay Chile Brazil
7. ^ Latinoamerica.
8. ^ Hoy en día la población paraguaya es mestiza prácticamente en su totalidad.
9. ^ Historia de las repúblicas de la Plata de Manuel González Llana
10. ^ Enrique Oteiza y Susana Novick sostienen que «la Argentina desde el siglo XIX, al igual que Australia, Canadá o Estados Unidos, se convierte en un país de inmigración, entendiendo por esto una sociedad que ha sido conformada por un fenómeno inmigratorio masivo, a partir de una población local muy pequeña.» (Oteiza, Enrique; Novick, Susana. Inmigración y derechos humanos. Política y discursos en el tramo final del menemismo. [en línea]. Buenos Aires: Instituto de Investigaciones Gino Germani, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, 2000 [Citado FECHA]. (IIGG Documentos de Trabajo, Nº 14). Disponible en la World Wide Web:http://www.iigg.fsoc.uba.ar/docs/dt/dt14.pdf); El antropólogo brasileño Darcy Ribeiro incluye a la Argentina dentro de los «pueblos trasplantados» de América, junto con Uruguay, Canadá y Estados Unidos (Ribeiro, Darcy. Las Américas y la Civilización (1985). Buenos Aires:EUDEBA, pp. 449 ss.); El historiador argentino José Luis Romero define a la Argentina como un «país aluvial» (Romero, José Luis. «Indicación sobre la situación de las masas en Argentina (1951)», en La experiencia argentina y otros ensayos, Buenos Aires: Universidad de Belgrano,1980, p. 64).
11. ^ ^{a b c d} Argentina
12. ^ "Argentina (People)". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ar.html#People. Retrieved 2008-08-08. 
13. ^ Encuesta Complementaria de Pueblos Indígenas
14. ^ Gregory Rodriguez, "Brazil Separates Into Black and White," LA Times, September 3, 2006. Note that the figures belie the title.
15. ^ Brazil Separates Into a World of Black and White | The New America Foundation
16. ^ Whitaker, Charles (1991). "Blacks in Brazil: the myth and the reality". Ebony. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_n4_v46/ai_9329550. 
17. ^ ^{a b} Genetic epidemiology of single gene defects in Chile.
18. ^ Diariovasco.
19. ^ entrevista al Presidente de la Cámara vasca.
20. ^ vascos Ainara Madariaga: Autora del estudio "Imaginarios vascos desde Chile La construcción de imaginarios vascos en Chile durante el siglo XX".
21. ^ Basques au Chili.
22. ^ Contacto Interlingüístico e intercultural en el mundo hispano.instituto valenciano de lenguas y culturas.Universitat de València Cita: " Un 20% de la población chilena tiene su origen en el País Vasco".
23. ^ ^{a b} German Embassy in Chile.
24. ^ Diaspora Croata..
25. ^ Splitski osnovnoškolci rođeni u Čileu.
26. ^ hrvatski.
27. ^ "Historia de Chile, Británicos y Anglosajones en Chile durante el siglo XIX". http://www.biografiadechile.cl/detalle.php?IdContenido=1673&IdCategoria=91&IdArea=488&TituloPagina=Historia%20de%20Chile. Retrieved 2009-04-26. 
28. ^ http://viajerosgriegos.ar.vg/
29. ^ Griegos de Chile
30. ^ 90,000 descendants Swiss and Chile.
31. ^ French chilean.
32. ^ CIA - The World Factbook - Uruguay
33. ^ CIA - The World Factbook - Paraguay
34. ^ Interethnic variability and admixture in Latin America - social implications
35. ^ Negros en el país: censan cuántos hay y cómo viven
36. ^ Esteva-Fabregat (1988), Book: El mestizaje en lberoamérica "a white majority that would exceed 60% of the Chilean population".
37. ^ "5.2.6. Estructura racial". La Universidad de Chile. http://mazinger.sisib.uchile.cl/repositorio/lb/ciencias_quimicas_y_farmaceuticas/medinae/cap2/5b6.html. Retrieved 2007-08-26. 
38. ^ World Fact Book Chile
39. ^ Amerindian mitochondrial DNA haplogroups predominate in the population of Argentina: towards a first nationwide forensic mitochondrial DNA sequence database.
40. ^ [1]Estructura genética de la Argentina, Impacto de contribuciones genéticas - Ministerio de Educación de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Nación.
41. ^ Casi dos millones de argentinos tienen sus raíces en el Africa negra
42. ^ Frequencies of the Four Major Amerindian mtDNA Haplogroups in the Population of Montevideo, Uruguay Human Biology - Volume 77, Number 6, December 2005, pp. 873-878
43. ^ ^{a b c d e} "El estrato socioeconómico alto se constituye mayoritariamente por una población caucásica y el estrato bajo por una mezcla de población caucásica 65% y amerindia 35% Revista médica de Chile". http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0034-98872002000800006&script=sci_arttext. 
44. ^ ^{a b c d} "Frequency of the hypervariable DNA loci D18S849, D3S1744, D12S1090 and D1S80 in a mixed ancestry population of Chilean blood donors M. Acuña1, H. Jorquera2, L. Cifuentes1 and L. Armanet3 1ICBM Genetic Program and Medical Technology School, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile". http://www.funpecrp.com.br/gmr/year2002/vol2-1/gmr0004_full_text.htm. 
45. ^ Frequency of Continent-Specific mtDNA Haplotypes in the Brazilian mtDNA Pool
46. ^ Juan Bialet Massé en su informe sobre "El estado de las clases obreras en el interior del país"
47. ^ SOCIAL IDENTITY Marta Fierro Social Psychologist.
48. ^ Etnicidad y ciudadanía en América Latina.
49. ^ A Imigração Alemã no Brasil
50. ^ RIBEIRO, Darcy. O Povo Brasileiro, Companhia de Bolso, fourth reprint, 2008 (2008).
51. ^ http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-1809.2009.00556.x/pdf
52. ^ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15754971
53. ^ http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B8JHP-4XK35CC-2&_user=10&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F2009&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1276960611&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=c73e774e961b3aeb20db6e46ece037fd
54. ^ http://www.fhuce.edu.uy/antrop/cursos/abiol/links/Artics/sans.pdf
55. ^ http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/108068634/abstract/
56. ^ "El discutido legado indígena en la sangre de los uruguayos" de Caterina Notargiovanni. Diario El País. Fecha: 12-04-2007.
57. ^ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16788895
58. ^ http://bdtd.bce.unb.br/tedesimplificado/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=3873
59. ^ http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0017063
60. ^ http://cienciahoje.uol.com.br/noticias/2011/02/nossa-heranca-europeia/?searchterm=Pena
61. ^ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19639555
62. ^ http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajhb.20976/pdf
63. ^ http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ciencia/ult306u633465.shtml
64. ^ http://www.alvaro.com.br/pdf/trabalhoCientifico/ARTIGO_BRASIL_LILIAN.pdf