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White Chileans
Chilenos blancos (Spanish)
Talcahuano and its people celebrated 245th anniversary
Total population
White ancestry predominates
10,520,000 (estimated)[1]
52.7% of the Chilean population
(There is no official census data)
Regions with significant populations
Mainly in Central Chile, Coquimbo, Biobío, Los Lagos and Magallanes
Languages
Majority: Spanish
Minority: Basque · English · Serbo-Croatian · Arabic · Italian · German
Religion
Majority: Christianity
Minority: Irreligion
Related ethnic groups
Europeans · West Asians
White Argentines · White Bolivians · White Colombians · White Paraguayans · Others

White Chileans (Spanish: Chilenos blancos) are Chileans who have predominantly or total European or West Asian ancestry, these stand out for having light or olive skin. White Chileans are currently the largest group in Chile.[1]

History

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During colonial times in the eighteenth century, an important flux of emigrants from Spain populated Chile, mostly Basques, who vitalized the Chilean economy and rose rapidly in the social hierarchy and became the political elite that still dominates the country.[2]

European migration in the 19th century did not result in a remarkable change in the ethnic composition of Chile, except in the Magallanes Region and the city of Concepción in the Biobío Region.[3]

Spain and France was the largest source of European immigration to Chile during the 17th and 18th centuries, specially from the deep southern parts of Andalusia and Extremadura, which contributed to the Chilean ethnogenesis with thousands of peasants who migrated to the fertile lands of the Chilean Central Valley alongside the Basque merchants who started to arrive in the 18th century in great numbers.

Italian immigrants to Capitán Pastene in southern Chile.

The largest contingent of people to have arrived in post-independence Chile came from Spain and from the Basque country, a region divided between northern Spain and southern France. Note that this phenomenon occurs not only in Chile, but also in every Autonomous Community of Spain,[4] as well as in other Latin American countries – one can see that a substantial portion of their populations have one or two surnames of Basque or Navarre origin,[5][6] Chile's various waves of non-Spanish immigrants include Italians, Irish, French, Arabs, Greeks, Germans, English, Scots, Croats, and Poles.

German settlers in the Aysén Region in 1951.

In 1848 an important and substantial German immigration took place, laying the foundation for the German-Chilean community.[7][8] 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. It is difficult to count the number of descendants of Germans in Chile, given the great amount of time since 1848. Because many areas of southern Chile were sparsely populated, the traces of German immigration there are quite noticeable.

Demographics

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Chilean students in a march near the National Library of Chile.

Scholarly estimates of the White population in Chile vary dramatically, ranging from 20%[9] to 52%.[10] According to a study by the University of Chile about 30% of the Chilean population is Caucasian,[11] while the 2011 Latinobarómetro survey shows that some 60% of Chileans consider themselves White.[12]

An estimated 1.6 million (10%) to 3.2 million (20%) Chileans have a surname (one or both) of Basque origin.[13] The Basques liked Chile because of its great similarity to their native land: similar geography, cool climate, and the presence of fruits, seafood, and wine.[14]

In many areas of southern Chile were sparsely populated, the traces of German immigration there are quite noticeable. An independent estimate calculates that about 500,000 Chileans could descend from German immigrants.[15]

Other historically significant immigrant groups included Croats, whose descendants today are estimated at 380,000 persons, or 2.4% of the Chilean population.[16][17] Some authors claim that close to 4.6% of the Chilean population must have some Croatian ancestry.[18] Over 700,000 Chileans (4.5% of the Chilean population) may have British (English, Scottish or Welsh) and Irish forebears.[19] Chileans of Greek descent are estimated to number between 90,000 and 120,000;[20] most live in or near either Santiago or Antofagasta, and Chile is one of the five countries in the world most populated with descendants of Greeks.[21] The descendants of Swiss immigrants add 90,000,[22] and estimates suggest that about 5% of the Chilean population has some French ancestry.[23] 600,000 Chileans descend from Italian immigrants. Other groups of Europeans exist but are found in smaller numbers, such as the descendants of Austrians[24] and Dutchmen (estimated at about 50,000).[25][26]

Notable White Chileans

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See also

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Immigrant communities in Chile

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References

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  1. ^ a b 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.
  2. ^ "Chile". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 15 September 2012. ...Basque families who migrated to Chile in the 18th century vitalized the economy and joined the old Castilian aristocracy to become the political elite that still dominates the country.
  3. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas de Chile: Censo de población de 1907, page-PDF 55/1277 and page-PDF 1249/1277 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Román, Fernando González del Campo. "Apellidos y Migraciones Internas en La España Cristiana de La Reconquista" (PDF).
  5. ^ "Presente y futuro de los Centros Vascos en Argentina (I de III)". Archived from the original on September 21, 2003. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  6. ^ Presencia vasca en América, 1492–1992: una mirada crítica

    (Fragment)Hoy día los apellidos vascos son frecuentes en los grupos dirigentes, políticos y económicos, de gran número de países de América Latina. Una lista de las cincuenta mayores familias propietarias de Argentina...

