Buddhism in Argentina

Abstract

Although exact data on the number of Buddhists is missing, we estimate there are 30 thousand adherents. This means that, in Argentina, with a population of over 40 million inhabitants, Buddhism barely attains 0.08% of the population. However, it has undergone exponential growth, especially during Argentina's democratization period in the mid 1980's. In our case, the pluralizing of the religious sphere in recent decades manifests itself in the establishment of more than 80 Buddhist centers, attracting new members and occupying spaces previously monopolized by Catholicism. The aim of this work is to account for the presence and diversity of Argentinean Buddhism by examining its history and the main social-cultural features of this religion's associated centers.