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Chileans

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This article is about the Chilean ethnic group. For information on the population of Chile, see Demographics of Chile. For Chilean nationality, see Chilean nationality law.
Chileans
Chilenos
File:Chilean People.JPG
Regions with significant populations
 Chile        16,763,470[1]
 Argentina212,429[2]
 United States113,934[3]
 Brazil65,000[4]
 Sweden42,396[5]
 Canada37,577[6]
 Australia45,000[7]
 Spain25,624[8]
 France15,782[9]
 Norway10,689[10]
 Germany10,280[11]
 United Kingdom5,131[12]
Languages
Chilean Spanish
Religion
Catholicism, Evangelical Protestantism, a minority are Eastern Orthodox, Jewish and Muslim.

Chilean people are natives of and long-term immigrants to Chile. Chileans are mainly of Spanish and Amerindian descent[13] with small albeit important degrees of 19th and 20th century European immigrant ancestry. There is a strong correlation between Chilean people's ancestry or ethnicity and socioeconomic situation: [14][15] a marked continuum[15] between the lower classes of high Amerindian ancestry and the upper classes of mainly European ancestry. Indigenous inheritage (cultural or genetic) is most visible in rural areas and in aspects of culture such as Chilean cuisine and Chilean Spanish. Although post-independence immigrants never made up more than 2% of the population, there are now hundreds of thousands of Chileans with German[16], British, French, Croatian, Italian or Palestinian[17] ancestry.

Most Chileans live in Chile but there are significant communities in Argentina[2] and the United States[3] among other countries.

Ethnic structure of Chile

Studies on the ethnic structure of Chile are non-conclusive and might vary significantly from one study to the next.

UNAM professor of Latin American studies Francisco Lizcano believes Chile has an estimated 52.7% of European, with Mestizos estimated at 44%.[18]

A study conducted by the University of Chile found that within the Chilean population 30% are white, the mestizos component of predominantly white ancestry is estimated at 65%.[19]

Another genetic study of the University of Chile, found a white majority that would exceed 60% to 64% of the Chilean population.[20][21]

Some publications such as the CIA Worldfact book cassify Chile's population as a combined percentage of 95.4% whites and mestizos.[22]

Ethnographic history of Chile

Rural population in the nineteenth century by Claudio Gay

Many indigenous groups inhabited Central and Southern Chile for 12,000 years; Of these, the Mapuche inhabited Central and Southern Chile until Spanish conquest. During the colonial period the Spanish crown found it necessary to maintain a continuous flow of soldiers to protect its distant American colonies. The Spanish came from all regions of Spain, especially from Andalusia, Extremadura, Basque Country, Asturias, Navarra and Castile. Many of them ended up settling in Chile after the Mapuche resistance to the Conquest.

In the government of Agustín de Jáuregui between 1777 and 1778 performed the first general census indicated that the population was 259,646 inhabitants and was composed of 73.5% whites, 7.9% mestizos, 8.6% Indians and 9.8% blacks. In 1784, Francisco Hurtado, Governor of the province of Chiloé, conducted a population census of Chiloe whereby the population was 26,703 inhabitants, of which 64.4% whites and 33.5% of natives.

Finally, in 1812, the Diocese of Concepción made a census of population, south of the Maule river, but not including the indigenous population (estimated at 8,000 people), nor the inhabitants of the province of Chiloé, which gave indicated a population of 210,567, of which 86.1% were Spanish and whites, 10% Indians and 3.7% of mestizos, blacks and mulattos.[23] Other estimates of the late 17th century indicate that the population reached only 152,000, which was composed of 72% of whites and mestizos, 18% Indians and 10% of blacks and mulattos.[24]

Along with the conquistadors arrived, from the beginning, African slaves, which constituted 1.5% of the national population in the early 19th century.[25] The Afro-Chilean population was negligible, reaching a high of 2,500 during the colonial period; their contribution is less than 0,1% the population.[26]

In the 18th century there is a massive immigration of Spanish civilians, mainly of Basque origin, attracted mainly by trade liberalization enacted by the Spanish Crown. The late 18th century the descendents of Basques estimated at 27% of the Chilean population. (18.1% Basques and 8.9% from Navarra).[27] Aim to become the regional group most important of the Chilean population, displacing the natives and their descendants born in the regions of New Castile, Old Castile and Andalusia, which were the major components of the Chilean population during the colonial period. Most of the Basque immigrants in the beginning were devoted to small businesses, although some of them did not take long to amass a fortune, then mixed with the Criollo aristocracy of Castilian origin, who owned the land. This new Castilian-Basque aristocracy which would form the basis of the Chilean ruling class.

