How does the ancestry of Brazil's population compare with the ancestry of Argentina's population?

Answer 1

First, Brazil had changed its capital city from Rio de Janeiro to Brazilia. Most people then started to crowd that city. After that, Brazil surpassed the population of Argentina and Brazil became the most populated country in Latin America. Brazil's population has increased by 1.13% while Argentina's increased by 1.02%.

The question seems to be asking more about the ethnic origins of the people living in the two countries. Each country had significant populations of indigenous people before the arrival of Europeans but the indigenous people now consititute minorities in both countries.

The vast majority of the population of Argentina are the descendants of immigrants. The indigenous population is now around 1.6% of the total population. Most Argentines are descended from colonial-era settlers and of the 19th and 20th century immigrants from Europe. An estimated 8% of the population is Mestizo (people of mixed heritage or descent), and a further 4% of Argentines are of Arab or Asian heritage. with a little math we can determine that about 86% of Argentines are of exclusively or almost exclusively European ancestry.

By contrast the degree of miscegenation in Brazil has been very high, as Brazil was colonized by male Portuguese adventurers who tended to procreate with Amerindian and African women. According to the 2008 national census where the population identified their "race", the Brazilian population is composed of:

• Brancos (white) (48.43% of the population);
• Pardos (brown) (43.80%)
• Pretos (black) (6.84%);
• Amarelos (yellow) (0.58%);
• Indigenous (0.28%);
• Undeclared (0.07%).

Obviously the degree of mixing is much greater than in Argentina, but the largest fraction of the DNA in the ancestral pool still seems to have come from Europe. Brazilian population is characterized by a genetic background of three parental populations (European, African, and Brazilian Native Amerindians) with a wide degree and diverse patterns of admixture. European ancestry is the predominant ancestry in Brazil, accounting for nearly 70% of the ancestry of the population. Nevertheless around 80-90% of Brazilians have at least 10% of ancestral DNA coming from Africans. Overall African contribution accounts for 24.80% of the heritage of the population. Native American ancestry is significant and present in all regions of Brazil.