Asian Argentines
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 180,000 – 220,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Buenos Aires · Córdoba | |
| Languages | |
| Spanish · Chinese · Min Nan/Taiwanese Ho-lo · Japanese · Korean | |
| Religion | |
| Buddhism · Christianity · Shintoism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Asians · Asian Latin Americans · Asian Americans |
Asian-Argentines or Asian-Argentinians refers to Argentines of Asian ancestry who are citizens or residents of Argentina. Asian-Argentines settled in Argentina in large numbers during several waves of immigration in the twentieth century. Primarily living in their own neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires, many currently own their own businesses of varying sizes – largely textiles, grocery retailing, and buffet-style restaurants. The small Asian-Argentine population has generally kept a low profile, and is accepted by greater Argentine society.
Asian-Argentines primarily migrated in three waves. The first wave was composed of Japanese immigrants (largely from Okinawa Prefecture), that arrived in small numbers during the early twentieth century. The overthrow of Juan Perón in 1955 precipitated a long period of unrest and economic instability that stemmed Japanese immigration after 1960. The second wave consisted primarily of Korean entrepreneurs, settling in Buenos Aires during the 1960s, and the third wave was mostly composed of Chinese entrepreneurs, who settled in Buenos Aires during the 1990s.
By the mid-1990s, Asian-Argentines were active in politics, with an example of a political party being a special Unidad Básica (Peronist) party office under the name Unión de Residentes Taiwaneses Justicialistas ("Union of Justicialist Taiwanese Residents) at the heart of Buenos Aires's Chinatown Arribeños & Mendoza. This branch later closed, presumably as assimilation continued, while a regular Unidad Básica opened across the street.
Today, there are an estimated of 212,000 Asian-Argentines, with 120,000 of Chinese descent, 65,000 of Japanese descent, 25,000 of Korean descent, and 2,000 of Lao descent.
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Wikipedia