Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Peoples of Brazil
When the Portuguese arrived in 1500, the Brazilian
population consisted of over 5 million indigenous
people divided into at least 1,000 communities. When
their numbers began depleting due to the severity of
slavery, the Portuguese started shipping slaves from
Africa in the mid-16th century. Many of these slaves
assimilated with the white and local population. Over
the centuries, Brazil's peoples were diversified further
by several waves of immigration from the Middle
East, Asia, and Europe. After over 500 years of immi-
gration and integration, modern Brazil is a true ethnic
mosaic, where diverse elements combine to create a
vibrant nation renowned for its spirit.
Indigenous Brazilians
also
include the Ticuna community,
who are a large group with
their own language and
written literature.
Some indigenous groups
(see pp262-3)
continue to live
as they had done before the arrival of the Portuguese,
particularly in the forested interior.
MULTIRACIAL BRAZIL
Brazil is unique in its assimilation of various races and
ethnic groups. A white-and-indigenous Brazilian is
called a
mestiço
, an Afro-Brazilian is called a
cafuzo
,
while a mulatto
is born of white and African parentage.
European immigrants
(see pp328-9)
started moving
to Brazil after slavery ended in 1888. They tended
to concentrate in various parts of Southern Brazil,
where people of Azorean, German, Italian, Slav,
Dutch, Austrian, and other descents still thrive.
The Portuguese
, the dominant ethnic
group in Brazil today, introduced
Catholicism
(see p34)
, and have given
the country its official language.