  7. ^ (in Spanish) Los colonos Archived January 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ (in Spanish) Alemanes en Chile. Archived October 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Chile". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 15 September 2012. Chile's ethnic makeup is largely a product of Spanish colonization. About three fourths of Chileans are mestizo, a mixture of European and Amerindian ancestries. One fifth of Chileans are of white European (mainly Spanish) descent.
  10. ^ Lizcano Fernández, Francisco (August 2005). "Composición Étnica de las Tres Áreas Culturales del Continente Americano al Comienzo del Siglo XXI" [Ethnic Composition of the Three Cultural Areas of the American Continent at the Beginning of the XXI Century]. Convergencia (in Spanish). 12 (38): 185–232.
  11. ^ "5.2.6. Estructura racial". University of Chile (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 February 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  12. ^ "Online Data Analysis". Latinobarómetro. Corporación Latinobarómetro. 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  13. ^ Madariaga, Ainara (19 November 2008). "Presentación del libro Santiago de Chile". Departmento de Salud. Eusko Jaurlaritza – Gobierno Vasco. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  14. ^ Elorza, Waldo Ayarza (1995). ...de los Vascos, Oñati y Los Elorza. pp. 59, 65–66, 68.
  15. ^ "Alemanes en Chile: entre el pasado colono y el presente empresarial" (in Spanish). Deustche-Welle. March 31, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2012. Hoy, el perfil de los alemanes residentes aquí es distinto y ya no tienen el peso numérico que alguna vez alcanzaron. En los años 40 y 50 eran en Chile el segundo mayor grupo de extranjeros, representando el 13% (13.000 alemanes). Según el último censo de 2002, en cambio, están en el octavo lugar: son sólo 5.500 personas, lo que equivale al 3% de los foráneos. Sin embargo, la colonia formada por familias de origen alemán es activa y numerosa. Según explica Karla Berndt, gerente de comunicaciones de la Cámara Chileno-Alemana de Comercio (Camchal), los descendientes suman 500.000. Concentrados en el sur y centro del país, donde encuentran un clima más afín, su red de instituciones es amplia. "Hay clínicas, clubes, una Liga Chileno-Alemana, compañías de bomberos y un periódico semanal en alemán llamado Cóndor. Chile es el lugar en el que se concentra el mayor número de colegios alemanes, 24, lo que es mucho para un país tan chico de sólo 16 millones de habitantes", relata Berndt. / (Translation) Today, the profile of the Germans living here is different and now they no longer have the numerical weight they once reached. In the 1940s and 1950s they were the second-largest foreign group in Chile, accounting for 13% (13,000 Germans). According to the last census in 2002, however, they are in eighth place: they are only 5,500 people, equivalent to 3% of outsiders. However, the colony of families of German origin is active and numerous. According to Karla Berndt, communications manager for the German-Chilean Chamber of Commerce (Camchal), descendants totaled 500,000. Concentrated in the south and center of the country, where they find a more congenial climate, its network of institutions is wide. "There are clinics, clubs, a Chilean-German League, fire companies and a German weekly newspaper called Condor. Chile is the place with the largest concentration of German schools, 24 which is a lot for such a small country of only 16 million people", says Berndt.
  16. ^ (in Spanish) Diaspora Croata.
  17. ^ Splitski osnovnoškolci rođeni u Čileu. Archived September 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "Hrvatski Dom - Inmigrantes Croatas". hrvatski.cl. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  19. ^ "Historia de Chile, Británicos y Anglosajones en Chile durante el siglo XIX". Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
  20. ^ (in Spanish) Embajada de Grecia en Chile. Archived October 16, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ (in Spanish) Griegos de Chile Archived October 16, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ "90,000 descendants of Swiss in Chile". Archived from the original on September 3, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  23. ^ (in Spanish) 5% de los chilenos tiene origen frances. Archived April 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ "L. de Jong, De Duitse Vijfde Colonne in de Tweede Wereldoorlog · dbnl | Hoofdstuk XVI Historisch tussenspel". dbnl.org. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  25. ^ Dutch immigration. Archived August 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ "A principios del siglo XX | Holando-bóers al sur de Chile". members.tripod.com. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
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