In 1848 occurred a considerable immigration of Germans and French, German immigration was sponsored by the Chilean government for purposes of colonization to the southern regions of the country. These Germans (also Swiss and Austrians), significantly attracted by the natural composition of the provinces of Valdivia, Osorno, Puerto Varas, Frutillar, Puerto Octay, Puerto Montt and Llanquihue, settled on land donated by the Chilean government to populate the southern of Chile.[28] Also a large number of immigrants arrived in Chile after the First and Second World Wars. Today the descendants of these early immigrants live mostly in large cities, following the logic concentration of the population, a phenomenon observed in Chile since the 20th century.

Immigration after independence

Main article: Immigration to Chile
French immigrants[citation needed]

From Chile's various waves of immigrants Spanish, Italians, Irish, French, Greeks, Germans, English, Dutch, Scots, Croats, Russians, Poles, Hungarians and Portuguese . Also there is large Arab nationality (esp. the 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).[29][30][31] [32][33][34][35][36]

In 1848 an important and substantial German immigration took place, laying the foundation for the German-Chilean community. Sponsored by the Chilean government for the colonization of the southern region, the Germans (including German-speaking Swiss, Silesians, Alsatians and Austrians), strongly influenced the cultural and racial composition of the southern provinces of Chile. The German Embassy in Chile estimated 500.000 to 600.000 Chileans are of German origin.[37]

It is estimated that near the 5% of the Chilean population is of Asian origins, chiefly of the Middle East (i.e. Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese and Middle East Armenians), are around 800,000.[38] Note that Israelis, both Jewish and non-Jewish citizens of the nation of Israel may be included. Chile is home to a large population of immigrants, mostly Christian, from the Levant. Roughly 500,000 Palestinian descendants are believed to reside in Chile.[39][40][41][42][43]

Other historically significant immigrant groups include: Croatia whose number today is estimated to be 380,000 persons, the equivalent of 2.4% of the population.[44][45] Other authors claim, on the other hand, that close to 4.6% of the Chilean population must have some Croatian ancestry.[46] Over 700,000 Chileans may have British (English, Scottish and Welsh) origin. 4.5% of Chile's population.[47]

Puerto Varas in southern of Chile, colonized by Germans.

Chileans of Greek origin are estimated 90,000 to 120,000.[48] Most of them live either in the Santiago area or in the Antofagasta area, and Chile is one of the 5 countries with the most Greeks in the world.[49] The numbers of Swiss add 90,000[50] and it is estimated that about 5% of the Chilean population has some French ancestry.[51] 600,000 to 800,000 are Italians. Other groups of European descendants have followed, but are found in smaller numbers. They did transform the country culturally, economically and politically. European emigration in Chile and to a lesser extent, the arrival from Middle East, produced during the second half of the nineteenth and 20th centuries, was the most important in Latin America[52][53] after that occurred in the Atlantic Coast of the Southern Cone (i.e., Argentina and southern Brazil).[54]

Also, some of the different ethnic groups in Europe intermarried therefore diluting the distinct cultures, descent and identities of the home countries and fusing them together with each other as well as with that of the original Basque-Castilian aristocracy of the colonial period while at the same time preserving elements of them, to form the society and culture of the Chilean middle and upper classes.[30] Therefore they enjoy elements of the original European cultures, such as the British afternoon tea and biscuits, French casseroles and coffee, German cakes and sausage, and Italian pasta and mineral waters. This can be clearly in the architecture of the cities. They also look down on Chilean folk culture, as it is an offshoot of the culture of the Spaniards who settled the country in the colonial period.

Indigenous peoples

Main articles: Mapuche and Indigenous peoples in Chile
Depiction of a Mapuche man. Chile's indigenous people.

The 1907 census reported 101.118 Indians, or 3.1% of the total country population. Only those that practiced their native culture or spoke their native language were considered, irrespective of their "racial purity."[55]

At the 2002 census, only indigenous people that still practiced a native culture or spoke a native language were surveyed: 4.6% of the population (692,192 people) fit that description; of these, 87.3% declared themselves Mapuche.[56] although most show varying degrees of mixed ancestry.

Some native peoples of Chile disappeared product from acculturation and miscegenation, as is the case of peoples Picunches, Diaguitas and Chonos, whereas a large number of Selknam or Onas disappeared by the extermination carried out by Croatian and Scottish settlers in Tierra del Fuego in the early 20th century. Other factors that contributed to their extinction were diseases brought by white men, such as the smallpox.

Religions

Main article: Religion in Chile
File:Serrano2.jpg
Great Jewish Synagogue in Santiago
Catholic, 70%
Protestant or evangelical, 15.1%
Jehovah's Witnesses, 1%
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 0.9%
Jewish, 0.4% (75,000) [57]
Atheist or Agnostic, 8.3%
Others, 4.2%.
Less than 0.1% are either Eastern Orthodox (70,000) or Muslim (10,000).

