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White Brazilian
Brasileiro Branco

Gisele Bündchen • Alessandra Ambrosio Aécio Neves • Daniela Mercury
Regions with significant populations
Brazil:    Entire country; highest numbers found in southern and southeastern Brazil
Languages
Predominantly Portuguese
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic
Related ethnic groups
Portuguese, Italians, Germans, Spaniards, Ukrainians, Poles, Lebanese, White Americans, Jews

According to the 2006 census, White Brazilians make up 49.9% of Brazil's population, or around 93 million people. Whites are present in the entire territory of Brazil, although the main concentrations are found in the South and Southeastern parts of the country. White Brazilians are all people who are full or mainly descended of European and other White immigrants.

History

Brazil received more European immigrants in its colonial era than did the United States of America. Between 1500 and 1760, 700 thousand Europeans settled in Brazil; in the United States, the number of settlers from Europe was "only" 530 thousands.

One important fact about the European immigration in Brazil is that it was, for 3 centuries, dominated exclusively by Portuguese. In the 17th century, Dutch and French settlers created colonies in the country. The Dutch presence in Northeast Brazil lasted 24 years. Many European Jews arrived in that period. However, in 1654, the Dutch were expelled. The hegemony of the Portuguese ethnicity in the White population of Brazil lasted until the 19th century.

Most of the immigrants were ethnically Portuguese, but some of the first settlers were, actually, Portuguese Jews. According to some estimates, 45% of colonial Portuguese settlers in Brazil came from Minho, 20% from the Azores Islands, 16% from Lisbon and 19% from other parts. In all Brazil's History, most immigrants came from Northern Portugal.

Another characteristic of the Portuguese colonization is that it was done mostly by males. The lack of White women was a problem faced during much of Brazil's colonization. The Portuguese Crown sent even orphaned women for getting married with the settlers, but a large part of them was involved with indigenous women and with their African slaves. However, not all Portuguese colonists were into interracial relationships: at the end of the 16th century, Whites made up half of Brazil's population. It is remarkable that most Portuguese settlers arrived in Brazil in the 18th century: 600 thousands in a period of only 60 years. The exploitation of gold in the region of Minas Gerais has been a crucial factor in the arrival of this contingent of immigrants.

The hegemony of the White Portuguese ethnicity had its end only in 1824, when Brazil fell to attract German families to occupy inhospitable regions. It is important to note that before, in 1818, Swiss settlers were attracted to the region of Nova Friburgo, in Rio de Janeiro. The presence of German immigrants had great importance for the occupation of Southern Brazil. They founded rural communities that later became prosperous cities, as was the case of São Leopoldo, Joinville and Blumenau.

The end of the slave trade (1850) and the abolition of slavery (1888) were crucial to the entry of millions of Europeans in Brazil. The crops of coffee, the main product of Brazil at the time, began to suffer a shortage of workers. The Brazilian Government then opened its doors to immigrants. From 1875, the Italians began to enter Brazil in huge numbers. From 1884 to 1933, 1.4 million Italians immigrated to Brazil, 70% of whom settled in São Paulo. Brazil is, nowadays, the country with the largest Italian population outside of Italy itself: 25 million Brazilians are of Italian descent.

The period of the great European immigration in Brazil, between 1880 and 1930, brought to the country more than 5 million Europeans. A majority of Italians and Portuguese, followed by Spaniards, Germans and Poles. It is notable that most of this more recent wave of immigrants from Europe settled Southern and Southeast Brazil.

Regions of settlement

European immigration to Brazil by State

Source: Minimanual Compacto de Geografia do Brasil, Editora Rideel. 2003

Most European immigrants entered Brazil for the state of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais received most of the Portuguese settlers since the 16th century. São Paulo received most of the Italians and other immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, the impact of the European immigration was larger in Southern Brazil. This region received a smaller number of immigrants, but since it had a low population, the arrival of the Europeans was greater to its demography. Pernambuco was also an important place to the arrival of Portuguese immigrants. In the rest of Brazil, most Europeans and their descendants arrived from other states and had a smaller impact in the population's ethnicity.

Portuguese

Most Brazilians are full or partly of Portuguese ancestry. They started arriving in 1500, the immigration grew in the 18th century and the boom occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Spaniards

Spaniards came in large numbers to Brazil, starting in the late 19th century. Most of them were attracted to work in the coffee plantations in the State of São Paulo. Today, there is an estimated 15 million Brazilians of direct Spanish descent .

Italians

Italians started arriving in Brazil in 1875. First they settled in rural communities across Southern Brazil. In the early 20th century, they mostly settled in the coffee plantations in the Southeast. 25 million Brazilians are of Italian origin, the largest numbers outside of Italy itself, most of them descended from Northern Italians.

Germans

The first Germans arrived in Brazil in 1824. They were the first non-Portuguese immigrants to settle in the country. Most of them established themselves in rural communities across Southern Brazil, such as São Leopoldo, Novo Hamburgo, Blumenau and Pomerode. In states of the south, such as Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, they may represent as much as 35% of the population.

Poles

Poles came in significant numbers to Brazil after 1870. Most of them settled in the State of Paraná, working as small farmers.

