# Demographics of the Southern Cone

The Southern Cone (Spanish: Cono Sur, Portuguese: Cone Sul) is a geographic region composed of the southernmost areas of South America, mostly south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Although geographically this includes part of Southern and Southeastern (São Paulo) Brazil, and Paraguay, in terms of political geography the Southern cone has traditionally comprised Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.
The population of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay is 40, 17.5 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

Ethno-racial groups in Argentina (2022 census)
Ethno-racial groups in Chile (2017 census)
Ethno-racial groups in Uruguay (2011 census)
Ethno-racial groups in Paraguay (2022 census)
Ethno-racial groups in the South Region (2022 census)
Ethno-racial groups in São Paulo (2022 census)
As far as ethnicity is concerned, the population of the Southern Cone was largely influenced by immigration from Europe. Whites and mestizo make up 97% of the total population of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Southern Brazil. Mestizos make up 15.8% of the population, being a majority in Paraguay. 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%.
Argentina, along with other areas of new settlement like Canada, Australia, Brazil or the United States is considered a country of immigrants 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 97% of the population being of European and mestizo descent for generations, the majority of these immigrants came from Italy and Spain, as well as other European countries. The last national census, based on self-identification, counted about 600,000 Argentines (1.6%) of Amerindian heritage. A further 3–4% of Argentines were of Arabic or East Asian extraction. A study conducted on 218 individuals in 2010 by the Argentine geneticist Daniel Corach, has established that the genetic map of Argentina is composed by 79% from different European ethnicities (mainly Spanish and Italian ethnicities), 18% of different indigenous ethnicities, and 4.3% of African ethnic groups, in which 63.6% of the tested group had at least one ancestor who was Indigenous. Genetics studies:
* Homburguer et al., 2015, PLOS One Genetics: 67% European, 28% Amerindian, 4% African and 1,4% Asian.
* Avena et al., 2012, PLOS One Genetics: 65% European, 31% Amerindian, and 4% African.
** Buenos Aires Province: 76% European and 24% others.
** South Zone (Chubut Province): 54% European and 46% others.
** Northeast Zone (Misiones, Corrientes, Chaco & Formosa provinces): 54% European and 46% others.
** Northwest Zone (Salta Province): 33% European and 67% others.
* Oliveira, 2008, on Universidade de Brasília: 60% European, 31% Amerindian and 9% African.
* National Geographic: 52% European, 27% Amerindian ancestry, 9% African and 9% others.
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. According to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), Pardo is a broad classification that encompasses Brazilians of mixed race ancestry, mulattoes, and assimilated indigenous people ("caboclos"). The geneticist Sérgio Pena criticised foreign scholar Edward Telles for lumping "blacks" and "pardos" in the same category, given the predominant European ancestry of the "pardos" throughout Brazil. According to him, "the autosomal genetic analysis that we have performed in non related individuals from Rio de Janeiro shows that it does not make any sense to put "blacks" and "pardos" in the same category".
An autosomal DNA study from 2014 found out Chile to be 44.34% (± 3.9%) Native American, 57.85% (± 5.44%) European and 1.28% (± 0.45%) African.
In 2009, Chile had an estimated population of 16,970,000, of which approximately 8.8 million or 52,7% are European, with mestizos estimated at 44%. Other studies found a white majority of 64% to 90% of the Chilean population. From Chile's various waves of immigrants Spanish, Italians, Irish, French, Greeks, Germans, English, Scots and Croats 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). 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. Although if we count the total number of immigrants of germanic origin, like Austrians and specially german bohemians the number would rise up to 1.000.000 people. Other historically significant immigrant groups include: Croatia whose number of descendants today is estimated to be 800.000 persons, the equivalent of 7% of the population. Other authors claim, on the other hand, that close to 9.6% of the Chilean population must have some Croatian ancestry. Over 700,000 Chileans may have British (English, Scottish and Welsh) origin. 4,5% of Chile's population., Chileans of Greek descent are estimated 90,000 to 120,000. 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. The descendants of Swiss add 90,000, an estimated that about 5% of the Chilean population has some French ancestry. 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.
