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Argentine culture has been primarily informed and influenced by its European roots. Buenos Aires is undeniably the most European city in South America and considered by many its cultural capital, due both to the prevalence of people of European descent and to conscious imitation.
Argentina has a rich history of world-renowned literature, including one of 20th century's most critically acclaimed writers, Jorge Luis Borges. Argentine cinema has achieved international recognition with films such as "The Official Story", "Nine Queens" or "Iluminados por el Fuego", although they only rarely rival Hollywood-type movies in popularity. Even low-budget productions, however, have earned prizes in cinema festivals (such as Cannes). The city of Mar del Plata organizes its own festival dedicated to this art. Argentine food is influenced by cuisine from Spain, Italy, Germany, France and other European countries. Argentina has a wide variety of staple foods, which include: Empanadas, a stuffed pastry; Locro, a mixture of corn, beans, meat, bacon, onion, and gourd; and Chorizo, a meat-based spicy sausage. The Argentine barbecue is one of the most famous in the world and includes various types of meats, among them chorizo, mollejas, chinchulín, and morcilla. A common custom among Argentines is mate.
Football is the most popular sport, although the national sport of the country is Pato. Argentina has a number of highly-ranked Polo players. |
Argentine culture is exemplified by its music and dance, particularly tango. To foreigners, tango refers to a particular dance, but the music together with the lyrics (often sung in a kind of slang called lunfardo) are what most Argentines primarily mean by tango. In modern Argentina, tango music is enjoyed by itself, particularly since the radical Ástor Piazzolla redefined the music of Carlos Gardel. Since the 1970s, rock and roll has been widely popular in Argentina. Rock and roll and pop music have experienced periodic bursts of popularity, with many new bands (such as Soda Stereo and Sumo) and composers (such as Charly García and Fito Páez) becoming important referents of national culture. Argentine rock is the most listened-to music among youth. Buenos Aires is considered the techno and electronica capital of Latin America, and hosts a variety of events including local raves, the South American Music Conference, and Creamfields (which has the world record of 65,000 people). European classical music is well-represented in Argentina. Buenos Aires is home to the world-renowned Colón Theater. Classical musicians, such as Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim, and classical composers like Alberto Ginastera have become internationally famous. |
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The only national official language of Argentina is Spanish, though the Amerindian language Guaraní also holds official status in the province of Corrientes. Some immigrants and indigenous communities have retained their original languages in specific points of the country. For example, Patagonia has many Welsh-speaking towns, and there are a number of German-speaking cities in Córdoba, Buenos Aires and again in Patagonia. Italian, English and French are widely spoken, and other languages such as Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Russian are easily found in Buenos Aires, where the main immigrant communities are found.
Argentina is the largest Spanish-speaking community in the world that employs voseo (the use of the pronoun vos instead of tú, associated with some alternate verb conjugations). The most prevalent dialect is Rioplatense, with most speakers located in the basin of the Río de la Plata. A phonetic study conducted by the Laboratory for Sensory Investigations of CONICET and the University of Toronto showed that the accent of the inhabitants of Buenos Aires (known locally as Porteños) is closer to the Neapolitan Italian dialect than any other spoken language, which can be traced to the influx of Italian immigrants to the port city. This immigration had a profound influence on Lunfardo, the slang spoken in Buenos Aires and the Río de la Plata, which has since permeated popular vocabulary in the region. |
Argentina is an overwhelmingly Christian country. The majority of Argentina's population (80 percent) is at least nominally Roman Catholic. Roman Catholicism is supported by the state and endorsed in the Constitution. Evangelical churches have gained a foothold in Argentina since the 1980s, and their followers now number more than 3.5 million or 10 percent of the total population. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) number over 330,300, the seventh-largest concentration in the world. Traditional Protestant communities are also present. The country also hosts the largest Jewish population in Latin America, about 2 percent of the population. It is also home to one of the largest mosques in Latin America, serving Argentina's small Muslim community.
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Argentines commemorate a number of historical events, such as the May Revolution (25 May), Independence Day (9 July), Malvinas Day (2 April) and Memorial Day (24 March, the start of the dictatorship of the Proceso). They also celebrate National Flag Day (20 June) through its creator, Manuel Belgrano, and Teachers' Day (11 September) with an homage to Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. The Liberator José de San Martín is honored on 17 August. Historical figures like San Martín, Belgrano and Sarmiento are remembered on the anniversary of their death, rather than their birth. Argentina also celebrates international holidays such as Labor Day and Columbus Day, and several Catholic holidays including Christmas, Immaculate Conception and Easter. |
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