White Arabs

Besides the Europeans, many Brazilians descend from Caucasoid Arabs, mostly Syrians and Lebanese people. The Arab Brazilian population is estimated at about 10 million people. The Lebanese population in Brazil is about 6 million people while Lebanon has a population of over 3 million people.

Jews

The history of the Jews in Brazil is relatively long and complex as it stretches over many centuries. Jews settled early in Brazil, especially when it was under Dutch rule, setting up the first synagogue in the Americas, in Recife as early as 1636. Nowadays Brazil has 295 thousand Jews, most of them are Ashkenazi Jews, descendants of immigrants from Poland, Russia and Ukraine.

Demography

By Brazilian states

The Brazilian states with the highest percentages of Whites are the three located in the South of the country: Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná. These states, along with São Paulo, were settled mainly by German, Italian and Portuguese immigrants. The other states in the list are those whose population is mainly of Portuguese ancestry.

• 1) Santa Catarina: 89.33% White
• 2) Rio Grande do Sul: 86.55%
• 3) Paraná: 77.24%
• 4) São Paulo: 70.70%
• 5) Rio de Janeiro: 54.69%
• 6) Mato Grosso do Sul: 54.66%
• 7) Minas Gerais: 53.58%
• 8) Goiás: 50.73%

The Brazilian states with the lowest percentages of Whites are those located in the North and Northeastern regions of Brazil. Both had a stronger African and Amerindian influence to the population's ethnic composition.

• 1) Amazonas: 24.20% White
• 2) Roraima: 24.78%
• 3) Bahia: 25.20%
• 4) Pará: 26.10%
• 5) Piauí: 26.47%

Souce: IBGE 2000

By cities and towns

In a list of the 144 Brazilian towns with the highest percentages of White people, all the cities were located in two states: Rio Grande do Sul or Santa Catarina. Another fact is that all these towns are settled predominantly by Brazilians of German and Italian descent. It is important to note that, in the late 19th century, many German and Italian immigrants created small communties across Southern Brazil. These communities were settled, in many cases, exclusivily by European immigrants and their descendants.

The Brazilian towns with the largest percentages of Whites are:

• 1) Montauri (Rio Grande do Sul): 100% White
• 2) Leoberto Leal (Santa Catarina): 99.82%
• 3) Pedras Grandes (Rio Grande do Sul): 99.81%
• 4) Capitão (Rio Grande do Sul): 99.77%
• 5) Santa Tereza (Rio Grande do Sul): 99.69%
• 6) Cunhataí (Santa Catarina): 99.67%
• 7) São Martinho (Santa Catarina): 99.64%
• 8) Guabiju (Rio Grande do Sul): 99.62%

The Brazilian towns with the lowest percentages of Whites are located in North and Northeast Brazil. Some of the towns are Indian reservations, others are Quilombos (rural areas settled by descendants of African slaves).

• 1) Nossa Senhora das Dores (Sergipe): 0.71% White
• 2) Santo Inácio do Piauí (Piauí): 2.25%
• 3) Uiramutã (Roraima): 2.33%
• 4) Ipixuna (Amazonas): 2.35%
• 5) Caapiranga (Amazonas): 2.97%
• 6) Fonte Boa (Amazonas): 3.01%
• 7) Santa Isabel do Rio Negro (Amazonas): 3.15%
• 8) Serrano do Maranhão (Maranhão): 3.30%

Immigration

Non-White admixture

According to a study, White Brazilians possess almost all their paternal ancestry of European origin (98% in the Y Chromosome). In the maternal side, there is a 39% European, 33% Amerindian and 28% African contribution to the total mtDNA pool. But this analysis counted with the participation of only 200 people. However, it is the only important genetic research carried out in White Brazilians.

See also

• Carcamano
• White Latin Americans
• White Argentine
• White Cuban
• White Mexican

Footnotes

1. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística
2. IBGE teen
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/History_of_Immigration_to_the_United_States#Population_in_1790
4. Morro Digital- telecentro no Morro da Conceição - 1654 - Expulsão dos Holandeses
5. Anita Novinsky, Raízes ocultas do Brasil, O Globo Newspaper, 09.24.2006
6. [http://www.trentu.ca/admin/publications/psr/sample/1012.pdf Ensaio sobre a imigração portuguesa e os padrões de miscigenação no Brasil (séculos XIX e XX) - 2002 - Portugueses]
7. IBGE teen
8. imigracao II
9. Imigração no Brasil
10. Câmara Ítalo-Brasileira de Comércio e Indústria
11. Especiais - Agência Brasil
12. http://www.mae.es/es/MenuPpal/Paises/ArbolPaises/Brasil/Nota+pais/
13. Sistema IBGE de Recuperação Automática - SIDRA
14. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-5491(196104)34%3A2%3C60%3AICISB%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G
15. Sistema IBGE de Recuperação Automática - SIDRA
16. Sistema IBGE de Recuperação Automática - SIDRA
17. Os Genes de Cabral

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Related topics	Demographics of Brazil Colonization Slave trade Immigration from Europe Emigration Racism

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