(First row:) Emperor Pedro IIDom Pedro II , nicknamed "the Magnanimous", was the second and last ruler of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was the seventh child of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of...
· Duke of CaxiasLuís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias , nicknamed "the Peacemaker" and "Iron Duke", was an army officer, politician and monarchist of the Empire of Brazil. Caxias pursued a military career, as had his father and many relatives before him. In 1823, he fought as a young officer during most of...
· Viscount of MauáIrineu Evangelista de Sousa, the Viscount of Mauá was a Brazilian entrepreneur, industrialist, banker and politician. He was called the Rothschild of the South American continent by the New York Times in 1871. He received the titles of baron and visconde com grandeza of Mauá...
· André RebouçasAndré Pinto Rebouças was a Brazilian military engineer, abolitionist and inventor, son of Antônio Pereira Rebouças and Carolina Pinto Rebouças. Lawyer, member of Parliament and an adviser to Pedro II of Brazil, his father was the son of a manumitted slave and a Portuguese tailor...
· (Second row:) Carlos GomesAntônio Carlos Gomes was the first New World composer whose work was accepted by Europe.-Life:He was born in Campinas, Brazil, son of Maestro Manuel José Gomes and Fabiana Maria Jaguari Cardoso....
· Machado de Assis · Joaquim NabucoJoaquim Aurélio Barreto Nabuco de Araújo was a Brazilian writer, statesman, and a leading voice in the abolitionist movement of his country.-Biography:...
· Alberto Santos Dumont
· (Third row:) Native Brazilian · PeléHowever, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
· Ayrton SennaAyrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
· Fernanda MontenegroFernanda Montenegro is a Brazilian stage, television and film actress, mostly recognized for her leading role in Central Station, which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first Brazilian actor to be nominated.She is commonly revered as one of Brazil's finest...
· (Fourth row:) Vanessa da MataVanessa da Mata - with full name Vanessa Sigiane da Mata Ferreira - is a Latin Grammy Award-winning Brazilian MPB singer, songwriter...
· Gisele BündchenGisele Caroline Bündchen is a Brazilian fashion model, occasional film actress and goodwill ambassador for the UN Environment Programme.In the late 1990s, Bündchen became one of the first in a wave of Brazilian models to find success...
· Sérgio Vieira de MelloSérgio Vieira de Mello was a Brazilian United Nations employee who worked for the UN for more than 34 years, earning respect and praise around the world for his efforts in the humanitarian and political programs of the UN...
· Alice BragaAlice Braga Moraes is a Brazilian actress. She has appeared in several Brazilian films, most notably as Angélica in 2002's highly acclaimed City of God and as Karina in 2005's Lower City...
|poptime=
c. 192,853,373 Brazilians (2010)
|regions = {{BRA}} {{nbsp|6}} 190 million
|region1 =
United States
|pop1 = 350,650
|ref1 =
|region2 =
Paraguay
|pop2 = ~320,000
|ref2 =
|region3 =
Japan
|pop3 = 136,967
|ref3 =
|region5 =
Spain
|pop5 = ~60,000
|ref5 = || 2001
|region6 =
Italy
|pop6 = 46,690
|ref6 =
|region7 =
Portugal
|pop7 = ~46,220
|ref7 =
|region8 =
United Kingdom
|pop8 = 10,000–70,000
|ref8 =
|region9 =
Germany
|pop9 = ~20,000
|ref9 =
|region10 =
Switzerland
|pop10 = ~20,000
|ref10 =
|region11 =
Argentina
|pop11 = 34.712
|region12 =
|pop12 = 34,712
|ref12 =
|region13 =
Canada
|pop13 = ~20,000
|ref13 =
|region14 =
Chile
|pop14 = ~15,000
|ref14 =
|region15 =
Netherlands
|pop15 = ~6,000
|ref15 =
|langs=
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
(99%)
Indigenous languagesIndigenous languages of the Americas are spoken by indigenous peoples from Alaska and Greenland to the southern tip of South America, encompassing the land masses which constitute the Americas. These indigenous languages consist of dozens of distinct language families as well as many language...
