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 Total population

130,000

0.4% of Argentina’s population (2001)

Regions with significant populations

Buenos Aires

Language(s)

Rioplatense Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Lao, others

Religion(s)

Buddhism, Christianity, Shinto, others

Related ethnic groups

Asians, Asian Latinos, Asian-Americans, Asian-Canadians, British Asians, etc.

An Asian-Argentine is defined as an Argentine of Asian ancestry, either born within Argentina, or born elsewhere and later to become a citizen or resident of Argentina. Asian-Argentines settled in Argentina in large numbers during several waves of immigration in the twentieth century. Primarily living in their own neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires, many currently own their own businesses of varying sizes - largely textiles, grocery retailing, and buffet-style restaurants. The small Asian-Argentine population has generally kept a low profile, and is accepted by greater Argentine society.

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A small neighborhood grocery store in Buenos Aires owned by Asian-Argentines

Today, there are an estimated 130,000 Asian-Argentines, with 60,000 of Chinese descent, 35,000 of Korean descent, 32,000 of Japanese descent, and 2,000 of Lao descent.

Koreans live primarily in the Balvanera and Flores districts of Buenos Aires, and are mainly involved in the manufacturing and selling of textiles.

Meanwhile, the Chinese live in the small Chinatown with a Buddhist temple in Belgrano. Many of them are involved with grocery retailing, which has caused Chinese-owned stores to become a common feature of Buenos Aires.

Younger generations of Chinese-Argentines (dubbed ArgenChinos) have readily adopted local ways, with some becoming celebrities, including sports people, a film director, and an anchorwoman

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 Due to their unfamiliarity with Asia, Argentines, most of whom are descendants of Europeans, tend to view Asian-Argentines as exotic, which may have a negative connotation.

Presently, the reputation of the community has been jeopardized due to allegations of corrupt business practices. Investigations within Korean-Argentine textile factories and stores have shown that illegal workers from Bolivia were employed in these places.[1][2] Because of this, many Korean-Argentines feel that their community has been unfairly targeted due to their economic success.

Another incident occurred in June of 2006, when the union of truck drivers began a boycott of Chinese-owned stores. This was due to an alleged gun-related incident between a driver and a store owner, which involved illegal firearms [3]. Shortages in stores were reported due to a lack of deliveries until the boycott was officially lifted the following month

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 The first Japanese-Argentine Nisei (second generation), Seicho Arakaki, was born in 1911.

Los Parraleños, a band from Buenos Aires, is composed almost entirely of Japanese-Argentines [1]. The group mixes local music styles, primarily “cumbia”, with influences of rock and heavy metal and a good measure of sense of humor (some of their themes lampooning Japanese stereotypes). During the beginnings of their career, they used to play at parties held by the Japanese community, but today their performance is directed to mainstream Argentine public. During the 1990s, los Tintoreros (”the Dry Cleaners”), among whom only the drummer was not a Japanese descendant, enjoyed a certain success, chosen as a revelation group by the press in 1997

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