Population of Chile from 1950, projected up to 2050 (INE)
has a population of over 16 million people. About 85% is urban-dwelling, roughly half of which (approx. 6.5 million people) is densely concentrated in
Greater Santiago. The population growth is amongst the lowest in
Latin America, at around 0.97%, and and comes in third only to
Uruguay and
Cuba. The population is growing enough to fill the
replacement rate, with the country's population expected to reach 20 million by the year 2025, and 20.2 million by 2050.
After three decades of recession and economic decline, Chile living standards rebounded and had unprecedented economic growth in the 1990s and early 2000s. In relation to income distribution, some 6.2% of the country populates the upper economic income bracket, 15% the middle bracket, 21% the lower middle, 38% the lower bracket, and 20% the extreme poor.
[1]
The population consists predominantly of
mestizos
[University of Talca www.atalca.cl][2][3] (the product of
racial mixture between colonial
Spanish settlers and indigenous tribes, in varying degrees of admixture) and
Europeans, with a notable
Amerindian minority. In
ethnic identity, the country is relatively homogenous, stemming from a largely cohesive national identity known locally as ''Chilenidad''. Not defined by race, Chilenidad manifests a sense of shared non-indigenous cultural identity, and the major conscious divide among Chileans is based on indigenous and non-indigenous identities.
Ethnic and genetic compostition
The bulk of the Chilean population features a considerably homogenous mestizo quality
[4], the product of
miscegenation between colonial
Spanish immigrants and
Amerindian females.
[5] Chile's ethnic structure can be classified as 30% white, 5% Native American and 65% predominantly white mestizos. Whites are mostly Spanish in origin (mainly
Castilians,
Andalusians and
Basques), and to a lesser degree from Chile's various waves of immigrants (
Italians,
Germans,
Israelis,
Yugoslavians,
Arabs, etc.). Foreigners have always been scarce in Chile, totalling 600 in the whole colonial period. At the 1960 census they numbered 105,000 (55% being Spanish, German, Italians or
Argentines, in that order). Besides being small in number, they mixed quickly with the locals. The black population was always scant, reaching a high of 25,000 during the colonial period; its racial contribution is less than 1%. The current Native American population is relatively small (see below) according to the censuses; their numbers are augmented when one takes into consideration those that are physically similar, and those that are linguistically or socially thought to belong to them.
Amerindian contribution tends to be strongest in the
lower echelons of society, with the middle majority presenting a more balanced degree of both
European and Amerindian ancestry, while the upper echelons of society tend to register the lowest degree of Amerindian contribution. Almost the entirety of the population, however, presents a racially mixed origin, and only a small minority can truly be said to be unmixed European or unmixed Amerindian. However, it is most probable that the unmixed Chilean Amerindian population is now extinct.
Based solely on
physical appearance, between 5 and 10% of the current population would be classified as Amerindian (a range coinciding with the last two census findings of indigenous self-identification), some 30% would be classified as
white[ racial structures in Chile--University of Chile], and the remaining majority, between 60 and 65%, would be the discernably
mestizo population tending towards a slightly greater input on the European side, and averaging a racial mixture not much lower than the average ratio for Chile's overall population.
According to the Program of Human Genetics of the
University of Chile, the average ratio of racial mixture for Chile's overall population, calculated by the use of nuclear markers, is approximately 60% European contribution and 40% Amerindian, depending on the socioeconomic level.
[www.scielo.cl] According to Rothhammer (1987/2004), that average ratio stands at 57% European contribution and 43% Amerindian.
[Admixture Studies in Latin America: From the 20th to the 21st Centurywww.backintyme.com]
The 1961 and 1971 Chilean censuses found that between 25 to 40% of the population claimed to be of "white", "Spanish" or "mostly European" descent. But in the 1981 and 1991 censuses, more people identified themselves as "mestizos" or not entirely Caucasian, thus an increase of the country's ''mestizaje'' identity.
