This article is about the demographic features of the population of Chile, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Chile has a population of over 16 million people. About 85% is urban-dwelling, roughly half of which (approx. 7.0 million people) is densely concentrated in Greater Santiago. The population growth is amongst the lowest in Latin America, at around 0.97%, 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.
Origins and ethnicity
The Chilean population consists predominantly of White and White mestizos[1][2] (the product of racial mixture between colonial Spanish settlers and indigenous tribes and Europeans), three quarters white and one quarter Amerindian ancestry. In ethnic identity, the country is relatively homogenous, stemming from a largely cohesive national identity known locally as Chilenidad.
Chile's ethnic structure can be classified as 95% white and white mestizo and 5% Amerindian. A more detailed breakdown classifies 30% of Chileans as white and 65% as either mestizo or castizo ("white mestizo").[3] The bulk of the Chilean population features a considerably homogenous White/Mestizo quality,[3] the product of miscegenation between colonial Spanish immigrants and Amerindian females.
Immigration
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 (includes Scots and Irish), Italians, French, Germans, Austrians, Dutch, Scandinavians, Portuguese, Greeks and former Yugoslavians (esp. Croats). They did transform the country culturally, economically and politically.
In 1848 an important and sizable German immigration took place, laying the foundations of a present German-Chilean community. Sponsored by the Chilean government with aims of colonising the southern region. These Germans (which included german-speaking Swiss, Silesians, Alsatians and Austrians), markedly 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.
In the aftermaths of the Spanish Civil War, 2,200 Spanish Republicans landed in Valparaiso brought by the Winnipeg, a French ship which had been transformed by Pablo Neruda, then Consul in Paris for Immigration.
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, and a large Middle East Armenian community.
CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.
Population
- 16,284,741 (July 2007 est.)
16,284,742
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.)
- 1.223(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: 80.34 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
| White | Castizo/Mestizo | Amerindian | other race |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22% | 72% | 4% | 1% |
Religions
- Catholic, 70%
- Protestant or evangelical, 15.1%
- Jehovah's Witnesses, 1%
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 0.9%
- Jewish, 0.2%
- 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.
- 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: 98.1%
- Male: 96.4%
- Female: 96.1% (2003 est.)
References and web links
- ^ University of Talca www.atalca.cl
- ^ www.bartleby.com
- ^ a b "Elementos de Salud Pública" University of Chile, section 5.2.6
- ^ World Statesmen: Chile