Immigration to Brazil - Wikipedia Immigration to Brazil European and Levantine countries from where there was significant emigration to Brazil, early half of the 20th century. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Monument to the immigrant in Caxias do Sul, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. At the bottom of the monument can be read : The Brazilian nation to the immigrant ( Portuguese : A nação brasileira ao imigrante ) Immigration 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. Throughout its history, Brazil has always been a recipient of immigrants, but this began to gain importance in the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century when the country received massive immigration from Europe, the Middle East and East Asia, which left lasting marks on demography, culture, language and the economy of Brazil. In general, it is considered that people who entered Brazil up to 1822, the year of independence, were colonizers. Since then, those who entered the independent nation were immigrants. Before 1871, the number of immigrants rarely exceeded two or three thousand people a year. Immigration increased pressure from the first end of the international slave trade to Brazil, after the expansion of the economy, especially in the period of large coffee plantations in the state of São Paulo. Immigration has been a very important demographic factor in the composition, structure and history of human population in Brazil, with all its attending factors and consequences in culture, economy, education, racial issues, etc. Brazil has received one of the largest numbers of immigrants in the Western Hemisphere, along with the United States, Argentina and Canada. Counting from 1872 ( year of the first census ) by the year 2000, Brazil received about 6 million immigrants. Contents 1 Brief history 1.1 The Brazilian population before immigration 1.2 First period : 1820 -- 1871 1.3 Second Period : 1872 -- 1903 1.4 Third period : 1904 -- 1930 1.5 Fourth Period : 1931 -- 1964 1.6 Current trends 2 Visa policy 3 Binational unions 4 Immigration law 4.1 Federal Constitution 4.2 Statute of Foreigner 5 Amnesty 6 The result of immigration to Brazil 6.1 Immigration 6.2 European diaspora 7 Statistics 8 Consequences 9 Co-official languages in Brazil 9.1 Brazilian states with linguistic heritages officially approved statewide 9.2 Municipalities that have co-official indigenous languages 9.2. 1 Amazonas 9.2. 2 Mato Grosso do Sul 9.2. 3 Tocantins 9.3 Municipalities that have co-official allochthonous languages 9.3. 1 Municipalities that have co-official Talian language ( or Venetian dialect ) 9.3. 1.1 Rio Grande do Sul 9.3. 2 Municipalities that have co-official East Pomeranian language 9.3. 2.1 Espírito Santo 9.3. 2.2 Minas Gerais 9.3. 2.3 Santa Catarina 9.3. 2.4 Rio Grande do Sul 9.3. 2.5 Rondônia 9.3. 3 Municipalities that have co-official language Riograndenser Hunsrückisch language 9.3. 3.1 Santa Catarina 9.3. 3.2 Rio Grande do Sul 9.3. 4 Municipalities in which the teaching of the German language is mandatory 9.3. 4.1 Rio Grande do Sul 9.3. 5 Municipalities in which the teaching of the Italian language is mandatory 9.3. 5.1 Espírito Santo 9.3. 5.2 Paraná 9.3. 5.3 Rio Grande do Sul 9.3. 5.4 Santa Catarina 10 See also 11 References 12 External links Brief history Total of foreign people authorized to work in Brazil by state in 2009. People authorized to work in Brazil by origin in 2009. Organized by largest ancestry. U.S. citizen Italian Portuguese Chinese Spanish Cuban English German French Japanese Maria Stella Ferreira Levy suggests the following periodisation of the process of immigration to Brazil : 1820 -- 1876 : small number of immigrants ( about 6,000 per year ), predominance of Portuguese ( 45.73 % ), with significant numbers of Germans ( 12.97 % ) ; 1877 -- 1903 : large number of immigrants ( about 71,000 per year ), predominance of Italians ( 58.49 % ) ; 1904 -- 1930 : large number of immigrants ( about 79,000 per year ), predominance of the Portuguese ( 36.97 % ) ; 1931 -- 1963 : declining number of immigrants ( about 33,500 per year ), predominance of the Portuguese ( 38.45 % ). The Brazilian population before immigration Arrival of the Portuguese to Northeast Brazil in 1500. When Brazil was invaded as a new land in the New World by the Portuguese in 1500, its native population was composed of about 2.4 million Amerindians whose ancestors had been living there for the last 15,000 to 20,000 years. During the three decades afterwards, the country remained sparsely inhabited by Europeans. Among those few, mainly Portuguese, most were renegades, criminals banished from Portugal, shipwreck survivors, or mutinous sailors. They integrated into the local tribes, using their superior technology to attain privileged positions among them. After 1530, the Portuguese started to settle in Brazil in significant numbers. However, Portugal had a small population to develop the exploitation of Brazil. By 1550, the colonists started to bring African slaves. From 1500, when the Portuguese reached Brazil, until its independence in 1822, from 500,000 to 700,000 Portuguese settled in Brazil, 600,000 of whom arrived in the 18th century alone. The Portuguese settled in the whole territory, initially remaining near the coast, except in the region of São Paulo, from where the bandeirantes would spread into the hinterland. In the 18th century, large waves of Portuguese settled the country, in the wake of the discovery of gold in the region of Minas Gerais, but the number of Portuguese who settled in Brazil in its colonial era was far lower than of African slaves : from 1550 to 1850, some 4 million slaves were brought to Brazil. This should not be taken as meaning that the population of Brazil before independence was mainly Black : the average survival of an African slave in Brazil was of merely seven years after arrival, implying extremely high mortality rates. Although children born to slave women inherited the slave condition, the Portuguese always relied on slaves purchased from slave traders to replace and increase the work force ; the natural growth of the slave population was always very small. In the early 19th century, Brazil was mainly composed of people of three different origins : the indigenous inhabitants, the Portuguese and their descendants, the Africans and descendants, and, naturally, people of varying degrees of `` racial '' mixture. In 1872, after the arrival of about 350,000 mostly European immigrants and about 1,150,000 Africans forcibly brought to Brazil as slaves, the first Brazilian Census counted 9,930,478 people in Brazil, of which 3,787,289 ( 38.14 % ) Whites, 3,380,172 ( 34.04 % ) `` pardos '', 1.954. 452 ( 19.68 % ) Blacks, and 386,955 ( 3.90 % ) `` caboclos ''. First period : 1820 -- 1871 Immigration properly started with the opening of the Brazilian ports, in 1808. The government began to stimulate the arrival of Europeans to occupy plots of land and become small farmers. In 1812, settlers from the Azores were brought to Espírito Santo and in 1819, Swiss to Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro. After independence from Portugal, the Brazilian Empire focused on the occupation of the provinces of Southern Brazil. It was mainly because Southern Brazil had a small population, vulnerable to attacks by Argentina and the Kaingang Indians. From 1824, immigrants from Central Europe started to populate what is nowadays the region of São Leopoldo, in the province of Rio Grande do Sul. According to Leo Waibel, these German immigrants were mainly `` oppressed peasants and former soldiers of the army of Napoleon ''. In 1830 a bill was passed forbidding the Imperial government from spending money with the settlement of immigrants, which stalled immigration until 1834, when the provincial governments were charged with promoting immigration. In 1859, Prussia prohibited emigration to Brazil. This was mainly because of complaints that Germans were being exploited in the coffee plantations of São Paulo. Still, between 1820 and 1876, 350,117 immigrants entered Brazil. Of these, 45.73 % were Portuguese, 35.74 % of `` other