A 2009 DNA study in the American Journal of Human Biology showed the genetic composition of Uruguay as primarily European, with Native American ancestry ranging from one to 20 percent and sub-Saharan African from seven to 15 percent (depending on region).
Meanwhile, although the majority of the population of Paraguay is composed of mestizos (mixed European & Amerindian), 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 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.

## Racial demography

Since interethnic marriages are widespread in Latin America, complex ethnic classifications emerged, including 16 racial categories created in 18th century Hispanic America, including terms like castizo, morisco, cambujo and ahí te estás. In Brazil, about 190 "racial" categories were detected by the Census of 1976.
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. Other study conducted by the University of Chile found that within the Chilean population 60% are white, the mestizos predominantly white ancestry is estimated at 35% while the CIA World Factbook describes 95.4% of the population as white and mestizo.
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). 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. 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. In a sample from Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, Amerindian DNA was found in 20.4% of the population. 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, the middle classes, 72.3%–76.8% European component and 27.7%–23.2 of mixed aboriginal and lower classes at 62.9%–65% European component and 37.1%–35% mix of Aboriginal.
A autosomal DNA study from 2011, with nearly 1000 samples from all over Brazil ("whites", "pardos" and "blacks"), found out a major European contribution, followed by a high African contribution and an important Native American component. "In all regions studied, the European ancestry was predominant, with proportions ranging from 60.6% in the Northeast to 77.7% in the South". The 2011 autosomal study samples came from blood donors (the lowest classes constitute the great majority of blood donors in Brazil), and also public health institutions personnel and health students. The study showed that Brazilians from different regions are more homogenous than previously thought by some based on the census alone. "Brazilian homogeneity is, therefore, a lot greater between Brazilian regions than within Brazilians region".
| Region | European | African | Native American |
| Northern Brazil | 68,80% | 10,50% | 18,50% |
| Northeast of Brazil | 60,10% | 29,30% | 8,90% |
| Southeast Brazil | 74,20% | 17,30% | 7,30% |
| Southern Brazil | 79,50% | 10,30% | 9,40% |
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 Amerindian 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) 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 Patagonia). 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". As a consequence, Whites 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, and was largely assimilated into the White population.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Steves, F. (September 2001). "Regional Integration and Democratic Consolidation in the Southern Cone of Latin America". Democratization. 8 (3): 75–100. doi:10.1080/714000210. S2CID 42956310.
* ↑ "Censo 2022" [Census 2022]. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos, República Argentina. INDEC. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
* ↑ "Medición de Pueblos Indígenas y Afrodescendientes en el Censo de Población y Vivienda 2017" (PDF). Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas. November 2018.
* ↑ "Extranjeros en Chile superan el millón 110 mil y el 72% se concentra en dos regiones: Antofagasta y Metropolitana". El Mercurio. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
* ↑ "La población afro-uruguaya en el Censo 2011" (PDF). 2011 (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística. p. 16. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
* ↑ "Censo Indígena 2022 - INE" (PDF). Instituto Nacional de Estadística - Paraguay. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
* ↑ "Editorial".
* 1 2 "Panorama". Censo 2022 (in Brazilian Portuguese). IBGE. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
* 1 2 3 4 Fernández, Francisco Lizcano (2007). Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México. ISBN 9789707570528.
* 1 2 "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". Archived from the original on 4 June 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
* 1 2 3 Cruz-Coke, R; Moreno, R S (September 1994). "Genetic epidemiology of single gene defects in Chile". Journal of Medical Genetics. 31 (9): 702–706. doi:10.1136/jmg.31.9.702. PMC 1050080. PMID 7815439. ProQuest 1770583148.
* ↑ Fierro, Marta. "IDENTIDAD SOCIAL" [SOCIAL IDENTITY] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 25 February 2009.
* ↑ Stavenhagen, Rodolfo (1988). "Pensar a los indios, tarea de Criollos" (PDF). Derecho indígena y derechos humanos en América Latina [Thinking of the Indians, the task of Criollos] (in Spanish). Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos. pp. 23–44. ISBN 978-968-12-0400-6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2007.
* ↑ "Hoy en día la población paraguaya es mestiza prácticamente en su totalidad". Archived from the original on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
* ↑ Historia de las repúblicas de la Plata de Manuel González Llana
* ↑ 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) Archived May 31, 2011, at the Wayback Machine; 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).