(0.2%)
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(Hunsrückisch,Pomerisch and Plautdietsch) (0.8%)
|rels=Predominantly Roman Catholic (68%)
ProtestantismProtestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
(19%)
No religious affiliation (7.4%)
SpiritismSpiritism is a loose corpus of religious faiths having in common the general belief in the survival of a spirit after death. In a stricter sense, it is the religion, beliefs and practices of the people affiliated to the International Spiritist Union, based on the works of Allan Kardec and others...
(1.3%)
Afro-Brazilian religions (0.3%)
|related-c=
PortugueseThe Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
{{•}}
ItalianThe Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
{{•}}
Latin AmericansLatin Americans are the citizens of the Latin American countries and dependencies. Latin American countries are multi-ethnic, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds. As a result, some Latin Americans don't take their nationality as an ethnicity, but identify themselves with...
{{•}}
AfricansAfrican people refers to natives, inhabitants, or citizen of Africa and to people of African descent.-Etymology:Many etymological hypotheses that have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa":...
{{•}}
Indigenous peoplesThe Indigenous peoples in Brazil comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country prior to the European invasion around 1500...
{{•}} Japanese{{•}}
BrasiguayosBrasiguayo or brasiguaio is a term referring to Brazilian migrants in Paraguay and their descendants. They typically live in the Southeastern Paraguayan departments of Canindeyú and Alto Paraná, which border with Brazil. Most emigrated from Brazil by the 1960s. They are often accused of imposing...
{{•}} Other Lusophone peoples{{•}} German {{•}} Other europeans
}}
Brazilians (
brasileiros in
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
) are all people born in
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. A Brazilian can be also a person born abroad to a Brazilian parent or a foreigner living in Brazil who applied for Brazilian citizenship.
Who is a Brazilian?
{{Main|Brazilian nationality law}}
According to the
Constitution of BrazilDuring its independent political history, Brazil has had seven constitutions. The most recent was ratified on October 5, 1988.-Imperial Constitution :Background...
, a Brazilian citizen is:
- Anyone born in Brazil, even if to foreign parents. However, if the foreign parents were at the service of a foreign State (like foreign diplomats
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
), the child is not Brazilian;
- Anyone born abroad to a Brazilian parent, with registration of birth in a Brazilian Embassy or Consulate. Also, a person born abroad to a Brazilian parent who was not registered but who, after turning 18 years old, went to live in Brazil;
- A foreigner living in Brazil who applied for and was accepted as a Brazilian citizen (naturalized Brazilian).
According to the Constitution, all people who hold Brazilian citizenship are equal, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or religion.
A foreigner can apply for Brazilian citizenship after living for 15 uninterrupted years in Brazil and being able to speak Portuguese. A native person from an official Portuguese language country (
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
,
AngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
,
MozambiqueMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
,
Cape VerdeThe Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
,
São Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about apart and about , respectively, off...
, Guinea Bissau and
East TimorThe Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
) can request the
Brazilian nationalityBrazilian nationality law is based on the principle of Jus soli. As a general rule, any person born in Brazil acquires Brazilian citizenship at birth, irrespective of status of parents. Nationality law is regulated by Article 12 of the Brazilian Federal Constitution.-Birth in Brazil:Any person...
after only 1 uninterrupted year living in Brazil. A foreign born person who holds Brazilian citizenship has exactly the same
rightRights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory...
s and duties of the Brazilian citizen by birth, but cannot occupy some special public positions such as the Presidency of the Republic, Vice-presidency of the Republic, Minister (Secretary) of Defense, Presidency (Speaker) of the Senate, Presidency (Speaker) of the House of Representatives, Officer of the Armed Forces and Diplomat.
The Portuguese prerogative
According to the Brazilian Constitution, the
Portuguese peopleThe Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
have a special status in Brazil. Article 12, first paragraph of the Constitution, grants to citizens of
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
with permanent residence in Brazil "the rights attached to Brazilians", excluded from the constitutional prerogatives of Brazilian born. Requirements for the granting of equality are:
habitual residenceIn conflict of laws, habitual residence is the standard used to determine the law which should be applied to determine a given legal dispute. It can be contrasted with the law on domicile, traditionally used in common law jurisdictions to do the same thing....