Indigenous population
| Those belonging to recognised indigenous communities (2002) |
|---|
| Alacalufe | 2.622 | 0,02% | Mapuche | 604.349 | 4,00% |
| Atacameño | 21.015 | 0,14% | Quechua | 6.175 | 0,04% |
| Aymara | 48.501 | 0,32% | Rapanui | 4.647 | 0,03% |
| Colla | 3.198 | 0,02% | Yámana | 1.685 | 0,01% |
According to the 1992 Chilean census, a total of 9.5% of the total population declared themselves indigenous, irrespective of whether they currently practiced or spoke a native culture and language; almost one million people (9.7% of the total) declared themselves
Mapuche, 0.6% declared to be
Aymara, and a 0.2% reported as
Rapanui. At the 2002 census, only indigenous people that still practiced or spoke a native culture and language were surveyed: 4.6% of the population (692,192 people) fit that description; of these, 87.3% declared themselves Mapuche.
[Census 2002 IRE].
According to the 2002 census, only indigenous people who still practiced or spoke a native culture and language were surveyed: 4.6% of the population (692,192 people) fit that description; of these, 87.3% declared themselves Mapuche.
All other indigenous groups included non-Mapuche Amerindians, as well as the native
Polynesian people of
Easter Island, the
Rapa Nui.
Immigration
Relative to its overall population, Chile never experienced any large scale wave of immigrants.
[Chile: Moving Towards a Migration Policy www.migrationinformation.org] The total number of immigrants to Chile, both originating from other Latin American countries and all other (mostly European) countries, never surpassed 4% of its total population.
This is not to say that immigrants were not important to the evolution of Chilean society and the Chilean nation.
Some non-Spanish European immigrants arrived in Chile - mainly to the northern and southern extremities of the country - during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, including
Britons,
Italians,
French,
Germans,
Austrians,
Dutch,
Scandinavians,
Portuguese,
Greeks and
former Yugoslavia (mostly
Croats and
Serbs.) Though relatively few, they did transform the country culturally, economically and politically.
In 1848 a small but noteworthy
German immigration took place, sponsored by the Chilean government with aims of colonising the southern region. Though comprised only by an estimated 8,000, these Germans (some were
Swiss) influenced the cultural composition of the southern provinces of Valdivia, Llanquihue and Osorno. They settled lands opened by the Chilean government in order to populate the region.
Also worth mentioning are the sizable
Middle Eastern population, especially
Palestinian Chilean communities, the latter being the largest colony of that people outside of the Arab world, along with
Lebanese and
Syrians.
There's an established community of
Japanese-Chileans, one of the largest
Asian-Latin American populations, descendants of migrant laborers whom arrived in the late 1800s and an estimated 100,000 of Japanese descent live in the country. Also included are sizable
Chinese and
Korean communities.
The volume of immigrants from neighboring countries to Chile during those same periods was of a similar value, but there was an increase of
Chinese,
Taiwanese and
Middle East Armenian immigration to Chile since the 1990s.
Currently, immigration from neighboring countries to Chile is greatest, and during the last decade immigration to Chile has doubled to 184,464 people in 2002, originating primarily from
Argentina,
Bolivia and
Peru, and from other Latin American countries seeking new employment opportunities. A large majority of contract mine workers in famed mines in the
Atacama Desert and the Andes come from neighboring Bolivia.
Afro-Chileans, descendants of slaves in a country where
slavery was not widely practiced, live in an enclave of
Arica province, near the Peruvian border.
[African-American foundation of Chile]
And it's widely said a small
Cherokee migration pattern to South America included Chile in the late 19th century, thus the number of Cherokee descendants are at 100,000.
Emigration of Chileans
Emigration of Chileans has decreased during the last decade: It is estimated that 857,781 Chileans live abroad, 50.1% of those being in Argentina (the highest number), 13.3% in the
United States, 8.8% in
Brazil, 4.9% in
Sweden, and around 2% in
Australia, with the rest being scattered in smaller numbers across the globe. Other Chilean refugees settled (not ranked by order of size) in
Spain,
Mexico,
Costa Rica,
Canada,
France,
Germany,
Italy and
Great Britain.
