French Argentines are Argentines of full or partial French descent, or French-born people who reside in Argentina. Most of French immigrants settled in Argentina from the 1870s until WW1, though consistent immigration started in the 1820s and continued until the late 1940s. Half of these immigrants came from Southwestern France, especially from the Basque Country and Béarn (former Basses-Pyrénées accounted for more than 20% of immigrants), as well as Bigorre and Rouergue, but also from Savoy and the Paris region. As early as in the 1840s, Argentina also received immigrants with French background from neighboring countries, notably Uruguay. In 2006, it was estimated that around 6 million Argentines had some degree of French ancestry (up to 17% of the total population).