nationalities '', 12.97 % Germans, while Italians and Spanish together did not reach 6 %. The total number of immigrants per year averaged 6,000. Many immigrants, particularly the Germans, were brought to settle in rural communities as small landowners. They received land, seed, livestock and other items to develop. Polish house in Paraná state. European immigrants working in a coffee plantation in the State of São Paulo. Second period : 1872 -- 1903 In the last quarter of the 19th century, the entry of immigrants in Brazil grew strongly. On one hand, Europe underwent a serious demographic crisis, which resulted in increased emigration ; on the other hand, the final crisis of Brazilian slavery prompted Brazilian authorities to find solutions for the problem of work force. Consequently, while immigration until 1871 was focused on establishing communities of landowners, during this period, while this older process continued, immigrants were more and more attracted to the coffee plantations of São Paulo, where they became employees or were allowed to cultivate small tracts of land in exchange for their work in the coffee crop. This also coincided with the decreasing availability of better land in southern Brazil -- while the German immigrants arriving in the previous period occupied the valleys of the rivers, the Italians arriving in the last quarter of the century settled the mountainous regions of the state. During this period, immigration was much more intense : large numbers of Europeans, especially Italians, started to be brought to the country to work in the harvest of coffee. From 1877 to 1903, almost two million immigrants arrived, at a rate of 71,000 per year Brazil 's receiving structure, legislation and settlement policies for immigrants were much less organized than in Canada and the United States at the time. Nevertheless, an Immigrant 's Hostel ( Hospedaria dos Imigrantes ) was built in 1886 in São Paulo, and quick admittance and recording routines for the throngs of immigrants arriving by ship at the seaports of Vitória, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Paranaguá, Florianópolis and Porto Alegre were established. The São Paulo site alone processed more than 2.5 million immigrants in its almost 100 years of continuous operation. People of more than 70 different nationalities were recorded. Italian immigrants in the Hospedaria dos Imigrantes, in São Paulo. In 1850, Brazil declared the end of the slave trade. This had different impacts on the different regions of Brazil. At the time, the region of São Paulo was undergoing a process of economic boom, linked to the expansion of the cultivation of coffee, and consequently needed increased amounts of labour. Other regions, notedly the Northeast, on the contrary, faced economic retraction, and were, consequently, able to dispense workforce. This entailed the replacement of the international slave trade by an internal or interprovincial slave trade, in which Northeastern slaves were sold in large numbers to the Southeast. This temporarily solved the workforce problem in São Paulo and other coffee plantation areas. However, by 1870 the paulista elite came to realise that the Northeastern slaveholders were in fact being able to obtain financial compensation for their slaves, or, in practice, an abolition with compensation. Fears of a situation comparable to the United States, with the division of the country into free provinces and slave provinces arose. Consequently, paulista politicians began to seek measures against the interprovincial traffic, at a time when, anyway, the price of Northeastern slaves was getting higher and higher, due to their increasing scarcity. By the beginning of the 1870s, the alternative of the interprovincial trade was exhausted, while the demand for workforce in the coffee plantations continued to expand. Thus the paulista oligarchy sought to attract new workers from abroad, by passing provincial legislation and pressing the Imperial government to organise immigration. Third period : 1904 -- 1930 A poster used in Japan to attract immigrants to Brazil. It says `` Let 's go to South America ( Brazil ) with the family. '' From 1904 to 1930, 2,142,781 immigrants came to Brazil -- making an annual average of 79,000 people. In consequence of the Prinetti Decree of 1902, that forbade subsidised emigration to Brazil, Italian immigration had, at this stage, a drastic reduction : their average annual entries from 1887 to 1903 was 58,000. In this period they were only 19,000 annually. The Portuguese constituted 38 % of entries, followed by Spaniards with 22 %. From 1914 to 1918, due to World War I, the entry of immigrants of all nationalities decreased. After the War, the immigration of people of `` other nationalities '' redressed faster than that of Portuguese, Spaniards, and Italians. Part of this category was composed of immigrants from Poland, Russia and Romania, who immigrated probably by political issues, and part by Syrian and Lebanese peoples. Both subgroups included a number of Jewish immigrants, who arrived in the 1920s. From 1931 to 1963, 1,106,404 immigrants entered Brazil. The participation of the Japanese increased. From 1932 to 1935 immigrants from Japan constituted 30 % of total admissions. Prior to this yearly Japanese immigrants were numerically limited to no more than 5 % of the current Japanese population. Fourth period : 1931 -- 1964 With the radicalisation of the political situation in Europe, the end of the demographic crisis, the decadence of coffee culture, the Revolution of 1930 and the consequent rise of a nationalist government, immigration to Brazil was significantly reduced. The focus shifted to culturally assimilating immigrants and `` whitening '' the population. From 1931 to 1963, 1,106,404 immigrants entered Brazil. The annual arrival of immigrants fell to 33,500. The Portuguese remained the most significant group, with 39.35 %, The participation of the Japanese increased, becoming the second most important group, with 12.79 %. Particularly from 1932 to 1935 immigrants from Japan constituted 30 % of total admissions. Immigration also became a more urban phenomenon ; most immigrants came for the cities, and even the descendants of the immigrants of the previous periods were moving intensely from the countryside. In the 1950s, Brazil started a program of immigration to provide workers for Brazilian industries. In São Paulo, for example, between 1957 and 1961, more than 30 % of the Spanish, over 50 % of the Italian and 70 % of the Greek immigrants were brought to work in factories. Current trends People authorized to work in Brazil by North American countries in 2009. Organized by number of people. 4,040 684 368 People authorized to work in Brazil by European countries in 2009. Organized by number of people. 2,528 - 648 523 - 184 177 - 050 People authorized to work in Brazil by South American countries in 2009. Organized by number of people. 