The first digital census of the Croats and their descendants in Argentina was presented in the premises of the Croatian Heritage Foundation (https://matis.hr/) on Tuesday. The census was conducted from June 30, 2020 to June 15, 2022 by Cristian Šprljan, Iva Vidić and Jelena Nadinić.
The census was presented by Jelena Nadinić, a member of the Committee on Croats outside the Republic of Croatia, and returnees – immigrants Paula Gadža, Nadir Ivanović and Soledad Rusoci.
The census included forty general and special questions, and all communication networks were used in its implementation. It was proudly pointed out that the project united all Croatian communities in Argentina and that many prominent Croats in Argentina participated in the call for participation in the census. The census achieved its goals, considering that it was on a voluntary basis, and there were totally 18,041 registered participants.
A poor turnout of young people was observed. It was pointed out that 97% of respondents were born in Argentina and that their average age was 42 years. Young people between the ages of 14 and 42, 6,800 of them, were specially surveyed in the period from March 23 to 29, 2022. The results showed that many descendants, even 67% of them, do not speak Croatian language because there is a lack of learning opportunities. Although a large part of the Croatian descendants in Argentina is very active in Croatian communities and associations, many do not have Croatian citizenship. The conclusion of the census clearly indicates that it is very important to promote Croatian heritage in the future. Projects like this could be implemented in other countries as well to get a more accurate number number of the Croatian emigrants in the world.
For more, check out our lifestyle section.
