White Brazilian
White Brazilian
Brasileiro Branco
European immigrants in Brazil
Total population
White People
93,000,000 White Brazilians
49.7% of Brazil’s population[1]
Regions with significant populations
Brazil:
Entire country; highest numbers found in
southern and southeastern Brazil
Languages
Predominantly
Portuguese
Religion
Predominantly
Roman Catholic · Protestant · Jewish minority
Related ethnic groups
Portuguese, Italians, Germans, Spaniards,
Ukrainians, Poles, Lebanese,
White Americans, Jews
White Brazilians make up 49.7% of Brazil’s
population, or around 93 million people, ac-
cording to the IBGE’s 2006 PNAD (National
Research by Sample of Dwellings)[2]. 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.
Brazil has the largest White population in
the Southern Hemisphere, and the third
largest in the World, after the United States
and Russia. The main ancestries of White
Brazilians are Italian, Portuguese, Spanish,
German and Lebanese.[3]
History
Brazil received more European immigrants in
its colonial era than did the United States of
America. Between 1500 and 1760, 700,000
Europeans settled in Brazil, compared to
530,000 in the United States.[4][5]
One important fact about the European
immigration in Brazil is that it was, for three
centuries, dominated exclusively by Por-
tuguese. In the 17th century, Netherlands[6]
and France[7] conquered parts of the country
and established colonies. The Dutch presence
in Northeast Brazil lasted 24 years. Many
European Jews arrived
in
that period.
However, in 1654, Portugal reconquered the
region and most Dutchs were expelled.[8] The
hegemony of the Portuguese ethnicity in the
White population of Brazil lasted until the
19th century, when in 1818 the first Swiss
immigrants settled Nova Friburgo (Rio de
Janeiro) and, in 1824, Germans settled São
Leopoldo (Rio Grande