{{Infobox ethnic group |group = Argentine Jews |native_name = |image = Buenos_Aires_-_Sinagoga_Central_-_200712.jpg |caption = Central Synagogue of Buenos Aires. |population =Core Jewish population:180,500 Enlarged Jewish population (includes non-Jewish relatives of Jews):330,000 |popplace = Predominantly in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires ProvinceCórdobaSanta FeEntre RíosTucumán |langs = Predominantly Spanish. Some speak Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, Judaeo-Spanish, Russian, Polish or German. |rels = JudaismJewish secularism }} The history of the Jews in Argentina goes back to the early sixteenth century, following the Jewish expulsion from Spain. Sephardi Jews fleeing persecution immigrated with explorers and colonists to settle in what is now Argentina, in spite of being forbidden from travelling to the American colonies. In addition, many of the Portuguese traders in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata were Jewish. An organized Jewish community, however, did not develop until after Argentina gained independence from Spain in 1816. By mid-century, Jews from France and other parts of Western Europe, fleeing the social and economic disruptions of revolutions, began to settle in Argentina. Reflecting the composition of the later immigration waves, the current Jewish population is 80% Ashkenazi; while Sephardi and Mizrahi are a minority. Argentina has the largest Jewish population of any country in Latin America, although numerous Jews left during the 1970s and 1980s to escape the repression of the military junta, emigrating to Israel, West Europe (especially Spain), and North America. The Jewish population in Argentina is the largest in Latin America, the third largest in the Americas, and the world's seventh largest outside Israel. During a major emigration wave in the 2000s, more than 10,000 Argentine Jews settled in Israel. History Early years Some Spanish conversos, or secret Jews, settled in Argentina during the Spanish colonial period (16th–19th century), had assimilated into the Argentine population. After Argentina gained independence, the General Assembly of 1813 officially abolished the Inquisition. The second wave of Jewish immigration from Europe began in the mid-19th century, during revolutions and extensive social disruption. Much of the Great European immigration wave to Argentina came from Western Europe, especially Italy. In 1860, the first Jewish wedding was recorded in Buenos Aires. A minyan was organized for High Holiday services a few years later, leading to the establishment of the Congregación Israelita de la República. Agricultural settlement In the late 19th century, Ashkenazi immigrants fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe settled in Argentina, attracted by its open-door immigration policy.