The Golden Era & Immigration
The Great Wave of Immigration (1880–1930)
Between 1880 and 1930, 6 million European immigrants came to Argentina — the country was literally repopulated. Most came from:
- Italy (approx. 44%): Hence, Argentine Spanish sounds like Italian! The singing intonation, the gesticulation, the love for pasta, pizza, and ice cream — all Italian heritage. Many Argentine surnames are Italian (Kirchner, Macri = Macrì, Messi). Buenos Aires is sometimes referred to as "the southernmost Italian city"
- Spain (approx. 32%): Mainly Galicians (hence all Spaniards in Argentina are called "Gallegos")
- Germany, Austria-Hungary (approx. 5%): The "Volga Germans" settled in the province of Entre Ríos. German colonies still exist in Patagonia (Bariloche, Villa General Belgrano)
- Eastern Europe (Poland, Ukraine, Russia): Mainly Jewish immigrants — Buenos Aires has the largest Jewish community in South America
- Syria, Lebanon: The "Turcos" (although they are not Turks) — Carlos Menem, an Argentine president, had Syrian roots
Argentina was around 1900 one of the richest countries in the world — the per capita income exceeded that of France, Germany, and Canada. Buenos Aires became the third-largest city in the world. The Belle Époque left behind the magnificent Art Nouveau palaces, the Teatro Colón, the wide boulevards — Buenos Aires wanted to be the "Paris of South America," and it succeeded. The famous phrase "Rich as an Argentine" was then a common saying in Europe.
What went wrong? The wealth was extremely unequally distributed: A tiny oligarchy owned vast estancias (landholdings) and lived in Parisian palaces, while the immigrants languished in the conventillos (tenement houses) of La Boca and San Telmo. From this gap emerged the Tango — and Peronism.