* 1 2 3 Argentina
* ↑ "Argentina (People)". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
* ↑ "Encuesta Complementaria de Pueblos Indígenas". Archived from the original on 11 June 2008. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
* ↑ Corach, Daniel; Lao, Oscar; Bobillo, Cecilia; Van Der Gaag, Kristiaan; Zuniga, Sofia; Vermeulen, Mark; Van Duijn, Kate; Goedbloed, Miriam; Vallone, Peter M.; Parson, Walther; De Knijff, Peter; Kayser, Manfred (January 2010). "Inferring Continental Ancestry of Argentineans from Autosomal, Y-Chromosomal and Mitochondrial DNA: Genetic Ancestry in Extant Argentineans". Annals of Human Genetics. 74 (1): 65–76. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1809.2009.00556.x. hdl:11336/14301. PMID 20059473. S2CID 5908692.
* ↑ Avena, Sergio A.; Goicoechea, Alicia S.; Rey, Jorge; Dugoujon, Jean M.; Dejean, Cristina B.; Carnese, Francisco R. (April 2006). "Mezcla génica en una muestra poblacional de la ciudad de Buenos Aires" [Gene mixture in a population sample from Buenos Aires City]. Medicina (Buenos Aires) (in Spanish). 66 (2): 113–118.
* ↑ Homburger, Julian R.; Moreno-Estrada, Andrés; Gignoux, Christopher R.; Nelson, Dominic; Sanchez, Elena; Ortiz-Tello, Patricia; Pons-Estel, Bernardo A.; Acevedo-Vasquez, Eduardo; Miranda, Pedro; Langefeld, Carl D.; Gravel, Simon; Alarcón-Riquelme, Marta E.; Bustamante, Carlos D. (4 December 2015). "Genomic Insights into the Ancestry and Demographic History of South America". PLOS Genetics. 11 (12): e1005602. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1005602. PMC 4670080. PMID 26636962.
* ↑ Avena, Sergio; Via, Marc; Ziv, Elad; Pérez-Stable, Eliseo J.; Gignoux, Christopher R.; Dejean, Cristina; Huntsman, Scott; Torres-Mejía, Gabriela; Dutil, Julie; Matta, Jaime L.; Beckman, Kenneth; Burchard, Esteban González; Parolin, María Laura; Goicoechea, Alicia; Acreche, Noemí; Boquet, Mariel; Ríos Part, María Del Carmen; Fernández, Vanesa; Rey, Jorge; Stern, Mariana C.; Carnese, Raúl F.; Fejerman, Laura (10 April 2012). "Heterogeneity in Genetic Admixture across Different Regions of Argentina". PLOS ONE. 7 (4): e34695. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...734695A. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034695. PMC 3323559. PMID 22506044.
* ↑ Godinho, Neide Maria de Oliveira (2008). O impacto das migrações na constituição genética de populações latino-americanas [The impact of migration on the genetic makeup of Latin American populations] (Thesis) (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
* ↑ "Reference Populations – Geno 2.0 Next Generation". Genographic.nationalgeographic.com. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
* ↑ "Do pensamento racial ao pensamento racional" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
* ↑ Fuentes, Macarena; Pulgar, Iván; Gallo, Carla; Bortolini, María-Cátira; Canizales-Quinteros, Samuel; Bedoya, Gabriel; González-José, Rolando; Ruiz-Linares, Andrés; Rothhammer, Francisco (March 2014). "Geografía génica de Chile: Distribución regional de los aportes genéticos americanos, europeos y africanos" [Gene geography of Chile. Regional distribution of American, European and African genetic contributions]. Revista médica de Chile (in Spanish). 142 (3): 281–289. doi:10.4067/S0034-98872014000300001. hdl:10183/118734. PMID 25052264.
* ↑ Diariovasco.
* ↑ entrevista al Presidente de la Cámara vasca. Archived May 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ vascos Ainara Madariaga: Autora del estudio "Imaginarios vascos desde Chile La construcción de imaginarios vascos en Chile durante el siglo XX".
* ↑ Basques au Chili.
* ↑ 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".
* 1 2 German Embassy in Chile.