555 - 399 398 - 237 236 - 102 101 - 002 During the 1970s Brazil received about 32,000 Lebanese immigrants escaping the civil war, as well as smaller numbers of Palestinians and Syrians. During the 1990s Brazil received small numbers of immigrants from the former republics of Yugoslavia, from Afghanistan and West Africa ( mostly Angolans ). Recent immigration is mainly constituted by Chinese and Koreans and, in a smaller degree, by Argentines and other Latin American immigrants. The increase in Bolivian immigrants in Brazil is one of the social consequences of the political crisis affecting that country. The majority of the Bolivians come from cities such as La Paz, Sucre, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and Cochabamba. Usually they enter Brazil through Cuiabá, in Mato Grosso, or San Mathias, in Bolivia, which borders Caceres, Mato Grosso and Corumbá, in Mato Grosso do Sul. Between 1,200 and 1,500 Bolivian immigrants come to Brazil every month looking for a job. Most of them work in the illegal textile industry in the Greater São Paulo. There are an estimated 200,000 Bolivians living in the Greater São Paulo, majority is of undocumented immigrants. In 2009, the country was home to 3,982,000 foreign born people, that represents 2.36 % of the Brazilian population. The major work visas concessions were granted for citizens of the United States and the United Kingdom. In 2010, Brazil is home to 4,251 refugees from 76 different nationalities. The largest refugee ancestries were Angolan ( 1,688 ), Colombian ( 583 ), Congolese ( 402 ), Liberian ( 259 ), and Iraqi ( 197 ). Due to the Bolivarian diaspora, in 2017 22,000 new Venezuelan refugees sought shelter in Brazil ; this number was expected to greatly increase for 2018. Immigrants ( 2012 ) ( 4 ) Country Population Portugal 277,727 Japan 91,042 Italy 73,126 Spain 59,985 Argentina 42,202 China 35,953 Germany 29,224 United States of America 27,953 Uruguay 26,271 Chile 25,561 South Korea 19,341 France 18,011 Paraguay 15,626 Visa Policy Main article : Visa policy of Brazil Permanent visas may be granted to individuals intending to establish residence in Brazil. Permanent Visas apply to : Technicians or professionals with a work contract pre-approved by the Brazilian Ministry of Labor, National Department of Employment. This visa must be applied for in Brazil. Professors, technicians and high - level researchers who wish to immigrate to Brazil to undertake research work in an institution of higher learning or of research in science and technology. This visa must be applied for in Brazil. Foreign investors with initial transfer of foreign capital equivalent to no less than US $50,000 and an investment plan pre-approved by the Brazilian National Council on Immigration ( CNIG ). This visa must be applied for in Brazil. Administrators, managers or directors hired by a commercial enterprise or civil organization resulting from foreign investment described in item 3 above, with a work contract pre-approved by the Brazilian Ministry of Labor, National Department of Employment. This visa must be applied for in Brazil. A retired person, 60 years of age or older, accompanied by up to two dependents, and able to transfer monthly, in accordance with the laws of the country of origin, the amount equivalent to US $2,000. In the case of more than two dependents, the applicant must transfer the amount equivalent to US $1,000 for each additional dependent. Spouse, partners in a common law union regardless of gender, or minor dependent of Brazilian citizen or of a permanent resident of Brazil ; Ancestors of a Brazilian national or of a permanent resident of Brazil ; Siblings of a Brazilian citizen or of a permanent resident of Brazil, if orphan, single and under 18 years of age ; Minor children, grandchildren or great - grandchildren of a Brazilian citizen or of a permanent resident of Brazil. Binational unions Formed by a Brazilian and other people from other country : In Brazil Ethnic origin Percentage Portuguese 32 % Italians 9 % Japanese 8 % Outside Brazil Ethnic origin Percentage U.S. citizens 40 % Portuguese 17 % Argentinians 14 % Immigration law Federal Constitution Portuguese people have a differentiated treatment according to Paragraph 1, Article 12, of the Federal Constitution of Brazil. Due to strong cultural and historical ties between the two countries. Article 12. The following are Brazilians : II - naturalized : a ) those who, as set forth by law, acquire Brazilian nationality, it being the only requirement for persons originating from Portuguese - speaking countries the residence for 1 ( one ) uninterrupted year and good moral repute ; b ) foreigners of any nationality, resident in the Federative Republic of Brazil for over 15 ( fifteen ) uninterrupted years and without criminal conviction, provided that they apply for the Brazilian nationality. Paragraph 1. The rights inherent to Brazilians shall be attributed to Portuguese citizens with permanent residence in Brazil, if there is reciprocity in favour of Brazilians, except in the cases stated in this Constitution. Paragraph 2. The law may not establish any distinction between born and naturalized Brazilians, except in the cases stated in this Constitution. Statute of foreigner Article 112. Are conditions for the granting of naturalization : I - civilian capacity, according to Brazilian law ; II - to be registered as permanent resident in Brazil ; III - continuous residence in the territory for a minimum period of 4 ( four ) years immediately preceding the application for naturalization ; IV - read and write the Portuguese language, considering the conditions of naturalizing ; V - exercise of occupation or possession of sufficient assets to maintain itself and the family ; VI - proper procedure ; VII - no complaint, indictment in Brazil or abroad for a felony that is threatened in minimum sentence of imprisonment, abstractly considered, more than 1 ( one ) year. VIII - good health. LGBT immigration equality by country or territory Recognition of same - sex couples in national immigration laws Unknown / ambiguous Article 113. The period of residence prescribed in Article 112, item III, may be reduced if the naturalizing fill any of the following conditions : I - have a child or spouse of Brazil ; ( Including same - sex spouse, see also : Same - sex immigration policy in Brazil ) II - be son of a Brazilian ; III - have provided or can provide relevant services to Brazil, in the opinion of the Minister of Justice of Brazil ; IV - commend themselves by their professional, scientific or artistic ; or V - to be owner in Brazil, real estate, whose value is equal to at least a thousand times the greatest value of reference, or be provided with industrial funds of equal value, or hold quota shares or amount of paid - in least identical in commercial or civil society, aimed principally and permanently, the operation of industrial or agricultural activities. Sole Paragraph. The residence will be at least 1 ( one ) year, in cases of items I, II, and III ; 2 ( two ) years in Item IV ; and 3 ( three ) years in Item V. Amnesty A group of Palestinian immigrants in São Paulo. Since the 1980s, the Brazilian government has offered amnesty to foreigners in irregular situation in four different campaigns, benefiting tens of thousands of foreigners living in Brazil. The latest campaign began in July 2009 by presidential decree, and though it officially ended at the close of 2009, some cases are still pending. Until now, 41,816 foreigners received amnesty through the 2009 amnesty program, though there are another 2,000 cases expected to be finished in early 2010. Though the large majority of immigrants live in São Paulo, other cases were based largely in Rio de Janeiro and Paraná. The breakdown by country / continent is the following : 16,881 Bolivians, 5,492 Chinese, 4,642 Peruvians, 4,135 Paraguayans, 2,700 Africans ( including North Africa ), 2,390 Europeans, 1,129 Koreans, 469 Argentines, 274 U.S. citizens, 186 Cubans. While foreigners who received amnesty obtained the right to work and access health and education services, they are unable to vote or run for public office. They may opt to apply for citizenship after a probation period of residency in order to obtain these rights. Officially, amnesty intends to cut down on illegal activity and human rights violations, particularly with Bolivians in São Paulo. But it seems to fit in with the Lula administration 's international policies, including ramped up diplomacy and establishing ties with other nations, but also establishing itself as a competitor with developed countries. By showing that it is a center for immigrants in the Western Hemisphere, particularly in South America, and more importantly, that it is supposedly a benevolent and welcoming country for immigrants, it helps Brazil 's international public image. Those who would benefit from the amnesty, following publication of the law in the Brazilian Official Gazette in July 2009, have up to 180 days after the time of their temporary residence permit ( valid for 2 years ) to apply. They must also aver their clean criminal record or submit a recent, official document of good conduct from the originating country. During these two years, they must not exceed 90 consecutive days spent abroad. Ninety days prior to the expiration of the temporary residence permit, they must aver