*For the precise numbers of declared religions among the population ages 15 and over as indicated by the results of the latest census, see source *2002 Census data.

Culture

Main article: Chilean Culture
File:Rodeochileno1.jpg
Chilean rodeo, is unique to Chile and is one of the most popular sports in the country

The folk culture of Chile has mostly Spanish origins, especially the huaso culture of the central part of the country, as it arose in the colonial period due to cattle ranching. It could therefore be considered an offshoot of Spanish popular culture of the 17th an 18th centuries as are the folk cultures of the rest of Latin America and also, its direct descendents, Andalusian and Castilian folk cultures. The Andalusian forms in the huaso dress is apparent to Europeans and the music and dances show Spanish origins, even though both have been adapted and are distinct from dress, music and dance in Spain today.

The ranches called fundos, where the huasos lived and worked show strong similarity with Spanish vernacular architecture, especially in the canal roofs and the interior courtyards. The fundo is now thought of as traditional Chilean architecture and is associated with the huaso.

As well as the huaso culture of the central part of the country can be seen the German, Chilote, Croatian and Magallanic culture in the south, and the Andean culture in the north.

Chile's Nueva Canción movement in modern Chilean folk culture is adapted from the folk music of the north, not of the brass bands but of the panpipes and quenas. The traditional Chilean folk music of the huasos were also popularised, particularly the tonadas, folk songs sung with a guitar, mainly on the topics of love. Several folk groups who dress in huaso costume became famous nationwide.

The folk culture that is mainly associated with the Chilean national identity is that of the huasos as that is where the Chilean state was form and it spread northwards and southwards in the late 19th century.

Emigration of Chileans

Emigration of Chileans has decreased during the last decade: It is estimated that 857,781 Chileans live abroad, 50.1% of those being in Argentina (the highest number), 13.3% in the United States, 8.8% in Brazil, 4.9% in Sweden, and around 2% in Australia, with the rest being scattered in smaller numbers across the globe. Other Chilean refugees settled (not ranked by order of size) in Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany and Italy.

Many pro-Allende refugees in the 1970s fled to East Germany, including former president Michelle Bachelet had also lived in Australia.[58] While anti-Pinochet refugees formed a large expatriate community in Europe and a smaller community in North America (the US and Canada).

Over 100,000 Chileans fleeing from both regimes in the 1970s and 1980s settled in the US, a small number compared to other Latino groups. The highest number settled in Miami, Florida, but smaller enclaves are in Washington, D.C.; New York City; and California (the Los Angeles area - Beverly Hills and Long Beach); and San Francisco (San Mateo County).

Approximately 2,500 Chilean exiles fled to the UK in the early 1970s and by most recent estimates the Chilean British population is in its tens of thousands, and represents a significant proportion of the UK's one million strong Latin American community. By far the largest concentration of Chileans can be found in London with significant other communities being Birmingham, Sheffield and the Manchester–Liverpool Metropolitan area.[59]

Historic emigration took place in the early 19th century when Chilean ranchers went to Mexico after their independence. Thousands of miners from Chile went to California, the U.S. during the 1850s California Gold Rush, as well in other gold rushes in Colorado (1870s) and the Yukon (1890s). Small numbers of Chilean miners also migrated to South Africa and Australia for the same reason.[60][61]

