POPULATION GROWS

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXVII, Issue 3273, 2 March 1937, Page 7

POPULATION GROWS

STATISTICS FROM ARGENTINE.

The increasing growth of the Argentine population is shown in the calculation of the statistical bureau at Buenos Aires that there has been an increase of 4,500,000 in the last 22 years. The population on December 31, 1914, was 7,885,237; on December 31, 1935, it was 12,372,965, an increase of 80 per cent, in the "vegetative growth" and 20 per cent, in immigration.

While the number of Argentinians continued to grow, the number of inhabitants of other South American countries more or less remained stationary. Argentinian officials attributed the successful upbuilding of their nation to the richness of national soil and resources and a liberal immigration policy.

Community movements were interesting during 1935. The British, who have long constituted the wealthiest and most powerful colony in Argentina, had an adverse showing, arrivals numbering 5258 against 6202 departures. It is impossible to give an official computation of the British community in Argentina owning to the anomalies of dual nationality and consular registration and the distinctions between the large British resident population and the larger AngloArgentine domiciled population. Taking both together, the total must be near 100,000 for the whole republic. During 1935, the Italian, Spanish, and Polish arrivals outnumbered departures by 4539, 3968, and 3165 respectively. The Italian and Spanish communities are the largest of all, and are continually expanding. The American community also recorded an adverse showing during the last year, having 236 more departures than arrivals. The American community is mainly a post-war development, though many families and trading groups have been established in Buenos Aires and other parts of the republic for generations.