Argentines

a nation (natsiia; “nation” in the historical sense); the principal element in the population of Argentina.

In 1968 there were about 19 million Argentines. Their language is Spanish, marked by a number of particular grammatical and phonetic characteristics, and their religion is Catholicism. The Argentines are the descendants of Spaniards, as well as of settlers from other European countries. In the course of settling Argentina the Spaniards mixed with the native population—the Indians (in the piedmont regions, where the Spaniards encountered a peaceful, agricultural population). During the second half of the 19th century, there was increased immigration to Argentina of Italians, Spaniards, and Frenchmen; Jews, Lithuanians, and Ukrainians who fled from tsarist Russia; and emigrants from other countries. The composition of the Argentine nation was basically completed at the beginning of the 20th century.