Immigration to Chile

Overview

Over the centuries, Chile has received a number of immigrants from Europe, the Americas and Asia, although not in a large scale as opposed to other countries in Latin America, such as its neighbour Argentina. Today, millions of their descendants still live in the country and can be found in every walk of life. Given that Chile is a nation made of the mixture of immigrants and local population, these immigrants and their descendants have been important to the evolution of Chilean society and the Chilean nation.

The immigration in Chile corresponds to the displacement of diverse foreign communities to the country, chiefly during the 19th and 20th. centuries. These groups of immigrants had, as in everywhere else, diverse origins and motivations. The Chilean population, formed chiefly by the crossbreeding between the Spanish colonizing groups and the mainly native population, was seen modified later by the participation of these groups in the company.

Historically, the main groups of immigrants correspond to the originating of the neighbouring countries, due to the interaction of their relations with Chile. The most numerous colony is the Peruvians from Peru, followed by Argentines. One of the main factors that have produced this immigration has been the relatively stable political history of the country, when compared to the rest of Latin America, and more recently the important growth of the Chilean economy during the last decades. In equal form, the immigration from other Latin-American countries further afield has also been of great importance. For example, one of the creators of the renowned Universidad de Chile was the Venezuelan Andrés Bello

In addition to the immigration from other former Spanish colonies, during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, a number of settlers of European origin came from Spain, Italy, France, Croatia, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland) and refugees from the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's.

Maritime commerce prompted the establishment of small British, French, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese and Scandinavian settlements. In the late 20th century Palestinian refugees formed the largest colony from the Middle East followed by Arab peoples: Syrians and Lebanese arrived in large numbers in the 1920's.

Other immigration are Eastern European nationalities includes Chilean Jews, the Roma or "Gypsies" and a large Armenian community. Even North American and Australian immigrants were present in national immigration records.

The reaction of Chile to immigration is similar to that of citizens of other countries. Large-scale immigration has caused resentment by increasing the supply of labour and reducing wages, while in some urban areas it has led to a perception of increasing criminality. On the other hand, many others consider immigration beneficial as a way of diversifying the existing culture, which is known to be one of the most uniform and conservatives in the Americas.

European immigration

An important ethnic group in the construction of the Chilean society has been the immigration originating from Europe. The Chilean nation was born from the crossbreeding between the native communities and the conquerors and Spanish colonizers. But after its independence and along the 19th and 20th centuries, new immigrant groups arrived: the Spanish, Italians, Germans, Swiss, Irish, British, French, Poles, Austrians, Croats, Greeks, Ashkenazi Jews, North Americans and Australians.

As opposed to what has happened with the Latin American immigrants, which tended to be endorsed and assimilated with the whole of the population, the main communities of European origin were maintained forming diverse colonies in the places where they arrived first. Thus, those of German origin with some Swiss and Austrians have great influence in Los Lagos Region; the French and Italians in the wine industry in the Central Valley of Chile; the Croatians in Antofagasta as well in Magallanes; the Greek, Portuguese and Scandinavians are also found in these cities; and the British and Irish in Santiago and the coastal cities, due to their close relation with the Chilean Navy.

Latin American immigration

Though during all its history, Chile has received to Latin-American origin immigrants groups, the economic and political stability of the last decade has been one of the determinant factors in the growing entrance of immigrants of said origin to the country. Although the major number corresponds to that of Argentines, Bolivians and Peruvians by their proximity with the country, has also entered a good number of Ecuadorians, Colombians, Brazilians, Venezuelans, Mexicans, Cubans, Caribbean islanders, and Central Americans that have found reception in the country, being employed in diverse branches of the Chilean economic task.

Asian immigration

It is estimated that near the 4% of the Chilean population is of Asian origin immigrants descendant, chiefly of the Middle East (Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese) although in recent years have enlarged considerably the communities of China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. The earliest wave of East Asian immigration took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly Chinese and Japanese contract laborers.

African immigration

Less than one percent of Chileans have black African ancestry, mostly concentrated in the province of Arica near the Peruvian border. They are descendants of imported slaves into the country in the 18th century, but slavery never became a major contributor to agricultural development in Chile unlike in other Latin American countries. A smaller wave of sub-Saharan African immigrants are beginning to appear in the 2000s either to study or find work, but they are minuscule in population.

ee also

* Afghan Chilean
* Afro-Chilean
* Basque Chilean
* British Chilean
* Catalan Chilean
* Chinese Chilean
* Croatian Chilean
* Dutch Chilean
* French Chilean
* Galician Chilean
* German-Chilean
* Greeks in Chile
* Indian Chilean
* Irish Chilean
* Italian-Chilean
* Japanese Chilean
* Korean Chilean
* Lebanese Chilean
* List of Chilean Jews
* North Americans in Chile
* Pakistani Chilean
* Palestinian Chilean
* Polish Chilean
* Portuguese Chilean
* Russian Chilean
* Scottish Chilean
* Spanish Chilean
* Sri Lankan Chilean
* Swiss Chilean
* Syrians in Chile
* Taiwanese Chilean
* Asian Chilean