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Indian Argentines (Spanish: Argentinos Indios), also known as Indo-Argentines (Spanish: Indo-argentinos), are Argentines who have predominantly or total Indian ancestry. There is a small community of Indians in Argentina who are mainly immigrants from India and the neighboring countries in South America and the Caribbean with Indo-Caribbean influence (i.e. Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname) and some of whom were born in Argentina and are of Indian heritage, related to the Indo-Aryan and Dravidian peoples, so the term can also include descendants of Pakistanis, Nepalis, Bengalis and Sinhalese.
Total population | |
---|---|
1,736 (by birth, 2013)[1] 2,600 (by ancestry, 2018)[2] 0.01% of the Argentina's population | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Buenos Aires · Rosario de la Frontera | |
Languages | |
Majority: Spanish · Punjabi · Hindustani Minority: English · Dutch · Sranan Tongo | |
Religion | |
Majority: Hinduism · Sikhism Minority: Christianity · Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Indo-Aryans · Dravidians Indo-Caribbeans · Indian Mexicans · Indian Americans · Indian Brazilians · Others |
History
editThe first Indians to arrive in Argentina were Sikhs from the Indian state of Punjab who came to Argentina in the early 20th century to work on a British-built railroad. In the 1970s, others came after being barred entry to Canada and the United States, the preferred destinations, along with Britain, for the emigrants.[3]
Argentina seemed the most promising of South American nations, and so they stayed, eventually concentrating in the north, which reminded them of the scrappy mountains and plains of Punjab. Most of the immigrants settled in Rosario de la Frontera. This remote northern Argentine town is home to the only Sikh gurdwara in South America. Today, there are about 300 Sikhs in Argentina, many of whom run supermarkets and other shops. Mixed marriages with Catholic Argentines are common.
A large number of Indians living in Buenos Aires are businessmen, doctors, financial or business executives, and employees of multinational corporations. Most of them have retained their Indian citizenship. Many Indo-Caribbeans from places like Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname have also migrated to Argentina.
Demographics
editSalta is the province that has the largest Indian community, with about 550 immigrants, the first of whom arrived there in 1937. Rosario de la Frontera has a population of 70 Hindus originally from India. The latter formed a family in the city, increasing their descendants by approximately 250 people, making it the city with the largest Hindu community in Argentina. There are also Sikh surnames in Metán, in Orán and in the City of Salta.
By 2001, it was estimated that there were 1,600 Indians in Argentina. Some studies carried out by the University of the Salvador indicated that there were 2,226 Indians throughout the country, of which 25% of them are in Salta. The rest is distributed especially between Buenos Aires, Jujuy, Tucumán, Córdoba, among other provinces. The majority groups are Sikhs and Hindus. By 2013, the International Organization for Migration registered 1,736 Indian immigrants in Argentina.[4]
Culture
editThe Indian community in Argentina has established an Indian Association in the northern provinces to organize social and cultural events to celebrate Indian festivals such as Diwali.[5] Some community members are involved in keeping traditional cultural practices alive, such as ayurveda, yoga, Indian classical music and the Hindustani language and Punjabi language.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "World Migration". International Organization for Migration). 2013.
- ^ "Population of Overseas Indians" (PDF). Ministry of External Affairs (India). 31 December 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ Indian Sikhs grafting onto Argentina culture. sikhnet.com
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
World Migration
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Diwali Festival In Argentina. Festivals India.