* ↑ Diaspora Croata..
* ↑ Splitski osnovnoškolci rođeni u Čileu. Archived September 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ hrvatski. Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ "Historia de Chile, Británicos y Anglosajones en Chile durante el siglo XIX". Retrieved 26 April 2009.
* ↑ Griegos de Chile Archived 2015-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ 90,000 descendants Swiss and Chile. Archived 2009-09-03 at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ French chilean. Archived 2008-04-12 at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ CIA – The World Factbook – Uruguay
* ↑ Wiley Interscience
* ↑ CIA – The World Factbook – Paraguay
* ↑ Salzano, Francisco M. (September 2004). "Interethnic variability and admixture in Latin America - social implications". Revista de Biología Tropical. 52 (3): 405–415. PMID 17361535.
* ↑ Esteva-Fabregat (1988), Book: El mestizaje en lberoamérica "a white majority that would exceed 60% of the Chilean population".
* ↑ "5.2.6. Estructura racial". La Universidad de Chile. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
* ↑ World Fact Book Chile
* ↑ Bobillo, Maria Cecilia; Zimmermann, Bettina; Sala, Andrea; Huber, Gabriela; Röck, Alexander; Bandelt, Hans-Jürgen; Corach, Daniel; Parson, Walther (July 2010). "Amerindian mitochondrial DNA haplogroups predominate in the population of Argentina: towards a first nationwide forensic mitochondrial DNA sequence database". International Journal of Legal Medicine. 124 (4): 263–268. doi:10.1007/s00414-009-0366-3. PMID 19680675. S2CID 13260716.
* ↑ Archived 2011-08-20 at the Wayback MachineEstructura genética de la Argentina, Impacto de contribuciones genéticas – Ministerio de Educación de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Nación.
* ↑ "Casi dos millones de argentinos tienen sus raíces en el Africa negra". Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
* ↑ 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
* 1 2 3 4 5 Zemelman, Viviana; von Beck, Petra; Alvarado, Orlando; Valenzuela, Carlos Y (August 2002). "Dimorfismo sexual en la pigmentación de la piel, color de ojos y pelo y presencia de pecas en adolescentes chilenos en dos estratos socioeconómicos" [Sexual dimorphism in skin, eye and hair color and the presence of freckles in Chilean teenagers from two socioeconomic strata]. Revista médica de Chile (in Spanish). 130 (8). doi:10.4067/S0034-98872002000800006.
* 1 2 3 4 "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".
* 1 2 Pena, Sérgio D. J.; Di Pietro, Giuliano; Fuchshuber-Moraes, Mateus; Genro, Julia Pasqualini; Hutz, Mara H.; Kehdy, Fernanda de Souza Gomes; Kohlrausch, Fabiana; Magno, Luiz Alexandre Viana; Montenegro, Raquel Carvalho; Moraes, Manoel Odorico; Moraes, Maria Elisabete Amaral de; Moraes, Milene Raiol de; Ojopi, Élida B.; Perini, Jamila A.; Racciopi, Clarice; Ribeiro-dos-Santos, Ândrea Kely Campos; Rios-Santos, Fabrício; Romano-Silva, Marco A.; Sortica, Vinicius A.; Suarez-Kurtz, Guilherme (16 February 2011). "The Genomic Ancestry of Individuals from Different Geographical Regions of Brazil Is More Uniform Than Expected". PLOS ONE. 6 (2): e17063. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...617063P. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017063. PMC 3040205. PMID 21359226.
* ↑ "PERFIL DO DOADOR DE SANGUE BRASILEIRO" [PROFILE OF THE BRAZILIAN BLOOD DONOR] (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012. Profile of the Brazilian blood donor
* ↑ "Nossa herança europeia" [Our European heritage] (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
* ↑ Juan Bialet Massé en su informe sobre "El estado de las clases obreras en el interior del país" Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ SOCIAL IDENTITY Marta Fierro Social Psychologist. Archived February 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ Etnicidad y ciudadanía en América Latina.
* ↑ "A Imigração Alemã no Brasil". Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
* ↑ RIBEIRO, Darcy. O Povo Brasileiro, Companhia de Bolso, fourth reprint, 2008 (2008).