Culture & Identity of Argentina
Introduction
The Argentines seem to have a culture that resembles, but doesn't perfectly imitate that of Europe. Unlike a melting pot culture, Argentina seems to have adopted certain aspects of various cultures more than they have merged these cultures. The Argentines speak Spanish like Spain, but they like to say they eat like Italians, live like the French and think like the English, all of which is true to some degree. The Argentines are European in ethnicity, fashion, food, lifestyle, and work, especially when compared to many of their neighbors. This leads to a way of life that falls somewhere between that of Europe and that of South America, but is wholly Argentine.
Argentina is an incredibly urban country with over 90% of the population living in cities. This is slightly challenging the culture in a number of ways, most notably since the culture of Argentina is, in many ways, based on the lifestyle of the ranchers, who are by definition rural. The ranchers also enjoy long extended lunches, but today in the cities this practice is slowly dying as many jobs ask their employees to work from about 9:00 am to 5:00 pm; therefore eliminating the long lunch many people still enjoy. The business landscape is slowly altering the daily schedule in Argentina, but few people view work as being as important as friends or family. None-the-less, the people do well financially, especially compared to many other South American countries as the GDP per capita is nearly $20,000.