(permanent), the
age of majorityThe age of majority is the threshold of adulthood as it is conceptualized in law. It is the chronological moment when minors cease to legally be considered children and assume control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thereby terminating the legal control and legal responsibilities of...
and formulation of request from the Minister of Justice.
In Brazil, the Portuguese may require equal treatment with regard to civil rights; moreover, they may ask to be granted political rights granted to Brazilians (except the rights exclusive to the Brazilian born). In the latter case, this requires a minimum of three years of permanent residence.
The use of citizenship by non-Brazilian nationals (in this case, Portuguese) is a rare exception to the principle that nationality is a
sine qua nonSine qua non or condicio sine qua non refers to an indispensable and essential action, condition, or ingredient...
for citizenship, granted to the Portuguese - if with reciprocal treatment for the Brazilians in Portugal - due to the historic relationship between the two countries.
Ethnic groups
Brazil is a
multiethnic societyA multiethnic society is one with members belonging to more than one ethnic group, in contrast to societies which are ethnically homogenous. In practice, virtually all contemporary national societies are multiethnic...
, which means that it is home to people of many different ethnical backgrounds. As a result, the people there usually treat their nationality as a citizenship, but not an ethnicity.
Overview
Brazilians are mostly
descendantsKinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
of
colonialIn the history of Brazil, Colonial Brazil, officially the Viceroyalty of Brazil comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to kingdom alongside Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.During the over 300 years...
and post-colonial
PortuguesePortuguese Brazilians are Brazilian citizens whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Portugal. Most of the Portuguese arrived throughout the centuries to Brazil, sought economic opportunities...
settlers and immigrants,
African slavesIn Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...
and
Brazil's indigenous peoplesThe Indigenous peoples in Brazil comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country prior to the European invasion around 1500...
, along with several other groups of immigrants who arrived in Brazil mostly from the 1820s until the 1970s. Most of the immigrants were Italians and Portuguese, but also significant numbers of
GermansA German Brazilian is a Brazilian person of ethnic German ancestry or origin...
,
SpaniardsSpanish emigration peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it was concentrated to Argentina and Cuba. Between 1882 and 1930, 3,297,312 Spaniards emigrated, of whom 1,594,622 went to Argentina and 1,118,960 went to Cuba...
,
Japanese, and
Lebanese and SyriansAn Arab Brazilian is a Brazilian citizen born in an Arabic country, or a Brazilian-born person of Arab descent, who is aware of such ancestry and remains connected, in some degree, to Arabic culture.- Immigration to Brazil :...
.
{{multiple image
| align = left
| direction = vertical
| header =
| header_align = left/right/center
| header_background =
| footer =
| footer_align = left/right/center
| footer_background =
| width =
| image1 = Brazilians 001.JPG
| width1 = 330
| alt1 =
| caption1 = The Brazilian people has several ethnic groups. First row:
WhiteWhite Brazilians make up 48.4% of Brazil's population, or around 92 million people, according to the IBGE's 2008 PNAD . Whites are present in the entire territory of Brazil, although the main concentrations are found in the South and Southeastern parts of the country...
(
PortuguesePortuguese Brazilians are Brazilian citizens whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Portugal. Most of the Portuguese arrived throughout the centuries to Brazil, sought economic opportunities...
,
GermanA German Brazilian is a Brazilian person of ethnic German ancestry or origin...
, Italian and
ArabAn Arab Brazilian is a Brazilian citizen born in an Arabic country, or a Brazilian-born person of Arab descent, who is aware of such ancestry and remains connected, in some degree, to Arabic culture.- Immigration to Brazil :...
, respectively) and Asian Brazilians. Second row : African,
PardoIn Brazil, Pardo is a race/colour category used by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics in Brazilian censuses. It is a Portuguese word that encompasses various shades of brown, but is usually translated as "grayish-brown"...
(Cafuzo,
MulattoMulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
and
CabocloA caboclo or caboco is a person of a mixed Brazilian Indian and European ancestry. In Brazil, a caboclo is a specific type of mestiço as is the mulato, a person of a mixed Afro-Brazilian and European ancestry....
, respectively) and Native (Indian) Brazilians.
| image2 = Main ethnic groups in brazil.JPG
| width2 = 330
| alt2 =
| caption2 = Main Brazilian ethnic groups.