their self - sufficiency in Brazil. If they can prove they are eligible for a permanent residence permit. Only ten years after receiving a permanent residence permit may be eligible for naturalization to be Brazilian. The result of immigration to Brazil Immigration Main article : Immigration to Brazil Immigration to Brazil, by national origin, periods from 1830 to 1959 Source : Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics ( IBGE ) Period origin 1830 -- 1855 1856 -- 1883 1884 -- 1893 1894 -- 1903 1904 -- 1913 1914 -- 1923 1924 -- 1933 1945 - 1949 1950 - 1954 1955 - 1959 1960 - 1969 197,587 immigrants from many nationalities arrived 1970 - 1972 15,558 immigrants. The largest majority from Portugal Portuguese 16,737 116,000 170,621 155,542 384,672 201,252 233,650 26,268 123,082 96,811 Italians -- 100,000 510,533 537,784 196,521 86,320 70,177 15,312 59,785 31,263 Spaniards -- -- 113,116 102,142 224,672 94,779 52,400 4,092 53,357 38,819 Germans 2,008 30,000 22,778 6,698 33,859 29,339 61,723 5,188 12,204 4,633 Japanese -- -- -- -- 11,868 20,398 110,191 12 5,447 28,819 Syrians and Lebanese -- -- 96 7,124 45,803 20,400 20,400 N / D N / D N / D Others -- -- 66,524 42,820 109,222 51,493 164,586 29,552 84,851 47,599 Immigration has been a very important demographic factor in the formation, structure and history of the population in Brazil, influencing culture, economy, education, racial issues, etc. Brazil has received the third largest number of immigrants in the Western Hemisphere, after only Argentina, Canada and The United States. European diaspora Brazilian people from Curitiba, Paraná celebrating the Ukrainian Easter. A Portuguese immigrant in Rio de Janeiro, 1895. European immigrants and a Brazilian coffee plantation. In the 100 years from 1872 -- 1972 at least 5.35 million immigrants came to Brazil, of whom 31 % were Portuguese, 30 % Italian, 13 % Spanish, 5 % Japanese, 4 % German and 16 % of other unspecified nationalities. In 1897, São Paulo had twice as many Italians as Brazilians in the city. In 1893, 55 % of the city  ́ s population was composed by immigrants and in 1901 more than 80 % of the children were born to a foreign - born parents. ( 5 ) According to the 1920 census, 35 % of São Paulo city 's inhabitants were foreign born, compared to 36 % in New York City. São Paulo 's multicultural population could be compared to any major American, Canadian or Australian city. About 75 % of the immigrants were Latin Europeans, particularly from three major sources : Italy, Portugal and Spain. The rest came from different parts of Europe, the Middle East and Japan. Some areas of the city remained almost exclusively settled by Italians until the arrival of waves of migrants from other parts of Brazil, particularly from the Northeast, starting in the late 1920s. According to historian Samuel H. Lowrie, in the early 20th century the society of São Paulo was divided in three classes : The high group : composed of graduated people, mainly by Brazilians born to Brazilian parents, who were related to the high - class farmers or other people with privileges. The working class : composed of immigrants and their second and third generations descendants. They were the most numerous group, mainly factory workers or traders. The semi-dependent group : composed of former slaves and low - class workers of the Empire. Owners of industries in São Paulo ( 1962 ) ( 6 ) Ethnic origin Percentage Italians 35 % Brazilians 16 % Portuguese 12 % Germans 10 % Syrians and Lebanese 9 % Russians 2.9 % Austrians 2.4 % Swiss 2.4 % Other Europeans 9 % Others 2 % According to Lowrie, the fact that Brazil already had a long history of racial mixture and that most of the immigrants in São Paulo came from Latin European countries, reduced the cases of racism and mutual intolerance. However, the Brazilian high class was more intolerant, with most of them marrying other members of the elite. In some cases, to marry an immigrant was accepted if the person had achieved fortune or had some prestige. Lowrie reports that as much as 40 % of the São Paulo high - class society mixed with an immigrant within the next three generations. While in São Paulo the Italians predominated, in the city of Rio de Janeiro the Portuguese remained as the main group. In 1929, as many as 272,338 Portuguese immigrants were recorded in the Federal District of Brazil ( nowadays the city of Rio de Janeiro ), more Portuguese born people than any other city in the world, except for Lisbon ( which had 591,939 inhabitants in 1930 ). List of passengers of the ship Kasato Maru bringing the first Japanese immigrants to Brazil, 1908. São Paulo City in 1886 Immigrants Percentage of immigrants in foreign born population ( 7 ) Italians 48 % Portuguese 29 % Germans 10 % Spanish 3 % São Paulo City in 1893 Year Immigrants Percentage of the City ( 8 ) Italians 45,457 35 % Portuguese 14,437 11 % Spanish 4,818 3.7 % Rio de Janeiro City ( Guanabara ) Year Immigrants Percentage of the City ( 9 ) 1872 84,283 30.65 % 1890 124,352 / 155,202 23.79 % / 29.69 % 1900 195,894 24.14 % 1906 210,515 25.94 % 1920 239,129 20.65 % 1940 228,633 12.96 % 1950 210,454 8.85 % Rio de Janeiro City ( 1890 ) Group Population Percentage of the City ( 10 ) Portuguese immigrants 106,461 20.36 % Brazilians who were born to a Portuguese father or mother 161,203 30.84 % Portuguese immigrants and descendents 267,664 51.2 % Rio de Janeiro City in 1940 ( Guanabara ) Immigrants Population Portuguese 154,662 Italians 17,457 Spanish 12,212 Germans 10,185 Japanese 538 Others 33,579 Immigrants by Brazilian state according to 1920 Census ( including naturalized immigrants ) State Immigrants Percentage within the state population São Paulo 839,135 18.2 % Federal District ( Rio de Janeiro city ) 252,958 22.0 % Espírito Santo 20,532 4.5 % Santa Catarina 39,212 5.8 % Rio Grande do Sul 165,974 7.5 % Mato Grosso 25,556 10.3 % Goiás 1,814 0.3 % Minas Gerais 91,349 1.5 % Rio de Janeiro 53,261 3.4 % Paraná 66,387 9.6 % Pernambuco 12,010 0.5 % Piauí 344 0.0 % Paraíba 661 0.0 % Pará 22,824 2.3 % Maranhão 1,681 0.2 % Ceará 980 0.0 % Bahia 10,999 0.3 % Amazonas 17,525 4.8 % Alagoas 747 0.0 % Sergipe 422 0.0 % Acre 3,564 3.8 % In the South of Brazil, there were three main groups of immigrants : Germans, Italians and Slavs ( mainly Poles and Ukrainians ). The Germans had been settling Rio Grande do Sul since 1824. The first settlers came from Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg - Vorpommern and Hannover. Later, people from Hunsrück and Rhineland - Palatinate predominated. There were also people from Pomerania, Westphalia and Württemberg. These immigrants were attracted to work as small farmers in the region of São Leopoldo. As a result of the great internal migration of people in Rio Grande do Sul, Germans and second generation descendants started to move to other areas of the Province. A similar process has occurred in Santa Catarina, with initially two main destinations for German immigrants ( Blumenau, created in 1850, and Joinville in 1851 ) and then the immigrants or their descendants moved to other areas. Arriving in larger numbers than Germans, in the 1870s, groups of Italians started settling northeast Rio Grande do Sul. Similar to Germans, they were also attracted to develop small familiar farming production. In Paraná, on the other hand, the main group of immigrants was composed of Eastern Europeans, particularly Poles. In southern Brazil, the immigrants settled in colônias ( colonies ), which were rural areas, composed of many small farms, settled by the families. Some of these colonies had a great development and gave birth to major Brazilian cities, such as the former German community of Joinville ( 500,000 inhabitants -- the largest city of the state of Santa Catarina ) or the former Italian community of Caxias do Sul ( 405,858 inhabitants ). Other colonies did not have a great development and remained small and agrarian. In these places, it is possible to feel more intensely the impact of the immigration, as many of these towns are still predominantly settled by a single ethnic group. First Settlers in Londrina ( 1930  ́ s ) ( 11 ) Ethnic Group Population