🇦🇷 Origins

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A walk through contemporary Buenos Aires would showcase Argentina’s rich immigration history for you.

Look to the classical European architecture evocative of Madrid or Paris rather than Mexico City or São Paulo. Look to the Argentinean take on the pizza, which many locals would tell you has surpassed its Italian ancestor. Look even to the descendants of Arab immigrants such as former president Carlos Menem.

Argentina’s history is in many ways the history of the immigrant, to an extent that rivals even other melting-pot countries like Brazil or the United States.

Yet immigration has changed over the years, reflecting the country’s appeal for certain nearby national groups.

Paraguayans have risen to become the top immigrant group in Argentina, numbering over half a million last year.

Despite Argentina’s economic uncertainty, the country’s more dynamic and diversified economy provides opportunities for many working-class Paraguayans seeking a better life. Similar language and a short transit back to home cities like Asunción or Ciudad del Este only sweetens the pot.

Other Andean and Southern Cone countries such as Bolivia, Peru, Chile, and Uruguay also serve as significant sources of Latin American immigrants to Argentina. Meanwhile, Spaniards and Italians, historically the largest immigrant populations in the country, have over the generations become a relatively small share of the total immigrant stock.

Let’s take a look at where all of them come from.

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