}}
When the Portuguese arrived in
South AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
in the
1500s, Brazil was inhabited by an estimated 2.4 million
AmerindiansThe Indigenous peoples in Brazil comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country prior to the European invasion around 1500...
, who had been living there since the
PleistoceneThe Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
. From 1500 until its independence in 1822, Brazil was settled by some 724,000 Portuguese, mostly men. Portugal remained the only significant source of European immigrants to Brazil until the early 19th century. As a result of the
Atlantic slave tradeThe Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
, from the mid-16th century until 1855, an estimated 4 million African slaves were brought to Brazil. In 1808, the Portuguese court moved to Brazil and opened its seaports to other nations. Then, other groups of immigrants started to immigrate to the country.
From 1820 to 1975, 5,686,133
immigrantsImmigration to Brazil is the movement to Brazil of foreign persons to reside permanently. It should not be confused with the colonisation of the country by the Portuguese, or with the forcible bringing of people from Africa as slaves....
entered Brazil, the vast majority of them Europeans. Portuguese and Italians arrived in equal numbers, and numbered close to 70% of all immigrants. The rest was composed mainly of Spaniards,
GermansThe Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
,
JapaneseThe are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
,
SyriansThe Syrian people are the inhabitants and citizens of Syria. Syrians are tied together by geography, linguistic heritage, religion, and similar Eastern Mediterranean ethnicities...
and
LebaneseThe Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
.
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) classify the Brazilian population in five categories:
brancos (white),
negros (
blackThe term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
),
pardoIn Brazil, Pardo is a race/colour category used by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics in Brazilian censuses. It is a Portuguese word that encompasses various shades of brown, but is usually translated as "grayish-brown"...
s (
brownBrown people or brown race is a political, racial, ethnic, societal, and cultural classification, similar to black people and white people. Like these, it is a metaphor for race based on human skin color, reflecting the fact that there are shades of skin colour intermediate between "Mediterranean" ...
),
amarelos (
Asian/yellowAsian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
) and
índios (
AmerindianThe Indigenous peoples in Brazil comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country prior to the European invasion around 1500...
), based on
skin colorHuman skin color is primarily due to the presence of melanin in the skin. Skin color ranges from almost black to white with a pinkish tinge due to blood vessels underneath. Variation in natural skin color is mainly due to genetics, although the evolutionary causes are not completely certain...
or race. The last detailed census (PNAD) found Brazil to be made up of 93 million Whites, 80 million brown people, 11.7 million Blacks, and 1.3 million Asian or Amerindian.
In the 2005 detailed census, for the first time in two decades, the number of White Brazilians did not exceed 50% of the population. On the other side, the number of
pardos (Brown) people increased and all the others remained almost the same. According to the IBGE, this trend is mainly because of the revaluation of the identity of historically discriminated ethnic groups.
The ethnic composition of Brazilians is not uniform across the country. Due to its large influx of
EuropeanThe ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
immigrants in the 19th century, the Southern Region has a large White majority, composing 79.6% of its population. The Northeastern Region, as a result of the large numbers of African slaves working in the sugar cane
engenhoEngenho is a colonial-era Portuguese term for a cane sugar mill and the associated facilities. The word engenho usually only referred to the mill, but it could also describe the area as a whole including land, a mill, the people who farmed and who had a knowledge of sugar production, and a crop of...
s, has a majority of
pardos and black peoples, respectively, 63.1% and 7.0%. Northern Brazil, largely covered by the
Amazon RainforestThe Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
, is 71.5%
pardo, due to Amerindian ancestry. Southeast and Central-Western Brazil have a more balanced ratio among different racial groups.
In 2009, the country was home to 682,000
foreign bornForeign born is a term used to describe a person born outside of their country of residence. Foreign born are often non-citizens, but are also frequently naturalized citizens of a country....
people, that represents 0.36% of the Brazilian population. The major work visas concessions were granted for citizens of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
In 2010, Brazil is home to 4,251
refugeeA refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s from 76 different nationalities. The largest refugee ancestries were
AngolanAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
(1688),
ColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n (583),
CongoThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
lese (402),
LiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
n (259), and
IraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i (197).