Brazilians 1.823 Italians 611 Japanese 533 Germans 510 Spanish 303 Portuguese 218 Polish 193 Ukrainians 172 Hungarians 138 Czechoslovakians 51 Russians 44 Swiss 34 Austrians 29 Lithuanians 21 Yugoslavs 15 Romanians 12 English 7 Argentinians 5 Syrians 5 Danes Australians Belgians Bulgarians French Latvian Liechtensteiner North - Americans Swedes Estonians Indian Norwegian Total Foreign Born Population 2.923 ( 61, 6 % ) Some southern Brazilian towns with a notable main ancestry Town name State Main ancestry Percentage Nova Veneza Santa Catarina Italian 95 % Pomerode Santa Catarina German 90 % Prudentópolis Paraná Ukrainian 70 % Treze Tílias Santa Catarina Austrian 60 % Dom Feliciano Rio Grande do Sul Polish 90 % Statistics Cover of the magazine `` O Immigrante '', published by Italian immigrants in Brazil. Immigrants established in São Paulo state in 1940 Immigrants Population Italians 694.489 Spanish 374.658 Portuguese 362.156 Japanese 85.103 Germans 50.507 Austrians 33.133 Main groups of settlers and immigrants in Brazil Origin Population Africans ( 1550 -- 1850 ) 3,000,000 Portuguese ( 1500 - 1822 ) 800,000 Portuguese, post-independence ( 1837 -- 1968 ) 1,766,771 Italians ( 1836 -- 1968 ) 1,620,344 Spaniards ( 1841 -- 1968 ) 719,555 Japanese ( 1908 -- 1968 ) 343,441 Russians ( 1871 -- 1968 ) 319,215 Lebanese ( 1871 -- 1968 ) 300,246 Germans ( 1836 -- 1968 ) 240,457 Austrians ( 1868 -- 1968 ) 198,457 Polish ( 1892 -- 1968 ) 154,078 French ( 1842 -- 1968 ) 150,341 Romanians ( 1908 -- 1968 ) 140,799 Americans ( 1884 -- 1968 ) 98,934 English ( 1847 -- 1968 ) 78,080 Lithuanians ( 1920 -- 1963 ) 69,002 Yugoslavs ( 1920 -- 1968 ) 67,726 Argentines ( 1884 -- 1968 ) 55,553 Syrians ( 1892 -- 1968 ) 54,394 Swiss ( 1820 -- 1968 ) 51,704 Greeks ( 1893 -- 1968 ) 46,684 Dutch ( 1884 -- 1968 ) 45,829 Hungarians ( 1908 -- 1968 ) 43,592 Uruguayans ( 1884 -- 1968 ) 40,836 Belgians ( 1847 -- 1968 ) 39,173 Chinese ( 1895 -- 1968 ) 17,996 Swedes ( 1853 -- 1968 ) 17,994 Czechs ( 1920 -- 1968 ) 16,538 Danes ( 1886 -- 1968 ) 14,029 Jordanians ( 1953 -- 1968 ) 13,567 Estonians ( 1923 -- 1961 ) 12,803 Koreans ( 1956 -- 1968 ) 12,500 Egyptians ( 1895 -- 1968 ) 12,283 Paraguayans ( 1886 -- 1968 ) 12,271 Canadians ( 1925 -- 1968 ) 11,631 Peruvians ( 1885 -- 1968 ) 11,600 Ukrainians ( 1920 -- 1967 ) 11,415 Norwegians ( 1888 -- 1968 ) 11,136 Venezuelans ( 1886 -- 1968 ) 11,076 Finns ( 1819 -- 1968 ) 9,992 Iranians ( 1922 -- 1968 ) 6,735 Bulgarians ( 1908 -- 1968 ) 6,557 Luxembourgian ( 1919 -- 1968 ) 6,473 Australians ( 1946 -- 1968 ) 920 Irish ( 1940 / 1968 ) 876 Scottish ( 1945 / 1961 ) 776 Most of the Poles immigrated to Brazil with German, Russian or Austro - Hungarian / Austrian passports, the Ukrainians with Austrian passports and the Hungarians with Romanian passports. Total of entries of immigrants in the Port of Santos, São Paulo ( 1908 -- 1936 ) - Gender. Nationalities Total % Male % Female Portuguese 275,257 67.9 32.1 Italians 270,749 64.7 35.3 Japanese 210,775 56.2 43.8 Spaniards 190,282 59.4 40.6 Germans 89,989 64.3 35.7 Turks 26,321 73.4 26.6 Romanians 23,756 53.2 46.7 Yugoslavians 21,209 52.1 47.9 Lithuanians 20,918 58.6 41.4 Lebanese & Syrians 17,275 65.4 34.6 Poles 15,220 61.9 38.1 Austrians 15,041 72.7 27.3 Others 47,664 64.9 35.1 Total 2,221,282 63.8 36.2 Arrival of settlers, slaves, and immigrants, by origin, periods from 1500 to 1933 Source : Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics ( IBGE ) Period Origin 1500 -- 1700 1701 -- 1760 1761 -- 1829 1830 -- 1855 1856 -- 1883 1884 -- 1893 1894 -- 1903 1904 -- 1913 1914 -- 1923 1924 -- 1933 Africans 510,000 958,000 1,720,000 618,000 -- -- -- -- -- -- Portuguese 100,000 600,000 26,000 16,737 116,000 170,621 155,542 384,672 201,252 233,650 Italians -- -- -- -- 100,000 510,533 537,784 196,521 86,320 70,177 Spaniards -- -- -- -- -- 113,116 102,142 224,672 94,779 52,405 Germans -- -- 5,003 2,008 30,000 22,778 6,698 33,859 29,339 61,723 Japanese -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 11,868 20,398 110,191 Lebanese & Syrians -- -- -- -- -- 96 7,124 45,803 20,400 20,400 Scandinavians -- -- -- -- -- 66,524 42,820 109,222 51,493 Farms owned by an foreign ( 1920 ) Immigrants Farms ( 12 ) Italians 35.984 Portuguese 9.552 Germans 6.887 Spanish 4.725 Russians 4.471 Austrians 4.292 Japanese 1.167 Hungarian Immigration to Brazil Passport Immigrants ( 13 ) Romanian 30.437 Yugoslav 16.518 Hungarian 6.501 Austrian 2.742 Czechoslovak 518 Total 56.716 Lebanese and Syrians Immigrants ( 1920 ) - French Consulate Estimation Location Immigrants ( 14 ) São Paulo and Santos 130.000 Pará 20.000 Rio de Janeiro 15.000 Rio Grande do Sul 14.000 Bahia 12.000 Main groups of settlers and immigrants in Brazil, from 1500 to 1970 Nationality / origin Number of settlers Africans 3,000,000 Portuguese 2,450,000 Italians 1,622,491 Spaniards 716,052 Japanese 248,007 Germans 240,000 Poles 110,243 Lebanese / Syrians 100,000 ^ 1 It includes all people who were brought from Sub-Saharan Africa. ^ 2 Includes Andalucians, Basques, Castilians, Catalans, and Galicians. ^ 3 It does not include Germans who immigrated with Russian passports ( see Volga Germans ). ^ 4 Most of the Poles immigrated to Brazil with German, Russian or Austro - Hungarian / Austrian passports. ^ 5 Most of immigrants from the Levant, which included Orthodox Greeks in Lebanon and Ottoman Greeks, carried Ottoman passports. Consequences Passport of a Portuguese immigrant, 1927. German colonies in Southern Brazil. A couple of Portuguese immigrants in São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil ( 1887 ). Ukrainian church in Curitiba, Paraná. Italian students in Campinas, São Paulo. German Brazilians in 1874 Italian disembarkment in Santos, São Paulo, 1907. Ryu Mizuno ( at center ), who organized the first travel of Japanese immigrants to Brazil. Ukrainians in Brazil. German kids in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, 1866. German near the city of Vitória, Espírito Santo, 1875. Brazilian demographers have long discussed the demographical impact of the wave of emigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to Judicael Clevelário, most studies about the impact of immigration have followed Giorgio Mortara 's conclusions in the 1940s and 1950s. Mortara concluded that only about 15 % of the demographic growth of Brazil, from 1840 and 1940 was due to immigration, and that the population of immigrant origin was of 16 % of the total population of Brazil. However, according to Clevelário, Mortara failed to properly take into account the full endogenous growth of the population of immigrant origin, due to the predominantly rural settlement of the immigrants ( rural regions tend to have higher natal rates than cities ). Clevelário, then, besides extending the calculations up to 1980, remade them, reaching somewhat different conclusions. One of the problems of calculating the impact of immigration in Brazilian demography is that the return rates of immigrants are unknown. Clevelário, thence, supposed four different hypothesis concerning the return rates. The first, that he deems unrealistic high, is that 50 % of the immigrants to Brazil returned to their countries of origin. The second is based on the work of Arthur Neiva, who supposes the return rate for Brazil was higher than that of the United States ( 30 % ) but lower than that of Argentina ( 47 % ). The third hypothesis is taken from Mortara, who postulates a rate of 20 % for the 19th century, 35 % for the first two decades of the 20th century, and 25 % for 1920 on. Although Mortara himself considered this hypothesis underestimated, Clevelário thinks it is closest to reality. The last hypothesis, also admittedly unrealistic is that of a 0 % rate of return, which is known to be false. Clevelário 's conclusions are as following : considering hypothesis 1 ( unrealistically low ), the Population of Immigrant Origin in 1980 would be of 14,730,710 people, or 12.38 % of the total population. Considering hypothesis 2 ( based on Neiva ), it would be of 17,609,052 people, or 14.60 % of the total population. Considering hypothesis 3 ( based on Mortara, and considered most realistic ), it would be of 22,088,829 people, or 18.56 % of the total population. Considering hypothesis 4 ( no return at all ), the Population of Immigrant origin would be of 29,348,423 people, or 24.66 % of the total population. Clevelário believes the most probable number to be close to 18 %, higher than Mortara 's previous estimate of 1947. According to the Census of 1872, there were 9,930,478 people in Brazil, of which 3,787,289 ( 38.14 % ) Whites, 3,380,172 ( 34.04 % ) Pardos, 1.954. 