See also

References

  1. ^ www.ine.cl
  2. ^ a b Colectividad chilena, Bajaron de los barcos, ONI
  3. ^ a b "Top 101 cities with the most residents born in Chile (population 500+)". city-data.com. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
  4. ^ Chileans in Brazil
  5. ^ Antecedentes históricos de los chilenos en Suecia
  6. ^ Template:Es Registro de chilenos en el exterior - Principales resultados
  7. ^ "Chilean Immigration". Chilean Community. Embassy of Chile in Australia. 2006-06-02. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  8. ^ Template:Es Censo Electoral
  9. ^ Template:Es Chile.com - Radiografía a los Chilenos en el Mundo
  10. ^ Statistics Norway - Persons with immigrant background by immigration category, country background and sex. 1 January 2009
  11. ^ Template:Es Chilenos En Alemania Y Alemanes En Chile - Viaje Y Nación En El Siglo XIX pagina 26, por Carlos Sanhueza Cerda
  12. ^ "Country-of-birth database". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
  13. ^ Valenzuela, C. and Harb Z. 1977.Socioeconomic Assortive Mating in Santiago, Chile: A Demostration Using Stochaistic Matrices of Mother-Child Relationships Applied to ABO Blood Groups Departamento de Biología Celular y Genética, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
    Quote: The Chilean population steams mainly from the admixture of Spanish people with Chilean aborigines
  14. ^ Vanegas, J., Villalón, M., Valenzuela, C. Consideraciones acerca del uso de la variable etnia/raza en investigación epidemiológica para la Salud Pública: A propósito de investigaciones en inequidades Revista Médica de Chile 2008; 136: 637-644.
    Quote translated from Spanish: ..in Chile the [racial] process is vinculated to a socioeconomic stratification; the Spaniards of the upper class that did not mix, the mix of European Spaniards and mestizo women in the middle strata, in the lowest substrate the mestizo-mestizo and mestizo-amerindians.
  15. ^ a b Valenzuela, C. El Gradiente Sociogenético Chileno y sus Implicaciones Etico-Sociales, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile
    Quote: Al analizar la composición étnica por estratos sociales nos hemos encontrado con un gradiente sociogenético importante que condiciona la estructura de la morbimortalidad según estrato socioeconómico y la evolución sociocultural de Chile
  16. ^ German Embassy in Chile.
    Quote in German: Es wird geschätzt, dass zwischen 500 bis 600 Tausend Chilenen deutscher Herkunft sind.
  17. ^ "Los palestinos miran con esperanza su futuro en Chile sin olvidar Gaza e Irak", El Economista, 2009-02-11, retrieved 2009-07-29
  18. ^ Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI.
  19. ^ "5.2.6. Estructura racial". La Universidad de Chile. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
  20. ^ Genetic epidemiology of single gene defects in Chile.
  21. ^ Esteva-Fabregat (1988), Book: El mestizaje en lberoamérica "a white majority that would exceed 60% of the Chilean population".
  22. ^ www.bartleby.com
  23. ^ INE - Censo de 1813. Introducción
  24. ^ Icarito - La Colonia:Población y sociedad
  25. ^ [Rolando Mellafe (1959): "La introducción de la esclavitud negra en Chile. Tráfico y rutas", Universidad de Chile (Departamento Historia Instituto Pedagógico). Santiago]
  26. ^ "Elementos de Salud Pública, section 5.2.6". University of Chile.
  27. ^ vascos Ainara Madariaga: Autora del estudio "Imaginarios vascos".
  28. ^ German Chilean.
  29. ^ Diariovasco.
  30. ^ a b entrevista al Presidente de la Cámara vasca.
  31. ^ vascos Ainara Madariaga: Autora del estudio "Imaginarios vascos desde Chile La construcción de imaginarios vascos en Chile durante el siglo XX".
  32. ^ Basques au Chili.
  33. ^ 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".
  34. ^ Template:Es La población chilena con ascendencia vasca bordea entre el 15% y el 20% del total, por lo que es uno de los países con mayor presencia de emigrantes venidos de Euskadi.
  35. ^ El 27% de los chilenos son descendientes de emigrantes vascos. DE LOS VASCOS, OÑATI Y LOS ELORZA Waldo Ayarza Elorza.
  36. ^ Template:Es Presencia vasca en Chile.
  37. ^ German Embassy in Chile.
  38. ^ Template:Es En Chile viven unas 700.000 personas de origen árabe y de ellas 500.000 son descendientes de emigrantes palestinos que llegaron a comienzos del siglo pasado y que constituyen la comunidad de ese origen más grande fuera del mundo árabe.
  39. ^ Chile: Palestinian refugees arrive to warm welcome.
  40. ^ Template:Es 500,000 descendientes de primera y segunda generación de palestinos en Chile.
  41. ^ Template:Es Santiago de Chile es un modelo de convivencia palestino-judía.
  42. ^ Exiling Palestinians to Chile.
  43. ^ Template:Es Chile tiene la comunidad palestina más grande fuera del mundo árabe, unos 500.000 descendientes.
  44. ^ Template:Es Diaspora Croata..
  45. ^ Splitski osnovnoškolci rođeni u Čileu.
  46. ^ hrvatski.
  47. ^ "Historia de Chile, Británicos y Anglosajones en Chile durante el siglo XIX". Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  48. ^ Template:Es Embajada de Grecia en Chile.
  49. ^ Template:Es Griegos de Chile
  50. ^ 90,000 descendants Swiss in Chile.
  51. ^ Template:Es 5% de los chilenos tiene origen frances.
  52. ^ Juan Bialet Massé en su informe sobre "El estado de las clases obreras en el interior del país"
  53. ^ SOCIAL IDENTITY Marta Fierro Social Psychologist.
  54. ^ Etnicidad y ciudadanía en América Latina.
  55. ^ 1907 census
  56. ^ "Censo 2002 - Síntesis de Resultados" (PDF). Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas.
  57. ^ estimaciones para la Población judía 2008.
  58. ^ Bachelet is first female Chilean leader New Age (Online Newspaper)
  59. ^ Diversity news page
  60. ^ Chilean Americans
  61. ^ Origins: History of immigration from Chile - Immigration Museum, Melbourne Australia
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