White
{{Main|White Brazilian}}
Skin colorHuman skin color is primarily due to the presence of melanin in the skin. Skin color ranges from almost black to white with a pinkish tinge due to blood vessels underneath. Variation in natural skin color is mainly due to genetics, although the evolutionary causes are not completely certain...
or
Race |
Perc.(%)
(rounded values) |
| 2000 |
2008 |
WhiteWhite Brazilians make up 48.4% of Brazil's population, or around 92 million people, according to the IBGE's 2008 PNAD . Whites are present in the entire territory of Brazil, although the main concentrations are found in the South and Southeastern parts of the country...
|
53.74% |
48.43% |
| Black |
6.21% |
6.84% |
| Mixed-race In Brazil, Pardo is a race/colour category used by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics in Brazilian censuses. It is a Portuguese word that encompasses various shades of brown, but is usually translated as "grayish-brown"...
|
38.45% |
43.80% |
East AsianAn Asian Brazilian is is a Brazilian citizen of full or partial Asian ancestry, who remains culturally connected to Asia, or an Asian-born person permanently residing in Brazil. Brazil received many immigrants from Asia, both from Middle East and East Asia...
|
0.45% |
0.58% |
AmerindianThe Indigenous peoples in Brazil comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who inhabited the country prior to the European invasion around 1500...
|
0.43% |
0.28% |
| Not declared |
0.71% |
0.07% |
Whites constitute the majority of Brazil's population. The country has the second largest
White populationWhite Brazilians make up 48.4% of Brazil's population, or around 92 million people, according to the IBGE's 2008 PNAD . Whites are present in the entire territory of Brazil, although the main concentrations are found in the South and Southeastern parts of the country...
in the
AmericasThe Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, around 93 million, after only the United States, the largest in the
Southern HemisphereThe Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
, and the third largest in the
WorldWorld is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
, after the U.S. and Russia. The main European and Arab origins in Brazil are Portuguese,
Italian-Italian immigration to Brazil:The Italian government claims there are 25 million Brazilians of Italian descent, which would be the largest population of Italian background outside of Italy itself. There are no actual surveys, or even verifiable calculations supporting such claims. According to...
,
SpanishSpanish emigration peaked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it was concentrated to Argentina and Cuba. Between 1882 and 1930, 3,297,312 Spaniards emigrated, of whom 1,594,622 went to Argentina and 1,118,960 went to Cuba...
,
GermanA German Brazilian is a Brazilian person of ethnic German ancestry or origin...
,
LebaneseA Lebanese Brazilian is a Brazilian person of full, partial, or predominantly Lebanese ancestry, or a Lebanese-born person immigrant in Brazil....
,
SyrianSyrian Brazilian is a Brazilian person of full, partial, or predominantly Syrian ancestry, or a Syrian-born person immigrant in Brazil....
, and
PolishA Polish Brazilian is a Brazilian person of full or partial Polish ancestry, who is aware of such ancestry and remains connected, in some degree, to Polish culture, or a Polish-born person permanently residing in Brazil. The number of Polish descendants in Brazil is estimated at 1.8 million...
. There are people of white descent distributed throughout Brazil; however, the Southeastern and Southern regions have the largest white populations.
Black
{{Main|Black Brazilian}}
Blacks constitute the third largest ethnic group of Brazil, 12 million. People who have origins in any of the black populations of
AfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. In the country, the terms are generally used for Brazilians with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Most African Brazilians are the direct descendants of captive Africans who survived the slavery era within the boundaries of the present Brazil, but also with some European and Amerindian ancestry (in average, when combined, they surpass 50% making the Subsaharan African non-dominant according to genetic research, like Multiracial and the majority of race-mixed White Brazilians).
Brown (Multiracial)
{{Main|Pardo}}
Multiracials constitute the second largest ethnic group of Brazil, 79 million. Multiracials in the country are people of mixed race ancestry, marked by a mixture of Whites, Blacks and Amerindians. The color varies of light to dark. The largest Multiracial population is located in Northeastern and Northern Brazil. In the Spanish America is characterized by Mestizo.
East Asian
{{Main|Asian Brazilian}}
Asians constitute the fourth largest ethnic group of Brazil, 1 million. The largest Asian ethinic group in the country is
Japanese. Brazil has the largest population of Japanese outside of Japan. The others are Chinese, Taiwanese and South Korean.