Many pro-Allende refugees in the 1970s fled to
East Germany, including current president
Michelle Bachelet had also lived in Australia.
[6] While anti-Pinochet refugees formed a large expatriate community in Europe and a smaller community in
North America (the US and Canada).
Over 10,000 Chileans fleeing from both regimes settled in the US (a small number compared to other
Latino groups) in the 1970s and 1980s, the highest number settled in
Miami, Florida. But smaller enclaves are in
Washington, DC;
New York City; and
California (the
Los Angeles area -
Beverly Hills and
Long Beach); and
San Francisco (
San Mateo County).
Historic emigration took place in the early 19th century when Chilean ranchers went to Mexico after their independence. Thousands of miners from Chile went to
California, the U.S. during the 1850s
California gold rush, as well in other gold rushes in
Colorado (1870s) and the
Yukon (1890s). Small numbers of Chilean miners also migrated to
South Africa and Australia for the same reason.
''See also articles on overseas Chilean communities:''
Chilean American,
Chilean Australian and Chileans residing in
France and
Sweden.
Demographic data
Chile. Population density by comuna, based on census 2002
Population
:16,284,741 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure
:0-14 years: 24.1% (male 2,010,576/female 1,920,951)
:15-64 years: 67.4% (male 5,480,703/female 5,492,988)
:65 years and over: 8.5% (male 576,698/female 802,825) (2007 est.)
Median age
:total: 30.7 years
:male: 29.8 years
:female: 31.7 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate
:0.916% (2007 est.)
Birth rate
:15.03 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate
:5.87 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate
:0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio
:at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
:under 15 years: 1.047 male(s)/female
:15-64 years: 0.998 male(s)/female
:65 years and over: 0.718 male(s)/female
:total population: 0.982 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate
:total: 8.36 deaths/1,000 live births
:male: 9.09 deaths/1,000 live births
:female: 7.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
:total population: 76.96 years
:male: 73.69 years
:female: 80.4 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate
:1.97 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS
:People living with HIV/AIDS: 26,000 (2003 est.)
:Deaths: 1,400 (2003 est.)
Ethnic groups
| Whites | Mestizos | Amerindians |
|---|
| 30% | 65% | 5 % |
| 4,979,422 | 10,788,748 | 829,903 |
Religions
:Catholic, 70%
:Protestant or evangelical, 15.1%
:Jehovah's Witnesses, 1%
:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 0.9% (The
LDS web site reports it has 539,193 members in Chile which includes children age eight or older. This figure represents 3.43% of the total population, making it the single largest non-Catholic denomination in Chile.)
:Jewish, 0.1% (an estimated 25,000 Chilean Jews).
:Atheist or Agnostic, 8.3%
:Others, 4.4%.
:Less than 0.1% are either Eastern Orthodox or Muslim.
For the precise numbers of declared religions among the population ages 15 and over as indicated by the results of the latest census, see source
★ 2002 Census data
Languages
:
Spanish is the
official language, universal among the population.
:
Mapuche and various other smaller indigenous languages.
:Several thousand speakers of
German,
Croatian,
Arabic,
Italian,
Japanese and more foreign languages in immigrant communities, primarily in Santiago and Southern Chile.
Literacy
:Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
:Total population: 96.2%
:Male: 96.4%
:Female: 96.1% (2003 est.)
References and web links
1. Santiago Times
2. www.nationbynation.com
3. www.bartleby.com
4. "Elementos de Salud Pública" University of Chile, section 5.2.6
5. "DYS19 and DYS199 loci in a Chilean population of mixed ancestry" University of Chile
6. Bachelet is first female Chilean leader New Age (Online Newspaper)
★
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