| |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| 500.000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Through Uruguay | |
| Languages | |
| Rioplatense Spanish · Minorities speakFrench andBasque. | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| French people · French Argentines |
| Part ofa series of articles on the |
| French people |
|---|
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Africa Asia Middle East Europe
North America
South America Oceania 1Overseas parts of France properMigration of minorities inFrance (i.e.Basques) can be considered as separate (ethnically) or French migration (by nationality). |
French Uruguayans (French:Franco-Uruguayen;Spanish:Franco-Uruguayos) areUruguayan citizens of full or partialFrench ancestry. French Uruguayans form the third largest ancestry group afterSpanish Uruguayans andItalian Uruguayans. Until 1853, France constituted the main source of immigrants to Uruguay. The country received the largest number of French immigrants to South America afterArgentina (239,000) andBrazil (100,000), with almost 25,000 persons registered between 1833 and 1843.
During the first half of the 19th century,Uruguay received most of French immigrants toSouth America. It constituted back then, the second receptor of French immigrants in theNew World after theUnited States. Thus, while theUnited States received 195,971 French immigrants between 1820 and 1855, 13,922 Frenchmen, most of them from theBasque Country andBéarn, left for Uruguay between 1833 and 1842.[1] Then, after the fall ofRosas in 1852,Argentina overtook Uruguay and became the main pole of attraction for French immigrants inLatin America.
Most of French immigrants who settled in Uruguay immigrated between 1838 and 1852, with a peak of 10,300 immigrants in 1843. Frenchmen made up 41.5% of immigrants to Uruguay between 1835 and 1842, representing the main source of immigration to the country. Until 1853, French Basques constituted the most numerous group among all immigrants in Uruguay,[2] then they were surpassed in numbers by Spaniards and Italians. Another great wave of French immigration to Uruguay occurred during theParaguayan War until the 1870s. 2,718 French immigrants settled in the country between 1866 and 1867, 10.1% of the immigration at the time.[3]
The majority of immigrants were coming from theBasque Country,Béarn andBigorre.
The newspaperLe Patriote Français estimated the French colony inMontevideo in 1841 was around 18,000 persons.[4] Another source claims the French colony in Uruguay reached 14,000 in 1842, 10,000 of them living in Montevideo and 4,000 in the countryside.[5]15,000 Frenchmen[6] were registered in the country in 1843, most of them living in Montevideo where they made up a third of the population. The figure decreased to 8,891 in 1860 (making up 11.5% of foreigners) as many of them relocated toBuenos Aires but was as high as 17,900 in 1872. In 1866, French immigrants represented 16.5% of immigrants in the country (Spaniards 33.5% and Italians 33%).[7] According to the census of 1884, there were 7,383 Frenchmen living in Montevideo, out of 164,028 inhabitants (i.e. 4.5% of the city population).[8] In 1908, as previously established French immigrants had merged within the population and the country had received a large wave of immigration from Spain andItaly, Frenchmen only made up 1% of the population (8,341 persons) and 4.6% of foreigners. It was estimated that 9,500 Frenchmen were living in Uruguay in 1912, 6% of the 149,400 Frenchmen living in Latin America.[9]
During thesiege of Montevideo, out of 5,800 men defending the city, 2,500 were French. Three French poets were born in Uruguay:Isidore Ducasse, Comte de Lautréamont,Jules Laforgue andJules Supervielle.
The most recent figure corresponds to the 2011 Uruguayan census, which revealed 850 people who declared France as their country of birth.[10]
| Yearly French immigration to Uruguay from 1835 to 1842 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | French immigrants | Total immigrants | % French immigrants | |
| 1835 | 43 | 613 | 7% | |
| 1836 | 998 | 3,146 | 31.7% | |
| 1837 | 442 | 2,583 | 17.1% | |
| 1838 | 2,071 | 5,424 | 38.2% | |
| 1839 | 342 | 1,163 | 29.4% | |
| 1840 | 835 | 2,475 | 33.7% | |
| 1841 | 3,816 | 7,860 | 48.5% | |
| 1842 | 5,218 | 9,874 | 52.8% | |
| Total | 13,765 | 33,138 | 41.5% | |
*Oriero grandmother's maiden name is Bourié
L'Uruguay capta seulement 13.922 [immigrants français] entre 1833 et 1842, la plupart d'entre eux originaires du Pays Basque et du Béarn.
(p. 252) Between 1843 and 1853, the Basques from Iparralde constituted the most numerous group among all immigrants in Uruguay.[permanent dead link]
(p. 23) Inmigración europea y pasajeros entrados en 1866 y 1867. Francia, en 1866: 1.053; en 1867: 1.665.
The newspaperLe Patriote Français placed the French population of the Uruguay capital at 18,000 in 1841 (page 232).[permanent dead link]
(page 441) 10,000 âmes dans Montevideo (...) enfin, 4 000 âmes répandues dans la campagne de Montevideo.
In 1866, the French Uruguayan diaspora constituted only 16.48 percent of immigrants in the country. The Spanish was 33.54 percent and the Italian 33.13 percent. (page 238).[permanent dead link]
(p. 106) Para el censo de 1884, en la ciudad de Montevideo vivían 164 028 habitantes, de los cuales 7 383 eran franceses.
Uruguay : 9 500 (6%).
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