Amerindian
{{Main|Native Brazilian}}
Amerindians constitute the fifth largest ethnic group of Brazil, 500 thousand. Is the oldest ethinic group in the country, mainly located in Amazon Forest.
Genetic studies
Genetic studies have shown the Brazilian population as a whole to have European, African and Native Americans components.
Autosomal studies
A recent autosomal
DNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
study (2011), with nearly 1000 samples from all over the country ("whites", "pardos" and "blacks"), found out a major European contribution, followed by a high African contribution and an important Native American component. "In all regions studied, the European ancestry was predominant, with proportions ranging from 60.6% in the Northeast to 77.7% in the South". The 2011 autosomal study samples came from blood donors (the lowest classes constitute the great majority of blood donors in Brazil ), and also public health institutions personnel and health students.
| Region |
European |
African |
Native American |
| Northern Brazil |
68,80% |
10,50% |
18,50% |
| Northeast of Brazil |
60,10% |
29,30% |
8,90% |
| Southeast Brazil |
74,20% |
17,30% |
7,30% |
| Southern Brazil |
79,50% |
10,30% |
9,40% |
According to an
autosomalAn autosome is a chromosome that is not a sex chromosome, or allosome; that is to say, there is an equal number of copies of the chromosome in males and females. For example, in humans, there are 22 pairs of autosomes. In addition to autosomes, there are sex chromosomes, to be specific: X and Y...
DNA study from 2010, "a new portrayal of each ethnicity contribution to the DNA of Brazilians, obtained with samples from the five regions of the country, has indicated that, on average, European ancestors are responsible for nearly 80% of the genetic heritage of the population. The variation between the regions is small, with the possible exception of the South, where the European contribution reaches nearly 90%. The results, published by the scientific magazine
American Journal of Human BiologyThe American Journal of Human Biology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering human biology. It is the official publication of the Human Biology Association...
by a team of the
Catholic University of BrasíliaThe Universidade Católica de Brasília is a private and non-profit Catholic university, located in Brasília, the federal capital of Brazil. It is one of the largest and most prestigious Brazilian universities...
, show that, in Brazil, physical indicators such as skin colour, colour of the eyes and colour of the hair have little to do with the genetic ancestry of each person, which has been shown in previous studies (regardless of census classification). "Ancestry informative SNPs can be useful to estimate individual and population biogeographical ancestry. Brazilian population is characterized by a genetic background of three parental populations (European, African, and Brazilian Native Amerindians) with a wide degree and diverse patterns of admixture. In this work we analyzed the information content of 28 ancestry-informative SNPs into multiplexed panels using three parental population sources (African, Amerindian, and European) to infer the genetic admixture in an urban sample of the five Brazilian geopolitical regions. The SNPs assigned apart the parental populations from each other and thus can be applied for ancestry estimation in a three hybrid admixed population. Data was used to infer genetic ancestry in Brazilians with an admixture model. Pairwise estimates of F(st) among the five Brazilian geopolitical regions suggested little genetic differentiation only between the South and the remaining regions. Estimates of ancestry results are consistent with the heterogeneous genetic profile of Brazilian population, with a major contribution of European ancestry (0.771) followed by African (0.143) and Amerindian contributions (0.085). The described multiplexed SNP panels can be useful tool for bioanthropological studies but it can be mainly valuable to control for spurious results in genetic association studies in admixed populations". It is important to note that "the samples came from free of charge paternity test takers, thus as the researchers made it explicit: "the paternity tests were free of charge, the population samples involved people of variable socioeconomic strata, although
likely to be leaning slightly
towards the ‘‘pardo’’ group".
| Region |
European |
African |
Native American |
North RegionThe North Region of Brazil is the largest Region of Brazil, corresponding to 45.27% of the national territory. It is the least inhabited of the country, and contributes with a minor percentage in the national GDP and population...
|
71,10% |
18,20% |
10,70% |
Northeast RegionThe Northeast Region of Brazil is composed of the following states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, and it represents 18.26% of the Brazilian territory....
|
77,40% |
13,60% |
8,90% |
| Central-West Region |
65,90% |
18,70% |
11,80% |
Southeast RegionThe Southeast Region of Brazil is composed by the states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. It is the richest region of the country, responsible for approximately 60% of the Brazilian GDP. São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais are three richest states of Brazil,...
