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Spanish Words for “Shantytown” by Country

Every country in Latin America has shantytowns, and they all refer to them by different names.

Here’s a breakdown by country:

Argentina

  • Villas miseria (or simply “Villas” for short) 1
  • Villas de emergencia 2

Brazil

  • Favelas 3

Chile

  • Campamentos 4

Colombia

  • Barrios de invasión 5
  • Asentamientos informales 6

Mexico

  • Colonias

Peru

  • Asentamientos humanos (currently most used term; introduced in 1980) 7
  • Pueblos jóvenes (term introduced in 1968)
  • Barriadas (no longer used)

Uruguay

  • Cantegriles (or “Cantes” for short) 8 9

Venezuela

  • Ranchos 10

Sources

Since I don’t have firsthand experience with the vernacular of every country, I tried to use government pages, local news articles, or other reliable sources to verify the terms:

  1. Slums, Villas Miseria, and Barriadas: Why Terms Matter ↩︎
  2. Universidad de Buenos Aires ↩︎
  3. “Favela” Wikipedia page ↩︎
  4. Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile ↩︎
  5. Defined by the Colombian government ↩︎
  6. Defined by the Colombian government ↩︎
  7. “Las Barriadas de Lima” published 1991 ↩︎
  8. Hemisferio Izquierdo ↩︎
  9. “Cantegril” Wikipedia page ↩︎
  10. Universidad Central de Venezuela ↩︎

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