Info to consider
I'll talk a bit about some of these in class, but I thought I'd post some data on a few different countries in Latin America, to give you a simpler context for comparisons/contrasts:
ARGENTINA
Demographic: White 97%, Other 3%
Population: 39 million (13 million in Buenos Aires)
Literacy: 96.2%
GDP/capita: $11,200
CHILE
Demographic: White/mestizo 95%, Indian 3%, Other 2%
Population: 15 million (5 million in Santiago)
Literacy: 96%
GDP/capita: $9,900
PERU
Demographic: Indian 45%, Mestizo 37%, White 15%
Population: 27 million (8 million in Lima)
Literacy: 91%
GDP/capita: $5,200
MEXICO
Demographic: Mestizo 60%, Indian 30%, White 9%
Population: 105 million (21 million in Mexico City)
Literacy: 92%
GDP/capita: $9,000
ECUADOR
Demographic: Mestizo 65%, Indian 25%, White 7%
Population: 13 million (2.5 million in Quito)
Literacy: 93%
GDP/capita: $3,300
BRAZIL
Demographic: White 55%, Mulatto 38%, Black 6%
Population: 184 million (2 million in Brazilia)
Literacy: 80%
GDP/capita: $7,600
All this data comes from Infoplease, if you'd like to look up other countries or just more detail.
1 Comments:
There are many similarites and differences between Argentina, Chile, and Brazil. Lets look at demographics. Brazil with its large population of 184 million dwarfs Chile (pop. 15 million) and Argentina (pop. 39 million. The racial makeup of these countries is also quite different. Argentina is probably the whitest country on earth with 97% of its population being white. This was due to all of the Spanish and Italian immigration. Chile also has a large white population but a large mestizo population as well. Brazil has a 55% white population but 38% of its people are mulatto (half black, half white).
When it comes to politics, Argentina and Brazil both had popular fascist dictators (Peron and Vargas). There are still political parties in these countries today that are based on these men. Chile never had a popular fascist dictator although it did have a fascist dictator, Pinochet, whose rule was more brutal than those of Vargas or Peron. The 1987 U2 song "Mothers of the Disappeared" is about the rule of Pinochet and all the people he killed. All three of the countries flirted with fascism in the 20th century but are democratic now.
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