|
79,90% |
14,10% |
6,10% |
| South Region |
87,70% |
7,70% |
5,20% |
An autosomal DNA study from 2009 found a similar profile "all the Brazilian samples (regions) lie more closely to the European group than to the African populations or to the Mestizos from Mexico".
| Region |
European |
African |
Native American |
North RegionThe North Region of Brazil is the largest Region of Brazil, corresponding to 45.27% of the national territory. It is the least inhabited of the country, and contributes with a minor percentage in the national GDP and population...
|
60,6% |
21,3% |
18,1% |
Northeast RegionThe Northeast Region of Brazil is composed of the following states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, and it represents 18.26% of the Brazilian territory....
|
66,7% |
23,3% |
10,0% |
| Central-West Region |
66,3% |
21,7% |
12,0% |
Southeast RegionThe Southeast Region of Brazil is composed by the states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. It is the richest region of the country, responsible for approximately 60% of the Brazilian GDP. São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais are three richest states of Brazil,...
|
60,7% |
32,0% |
7,3% |
| South Region |
81,5% |
9,3% |
9,2% |
According to another autosomal DNA study from 2008, by the University of Brasília (UnB), European ancestry dominates in the whole of Brazil (in all regions), accounting for 65,90% of heritage of the population, followed by the African contribution (24,80%) and the Native American (9,3%).
MtDna and y DNA studies
Haplogroup frequencies do not determine phenotype nor admixture. They are very general genetic snapshots, primarily useful in examining past population group migratory patterns. Only autosomal DNA testing can reveal admixture structures, since it analyses millions of alleles from both maternal and paternal sides. Contrary to yDNA or mtDNA, which are focused on one single lineage (paternal or maternal) the autosomal DNA studies profile the whole ancestry of a given individual, being more accurate in describing the complex patterns of ancestry in a given place. According to a genetic study in 2000 who analysed 247 samples (mainly identified as “white” in Brazil) who came from four of the five major geographic regions of the country, the
mtDNAMitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...
pool (maternal lineages) of present-day Brazilians clearly reflects the imprints of the early Portuguese colonization process (involving directional mating), as well as the recent immigrant waves (from Europe) of the last century.
| Continental Fraction |
Brazil |
Northern |
Northeastern |
Southeastern |
Southern |
| Native American |
33% |
54% |
22% |
33% |
22% |
| African |
28% |
15% |
44% |
34% |
12% |
| European |
39% |
31% |
34% |
31% |
66% |
According to a study in 2001, the vast majority of Y chromosomes (male lineages) in white Brazilian males, regardless of their regional source, is of European origin (>90% contribution), with a very low frequency of sub-Saharan African chromosomes and a complete absence of Amerindian contributions. These results configure a picture of strong directional mating in Brazil involving European males, on one side, and European, African and Amerindian females, on the other.
In the Brazilian "white" and "pardos" the autosomal ancestry (the sum of the ancestors of a given individual) tends to be in most cases pred. European, with often a non European mtDNA (which points to a non European ancestor somewhere down the maternal line), which is explained by the women marrying newly arrived colonists, during the formation of the Brazilian people.
See also
- Lists of Brazilians
- Brazilian diaspora
The Brazilian diaspora refers to the migration of Brazilians to other countries, a fairly recent phenomenon that has been driven mainly by economic problems that have afflicted Brazil since the ending of the military dictatorship in the 1980s.-Demographics:...
- White Brazilian
White Brazilians make up 48.4% of Brazil's population, or around 92 million people, according to the IBGE's 2008 PNAD . Whites are present in the entire territory of Brazil, although the main concentrations are found in the South and Southeastern parts of the country...
s
- Black Brazilians
- Native Brazilians
- Asian Brazilian
An Asian Brazilian is is a Brazilian citizen of full or partial Asian ancestry, who remains culturally connected to Asia, or an Asian-born person permanently residing in Brazil. Brazil received many immigrants from Asia, both from Middle East and East Asia...
s
External links
Lusotopia
{{Brazil topics}}
{{Demographics of Brazil}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brazilian People}}