Arab Argentines

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Arab Argentine refers toArgentine citizens or residents whose ancestry traces back to various waves of immigrants, largely ofArab ethnic,cultural and linguistic heritage and/oridentity originating mainly from what is nowLebanon andSyria.^[3] It also includes, individuals from the twenty-two countries which comprise theArab world such asPalestine,Egypt andMorocco. Arab Argentines are one of the largestArab diaspora groups in the world.

Arab Argentines
عرب الأرجنتين (Arabic) Árabe-argentinos (Spanish)

Arab-Argentines during the Day of the immigrants inBuenos Aires.
Total population
+ 3,500,000 (by ancestry)^[1] 7.6% of Argentina's population (+ 2,000,000Lebanese) (+ 1,510,000Syrians) (+ 30,000Palestinians)^[2]
Regions with significant populations
Predominantly in theArgentine Northwest, theGreater Buenos Aires andCórdoba
Languages
Spanish •Arabic
Religion
Majority:Catholicism ·Eastern Orthodoxy Minority:Sunnism ·Shiism ·Druze
Related ethnic groups
Arabs ·Arab Brazilians ·Arab Americans ·Arab Canadians ·Arab Australians ·Arab Spaniards ·Arab Colombians

Although a highly diverse group of Argentines — in ancestral origins, religion and historic identities — Arab Argentines hold a common identity in the Argentine consciousness, beinguniversally known asturcos ("Turks"),^[4]^[5] like in the rest of Latin American countries.^[6]^[7]

The majority of the Arab Argentines are from either Lebanese or Syrian background with a smaller amount of Palestinian, Egyptian and Moroccan background.^[8] Interethnic marriage in the Arab community, regardless of religious affiliation, is very high; most community members have only one parent who has Arab ethnicity. As a result of this, the Arab community in Argentina shows markedlanguage shift away from Arabic. Only a few speak any Arabic and such knowledge is often limited to a few basic words. Instead the majority, especially those of younger generations, speakSpanish as a first language, and have thoroughly assimilated in the local culture,^[9] Arab Argentines have a regular presence and have distinguished themselves in all walks of national life on a par with the rest of the country'smelting pot population.

History

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Rocío Chalup, Queen of the Arab community in theFiesta Nacional del Inmigrante inOberá,Misiones.

There are some indications that the Arab Muslim presence within present day Argentine territory dates back to the time of the Spanish exploration and conquest. The first mentioned Arab settlers were the 15th century'sMoorish (Morisco) Muslims of the Iberian peninsula that were people of Arab North African descent who explored the Americas with Spanish explorers, many of them settling in Argentina who were fleeing from persecution such as theSpanish Inquisition.^[10]^{[page needed]}

However, in the 19th century Argentina saw the first real wave of Arabs to settle within its territory. Most of the Arabs who came during this time period were from Lebanon and Syria as a result of the1860 Mount Lebanon civil war (During that time, Lebanon and Syria were Ottoman provinces). While Arab communities existed by 1864, systematic records did not appear before 1868. From 1891 to 1920, 367,348 people of Arabic heritage immigrated into Argentina.^[8] When they were first processed in the ports of Argentina, they were classified as Turks (Spanishturcos) because what is modern dayLebanon andSyria was a territory of the TurkishOttoman Empire, hence the popular (and erroneous)demonym^[11] (comparable to others applied in the majority immigrant country to other groups, such astano (Italian-Argentinian),gallego (Spanish-Argentinian),ruso (Jewish Argentinian) etc.

The causes for Arabs to leave their homeland were an accelerated increase in demographics in Lebanon, the persecution by the Ottoman Turks and theItalo-Turkish War.^[8] The Arab immigrants settled in the provinces ofBuenos Aires,Córdoba,Salta,Jujuy,Tucumán,La Rioja,San Juan,Mendoza,Santiago del Estero,Misiones,Chaco, and thePatagonia. A large percentage on Arabs settled in theCuyo region (which is made up of the provinces of San Juan, San Luis, Mendoza, and La Rioja) whose landscape and crops (olive, vineyards) resemble at time the Middle East's.