452 ( 19.68 % ) Blacks, and 386,955 ( 3.90 % ) Caboclos. The White population grew faster than the non-White population due to the subsidized immigration of Europeans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By 1890, the non-White population was reduced to 47 % and the Amerindian to 9 %. During this period, most immigrants came from Italy ( 58.49 % ) followed by Portugal with 20 %. The disproportionally fast growth of the White population, due to mass immigration, lasted up to 1940, when its proportion in the Brazilian population peaked at 63.5 %. During the 1900 -- 1940 period, Italian immigration was greatly reduced, due to the Prinetti decree, forbidding subsidized emigration to Brazil in 1902, then to the Italian war effort of 1915 -- 1918. Thence, for the period of 1904 -- 1940, Portuguese immigration became the main drive of immigration to Brazil, with 36.52 % of the arrivals, compared to 14.99 % of Italians. The Brazilian Censuses do not ask questions about `` ethnic origin '', so there are no systematically comparable data about the impact of immigration. Varied entities, mainly embassies of foreign countries in Brazil and commercial associations that promote bilateral commerce between Brazil and other countries, make claims about the figures of `` descendants of immigrants '' in Brazil, but none links to any actual survey. Also, if they are extrapolations of actual data on the number of immigrants, the calculations are not explained anywhere. On the other hand, in 1998, the IBGE, within its preparation for the 2000 Census, experimentally introduced a question about `` origem '' ( origin / ancestry ) in its `` Pesquisa Mensal de Emprego '' ( Monthly Employment Research ), in order to test the viability of introducing that variable in the Census ( the IBGE ended by deciding against the inclusion of questions about it in the Census ). This research interviewed about 90,000 people in six metropolitan regions ( São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, and Recife ). To this day, it remains the only actual published survey about the immigrant origin of Brazilians. Here are its results : Brazilian Population, by ancestry, 1998 Ancestry % `` Brazilian '' 86.09 % Portuguese 10.46 % Italian 10.41 % Indigenous 6.64 % Black 5.09 % Spanish 4.40 % German 3.54 % African 2.06 % Japanese 1.34 % Lebanese / Syrian 0.48 % Jewish 0.20 % Others 2.81 % Total 133.52 % Notice that the total is higher than 100 % because of multiple answers. It is easy to see that the results of this research are widely incompatible with the claims made by embassies and commercial associations : Comparison between claims by embassies, commercial associations, etc., and actual data Ancestry Number of immigrants Ancestry in Brazil ( claims by embassies, etc. ) Found by 1998 PME ( % ) Projection Italians 1,622,491 25,000,000 10.41 % 18,738,000 Spaniards 716,052 15,000,000 4.40 % 7,920,000 Lebanese / Syrians 100,000 10,000,000 0.48 % 864,000 Japanese 248,007 1,600,000 1.34 % 2,412,000 Germans 240,000 5,000,000 3.54 % 6,372,000 The embassy figures are also hardly compatible with the known data for immigration. Here is how they compare : Number of immigrants and their purported descendants, by national origin Origin Number of immigrants Number of descendants Descendants per immigrant Arab 140,000 10,000,000 71.43 German 223,658 5,000,000 22.36 Spanish 716,478 15,000,000 20.94 Italian 1,623,931 25,000,000 15.39 Japanese 248,007 1,400,000 5.65 The embassy figures for `` Arab Brazilians '' imply an impossible rate of childbirth. The process of inflation of the `` Arab Brazilian '' population is described by John Tofik Karam : Maintaining a privileged presence in business and political circles, Middle Easterners have overestimated themselves as a way to strengthen their place in the Brazilian nation. Among the groups listed in the table, German immigrants arrived quite early in Brazil, starting in the 1820s. By 1883, 23.86 % of them had already arrived. Italian immigrants only started to arrive in the 1870s, coming in enormous numbers until 1902, when Italian immigration declined sharply. By 1903, 70.33 % of them had already arrived. Spaniards started arriving about the same time as the Italians, but came in more steady pace, which means that, in average, they represent a more recent immigration. Arabs only started to arrive in considerable numbers about 1890, making them the second most recent immigration, after the Japanese, who started to arrive in 1908. Evidently, the older the immigration, higher should be the descendant / immigrant relation -- but, as the table shows, the embassy figures would place the Arab descendant / immigrant relation first -- and, in fact, more than three times higher than that of the Germans. When the number of immigrants is compared to the findings of the July 1998 PME, the results are different : Number of immigrants and their descendants, projected from the 1998 PME, by national origin Origin Number of immigrants Number of descendants Descendants per immigrant Arab 140,000 641,200 4.58 German 223,658 4,709,857 21.06 Spanish 716,478 5,856,417 8.17 Italian 1,623,931 13,847,471 8.53 Japanese 248,007 1,776,382 7.16 Here the correct order is reestablished, except for the Arabs appearing with a lower descendant / immigrant rate than the Japanese. This, however, is probably due to the concentration of Nikkeis in São Paulo, as opposed to a less concentrated distribution of `` Arab Brazilians '', who are present in considerable numbers in regions not counted by the PMEs -- notably the Northern Region, the West of Paraná State, and Southern Rio Grande do Sul. As happened with several other countries in the Americas, such as the United States, which received immigration from many countries, Brazil quickly became a melting pot of races and nationalities, but being peculiar in the sense of having the highest degree of intermarriage in the world. Nowadays, it 's possible to find millions of descendants of Italians, from the southeastern state of Minas Gerais to the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, with the majority living in the state of São Paulo ( 15.9 million ) and the highest percentage in the southeastern state of Espírito Santo ( 60 -- 75 % ). Small southern Brazilian towns, such as Nova Veneza, have as much as 95 % of their population of Italian descent. Thousands of White Americans from the Southern United States ( including relatives of former president Jimmy Carter ), known as Confederados, fled to Brazil after the American Civil War, where they founded two cities, Americana and Santa Bárbara d'Oeste. Co-official languages in Brazil Main article : Languages of Brazil In this century has grown a recent trend of co-official languages in cities populated by immigrants ( such as Italian and German ) or indigenous in the north, both with support from the Ministry of Tourism, as was recently established in Santa Maria de Jetibá, Pomerode and Vila Pavão, where German also has co-official status. The first municipality to adopt a co-official language in Brazil was São Gabriel da Cachoeira, in 2002. Since then, other municipalities attempt to co-officialese other languages. The states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul have Talian officially approved as a heritage language in these states, and Espírito Santo has the East Pomeranian dialect, along with the German language, such as cultural heritage state. Also in production is the documentary video Brasil Talian, with directed and written by André Costantin and executive producer of the historian Fernando Roveda. The pre-launch occurred on November 18, 2011, the date that marked the start of production of the documentary. Brazilian states with linguistic heritages officially approved statewide Espírito Santo ( Pomeranian and German ) Rio Grande do Sul ( Talian and Riograndenser Hunsrückisch German ) Santa Catarina ( Talian ) Municipalities that have co-official indigenous languages Amazonas São Gabriel da Cachoeira ( Nheengatu, Tukano and Baniwa ) Mato Grosso do Sul Tacuru ( Guarani ) Paranhos ( Guarani, under approval ) Tocantins Tocantínia ( Akwê Xerente ) Municipalities that have co-official allochthonous languages Municipalities that have co-official Talian language ( or venetian dialect ) Rio Grande do Sul Serafina Corrêa Municipalities that the Pomeranian language is co-official in Espírito Santo. Municipalities that have co-official East Pomeranian language Espírito Santo Domingos Martins Laranja da Terra Pancas Santa Maria de Jetibá Vila Pavão Minas Gerais Itueta ( only in the district of Vila Nietzel ) Santa Catarina Pomerode Rio Grande do Sul Canguçu ( under approval ) Rondônia Espigão d'Oeste ( under approval ) Municipalities that have co-official language Riograndenser Hunsrückisch language Santa Catarina Antônio Carlos Treze Tílias ( language teaching is compulsory in schools, standing on stage in public official of the municipality ) Rio Grande do Sul Santa Maria do Herval Municipalities in which the teaching of the German language is mandatory Rio Grande do Sul Nova Petrópolis Municipalities in which the teaching of the Italian language is mandatory Espírito Santo Venda Nova do Imigrante Paraná Francisco Beltrão Rio Grande do Sul Antônio Prado Santa Catarina Brusque Criciúma See also Brazil portal Afro - Brazilians Americans in Brazils Armenian Brazilians Asian Brazilians Bolivians in Brazil Brazilian diaspora Bulgarians in South America Croatian Brazilians Chinese Brazilians Czech Brazilians Dutch Brazilians English Brazilians Finnish Brazilians French Brazilians German Brazilians Greek Brazilians Haitian Brazilian History of the Jews in Brazil Hungarian Brazilians Italian Brazilians Japanese Brazilians Korean Brazilians Latvian Brazilians Lithuanians in Brazil Luxembourg Brazilians Palestinian Brazilians Polish Brazilians Portuguese Brazilians Russians in Brazil Scandinavian Brazilians Spanish immigration to Brazil Swiss Brazilians Turkish Brazilians Ukrainian Brazilians References Jump up ^ `` BBC Brasil - Os migrantes de hoje ''. ^ Jump up to : ( 1 ) Maria Stella Ferreira Levy. O papel da migração internacional na evolução da população brasileira ( 1872 a 1972 ) p. 52. Jump up ^ Carvalho - Silva, DR ; Santos, FR ; Rocha, J ; Pena, SD ( January 2001 ). `` The Phylogeography of Brazilian Y - Chromosome Lineages ''. American Journal of Human Genetics. 68 ( 1 ) : 281 -- 6. doi : 10.1086 / 316931. PMC 1234928. PMID 11090340. Jump up ^ Digital, CacauLimão Comunicação. `` Índios do Brasil - história, cultura, sociedade indígena, arte, tribos ''. www.suapesquisa.com. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2009 - 04 - 23. Retrieved 2010 - 02 - 21. ^ Jump up to : Levy MS ( June 1974 ). `` ( The role of international migration on the evolution of the Brazilian population ( 1872 to 1972 ) ) ''. Rev Saude Publica ( in Portuguese ). Suppl : 49 -- 90. PMID 4438969. ^ Jump up to : `` Brasil 500 anos ''. Archived from the original on 2013 - 05 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2008 - 10 - 26. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 29. 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Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2011 - 07 - 06. Retrieved 2010 - 01 - 27. Jump up ^ `` Fim da escravido gera medidas de apoio imigrao no Brasil - 16 / 02 / 2005 - Resumos - Histria do Brasil ''. Jump up ^ RIOS, Roger Raupp. Text excerpted from a judicial sentence concerning crime of racism. Federal Justice of 10a Vara da Circunscrição Judiciária de Porto Alegre, November 16, 2001 Archived August 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. ( Accessed September 10, 2008 ) Jump up ^ SUZUKI Jr, Matinas. História da discriminação brasileira contra os japoneses sai do limbo in Folha de S. Paulo, 20 de abril de 2008 ( visitado em 17 de agosto de 2008 ) Jump up ^ `` Arab immigration to Brazil ''. Archived from the original on 2009 - 11 - 01. Retrieved 2010 - 06 - 17. Jump up ^ `` G1 - Brasil tem 4, 3 mil refugiados, diz Ministério da Justiça - notícias em Mundo ''. Jump up ^ Lara, Carlos Vogt, Mônica Macedo, Anna Paula Sotero, Bruno Buys, Rafael Evangelista, Marianne Frederick, Marta Kanashiro, Marcelo Knobel, Roberto Belisário, Ulisses Capozoli, Sérgio Varella Conceicao, Marilissa Mota, Rodrigo Cunha, Germana Barata, Beatriz Singer, Flávia Tonin, Daisy Silva de. `` Brasil : migrações internacionais e identidade ''. www.comciencia.br. Jump up ^ Professor says increased Bolivian immigration to Brazil is due to crisis there Jump up ^ Cláudia Rolli, Fátima Fernandes. Até 1.500 bolivianos chegam por mês. Folha de S. Paulo ( December 16, 2007 ) Jump up ^ `` Ponto de Vista - VEJA.com ''. 8 July 2008. Jump up ^ `` Procuram - se estrangeiros ''. Jump up ^ `` G1 - Especial G1 mostra histórias de refugiados que vivem no Brasil - notícias em Mundo ''. Mundo. Jump up ^ `` Flow of Venezuelans Into Brazil Set to Increase, Police Say ''. Bloomberg.com. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018. Jump up ^ `` Brasem Ottawa - Einrichten im kanadischen Stil ''. 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Jump up ^ Recenseamento do Brasil realizado em 1 de Setembro de 1920, Volume 4, Primeira Parte : População do Brasil por Estados, municípios e distritos, segundo o sexo, o estado civil ea nacionalidade - Disponível em : https://archive.org/details/recenseamento1920pop1 Jump up ^ Outras Etnias, < http://www.terrabrasileira.net/folclore/regioes/7tipos/etniasl.html Archived 2008 - 10 - 13 at the Wayback Machine. >. Accesso em : 11 de outubro de 2008 Jump up ^ `` A Imigrao Polonesa No Paran ''. ^ Jump up to : Nova Veneza Archived 2008 - 08 - 19 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ POMERODE - SC Jump up ^ Ucranianos no Brasil Jump up ^ História de Treze Tílias Archived 2008 - 11 - 02 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Prefeitura de D. Feliciano Archived 2011 - 07 - 06 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Nós e eles : relações culturais entre brasileiros e imigrantes. Jump up ^ Síntese da história da imigração no Brasil. Jump up ^ Jeffrey Lesser. Negotiating national identity : immigrants, minorities, and the struggle for ethnicity in Brazil. Table 3, p. 94, at Google Books, p. 94. ( the original source, reported in the book, is Revista de Imigração e Colonização 1, n. 03 ( July 1940 ) : 617 - 638. ) The total figure, 107,135, includes some non-Arabs, such as Greeks and Armenians ( 826 ). Notice that while most Levantine immigrants fall under `` Turks '', this is actually a misnomer, as it refers to the passport ( of the Ottoman Empire ) used in their arrival to Brazil. Jump up ^ Judicael Clevelario Júnior ( 1997 ). `` A participação da imigração na formação da população brasileira '' ( PDF ). Revista Brasileira de Estudos de População. 14 ( 1 / 2 ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2013 - 06 - 22. Jump up ^ Mortara, Giorgio. O aumento da população do Brasil entre 1872 e 1940. Jump up ^ Judicael Clevelario Júnior ( 1997 ). `` A participação da imigração na formação da população brasileira '' ( PDF ). Revista Brasileira de Estudos de População. 14 ( 1 / 2 ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2013 - 06 - 22. Table 5, p. 59 ; Table 6, p. 60. ^ Jump up to : IBGE 2008 Archived 2012 - 07 - 10 at the Wayback Machine. Cor ou Raça ^ Jump up to : Simon Schwartzman. `` Fora de foco : diversidade e identidade étnicas no Brasil '' ( PDF ). Jump up ^ Simon Schwartzman. `` Fora de foco : diversidade e identidade étnicas no Brasil '' ( PDF ). Note 3, p. 3 Jump up ^ Simon Schwartzman. `` Fora de foco : diversidade e identidade étnicas no Brasil '' ( PDF ). Table 6, p. 10 ^ Jump up to : The figures for Germans, Italians, Spaniards, and Japanese from 1820 to August 31, 1972, can be found in Maria Stella Ferreira Levy. O papel da migração internacional na evolução da população brasileira ( 1872 a 1972 ). Tabela 2. p. 74. For this table, the sum for the period 1820 - 1971 is given. The figure for Arab immigrants is based in Jeff Lesser. 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Jump up ^ `` Aprovado projeto que declara o Talian como patrimônio do RS ) '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011. ^ Jump up to : `` O povo pomerano no ES '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Plenário aprova em segundo turno a PEC do patrimônio '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Emenda Constitucional na Íntegra '' ( PDF ) ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 21 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` ALEES - PEC que trata do patrimônio cultural retorna ao Plenário '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Filme Brasil Talian é pré - lançado '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Brasil Talian documentado em filme '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Marisa busca apoio para documentário sobre cultura italiana produzido em Antonio Prado '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2011. Jump up ^ O povo pomerano no ES Archived 2012 - 12 - 21 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Plenário aprova em segundo turno a PEC do patrimônio ''. Archived from the original on 2012 - 01 - 27. Jump up ^ `` Emenda Constitucional na Íntegra '' ( PDF ). Jump up ^ `` ALEES - PEC que trata do patrimnio cultural retorna ao Plenrio - Síntese ''. Archived from the original on 2013 - 12 - 14. Retrieved 2013 - 12 - 08. Jump up ^ http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/didact/karten/germ/deutdin.htm Jump up ^ http://www.lerncafe.de/aus-der-welt-1142/articles/pommern-in-brasilien.html Jump up ^ Aprovado projeto que declara o Talian como patrimônio do RS Archived 2012 - 01 - 27 at the Wayback Machine., accessed on 21 August 2011 Jump up ^ `` Sistema Legis ''. Jump up ^ `` Texto da Norma ''. Jump up ^ `` LEI - 014951 ''. server03.pge.sc.gov.br. Jump up ^ `` Caçador Online ''. Portal Caçador Online. Jump up ^ `` Fóruns sobre o Talian - Eventos comemoram os 134 anos da imigração italiana ''. Jump up ^ `` Lei municipal oficializa línguas indígenas em São Gabriel da Cachoeira ) '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 18 September 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Na Babel brasileira, português é 2a língua - Flávia Martin e Vitor Moreno, enviados especiais a Sâo Gabriel da Cachoeira ( AM ) ) '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Município do MS adota o guarani como língua oficial ) '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Paranhos poderá ter a co-oficialização de uma língua Indígena ) '' ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Tocantínia passa a ter Akwê Xerente como língua co-oficial e recebe Centro de Educação Indígena '' ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Vereadores aprovam o talian como língua co-oficial do município '' ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 21 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Talian em busca de mais reconhecimento '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` A escolarização entre descendentes pomeranos em Domingos Martins '' ( PDF ) ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on December 21, 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011. ^ Jump up to : `` A co-oficialização da língua pomerana '' ( PDF ) ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Pomerano ! ? '' ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` No Brasil, pomeranos buscam uma cultura que se perde '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Lei dispõe sobre a cooficialização da língua pomerana no município de Santa maria de Jetibá, Estado do Espírito Santo '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Vila Pavão, Uma Pomerânia no norte do Espirito Santo '' ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Descendentes de etnia germânica vivem isolados em área rural de Minas '' ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Pomeranos em busca de recursos federais '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Resistência cultural - Imigrantes que buscaram no Brasil melhores condições de vida, ficaram isolados e sem apoio do poder público '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2011. Jump up ^ `` Pomerode institui língua alemã como co-oficial no Município '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Vereadores propõem ensino da língua pomerana nas escolas do município '' ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 21 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Ontem e hoje : percurso linguistico dos pomeranos de Espigão D'Oeste - RO '' ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Sessão Solene em homenagem a Comunidade Pomerana '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Percurso linguistico dos pomeranos de Espigão D Oeste - RO ) '' ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 12 November 2011. Jump up ^ `` Comunidade Pomerana realiza sua tradicional festa folclórica '' ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ Cooficialização da língua alemã em Antônio Carlos Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Vereadores de Treze Tílias se reuniram ontem '' ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 21 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` BOL - VilaBOL ''. Jump up ^ `` Um pedaço da Aústria no Brasil '' ( in Portuguese ). Treze Tílias. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` A sala de aula de alemão para falantes de dialeto : realidades e mitos ''. Jump up ^ `` Brasil : dialeto do baixo - alemão torna - se segunda língua oficial de cidade gaúcha ''. Ventos da Lusofonia. Jump up ^ Jorge Luis Stocker Jr. `` dzeitrs : Apresentando... Santa Maria do Herval ( RS ) ''. Jump up ^ `` Dialetos Hunsrik e Talian na ofensiva no Sul ) - Em Santa Maria do Herval, regiăo de Novo Hamburgo, RS, surge forte a mobilizaçăo em favor do Hunsrik - a faceta brasileira / latino - americana do Hunsrückisch. Em Serafina Correa, RS, floresce o talian '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Câmara Municipal de Vereadores de Nova Petrópolis '' ( PDF ). Jump up ^ `` Ata 047 / 2010 '' ( PDF ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2015 - 09 - 23. Retrieved 2014 - 02 - 14. Jump up ^ `` Art. 153 § 3o da Lei Orgânica ''. Archived from the original on 2013 - 02 - 19. Jump up ^ Em Nova Petrópolis 100 % da população é alfabetizada, quinto parágrafo Jump up ^ `` Língua italiana na rede municipal de ensino ''. Archived from the original on 2014 - 02 - 22. Jump up ^ `` Câmara Municipal de Venda Nova do Imigrante ''. www.camaravni.es.gov.br. Archived from the original on 2014 - 02 - 22. Retrieved 2014 - 02 - 14. Jump up ^ `` LEI No 3018 / 2003 - 02.10. 03 - Dispõe sobre a oficialização de aulas de língua italiana nas escolas da Rede Municipal de Ensino ''. Jump up ^ `` Lei Ordinária no 3018 / 2003 de Francisco Beltrão, dispõe sobre a oficialização de aulas de língua italiana nas escolas ''. Jump up ^ `` Elaboração de Projeto de Lei para o ensino obrigatório da língua italiana nas escolas municipais '' ( in Portuguese ). Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Língua italiana em Antônio Prado, Italiano integra currículo escolar '' ( in Portuguese ). Retrieved 24 August 2011. Jump up ^ `` Lei 3113 / 08, Brusque ''. JusBrasil. Jump up ^ `` Lei 3113 / 08 - Lei no 3113 de 14 de agosto de 2008 ''. JusBrasil. Jump up ^ `` Art. 1 da Lei 3113 / 08, Brusque ''. JusBrasil. Jump up ^ `` Prefeitura Municipal de Brusque - Secretaria de Educao esclarece a situao sobre o Ensino da Lngua Italiana ''. Archived from the original on 2014 - 02 - 21. Retrieved 2014 - 02 - 14. Jump up ^ `` Lei 4159 / 01 - Lei no 4159 de 29 de maio de 2001 ''. JusBrasil. Jump up ^ `` Lei 4159 / 01, Criciuma ''. JusBrasil. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Immigration to Brazil. 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Question: who comprised a third of brazil's european immigrant population
Answer: Portuguese