(Redirected from Demographics of Brazil)
'
Brazil''s population is very diverse, comprising many races and
ethnic groups. In general, Brazilians trace their origins from four sources of
migration:
★
Amerindians, Brazil's indigenous population, who are believed by some archeologists to be human groups that migrated from
Siberia across the
Bering Strait around 9000 BC.
★
Portuguese colonists and settlers, arriving from 1500 onward.
★
Africans brought to the country from 1530 until the end of the slave trade in 1850.
★ Diverse groups of
immigrants from
Europe,
Asia and the
Middle East arriving in Brazil during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
It is believed that the Americas were settled by three migratory waves from Northern Asia. The Native Brazilians are thought to descend from the first wave of migrants, who arrived in the region around 9000 BC. The main Native Brazilian groups are the
Tupi-
Guarani, the
Jê, the
Arawaks and the Caraibas (
Caribs). The
Tupi-
Guarani nation, originally from the
Paraná river basin and also the main of Native-
Paraguayan nations, had spread all along the Brazilian coastline from South to North and got to be known by the Portuguese as "Os Ãndios da LÃngua Geral" ("The Indians of the General Language"); the
Jê nation occupied most of the interior of the country from
Maranhão to
Santa Catarina. The
Arawaks and the
Caribs, the last ones to get in contact with the Portuguese, lived in the North and Northwest of Brazil.
The
European
immigration to Brazil started in the sixteenth century, with the vast majority of them coming from
Portugal. In the first two centuries of colonization, 100,000 Portuguese arrived in Brazil (around 500 colonists per year). In the eighteenth century, 600,000 Portuguese arrived (6,000 per year).
[1] The first region to be settled by the Portuguese was
Northeastern Brazil, followed by the
Southeast region. The original Amerindian population of Brazil (between two and five million) has in large part been exterminated or assimilated into the Portuguese population.
[2] The
Mamelucos (or
Caboclos, a mixed race between
Whites and Amerindians) have always been present in many parts of Brazil.
Another important ethnic group,
Africans, first arrived as slaves. Many came from
Guinea, or from
West African countries - by the end of the eighteenth century many had been taken from
Congo,
Angola and
Mozambique (or, in
Bahia, from
Nigeria). By the time of the end of the slave trade in 1850, around three to five million slaves had been brought to Brazil–37% of all slave traffic between Africa and the Americas. Nowadays, there are still immigration waves coming from the African continent, from countries such as
Cape Verde and
Sierra Leone.
The largest influx of European immigrants to Brazil occurred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. According to the ''Memorial do Imigrante'' statistics data, Brazil attracted nearly 5 million immigrants between 1870 and 1953.
[ Entrada de imigrantes no Brasil - 1870/1907 ][ Entrada de imigrantes no Brasil - 1908/1953 ] These immigrants were divided in two groups: a part of them was sent to
Southern Brazil to work as small
farmers. However, the biggest part of the immigrants was sent to
Southeast Brazil to work in the
coffee plantations. The immigrants sent to Southern Brazil were mainly
Germans (starting in 1824, mainly from
Rhineland-Palatinate,
Pomerania,
Hamburg,
Westphalia, etc) and
Italians (starting in 1875, mainly from the
Veneto and
Lombardia). In the South, the immigrants established rural communities that, still today, have a strong cultural connection with their ancestral homelands. In South East Brazil, most of the immigrants were Italians (mainly from the
Veneto,
Campania,
Calabria and
Lombardia), Portuguese (mainly from
Beira Alta,
Minho and
Alto Trás-os-Montes),
Spaniards (mainly from
Galicia and
Andalusia).
Notably, the first half of the twentieth century saw a large inflow of
Japanese (mainly from
Honshū,
HokkaidÅ and
Okinawa) and
Arab (from
Lebanon and
Syria) immigrants. These Arab immigrants were - and still are - wrongly called "
Turks" by many
Brazilians because their original countries were still under Turkish rule back in the day Arab immigration to Brazil began. The number of actual
Turks who immigrated to Brazil was in fact very small.
Brazil has conducted a periodical population census since
1872. Since
1940, this census has been carried out . Scanned versions of the forms for each census distributed in Brazil since
1960 are available on-line from
IPUMS International.
[3]
Largest cities
Main articles: List of largest cities in Brazil
Cities in Brazil, except for the state of
São Paulo, are usually not arranged in a single network, but rather on various ''export paths'' to seaside
ports. Some geographers have called this an "archipelago" of cities
[4], and the most important cities are on the coast or close to it. State capitals are also each the largest city in its state, except for
Palmas, the new capital of the recently created state of
Tocantins, and
Florianópolis, the capital of
Santa Catarina. There are also non-capital metropolitan areas in
São Paulo state (
Campinas,
Santos and
ParaÃba Valley),
Minas Gerais (
Steel Valley),
Rio Grande do Sul (
Sinos Valley), and Santa Catarina (
Itajaà Valley).
São Paulo and
Rio de Janeiro are far larger than any other Brazilian city. São Paulo's influence in most economic aspects can be noted in a national (and even international) scale; other Brazilian metropolises are second tier, even though Rio de Janeiro (partially due to its former status as the national capital) still host various large
corporations' headquarters, besides being Brazil's cultural center with respect to soap operas and
film production.
Migrations
Immigration
Main articles: Immigration to Brazil
'Immigration to Brazil from 1819 to 1940'
| Nationalities | 1819-1883 | 1884-1940 | Total |
|---|
| Italians | 96.018 | 1.412.263 | 1.508.281 |
| Portuguese | 223.626 | 1.204.394 | 1.428.020 |
| Spaniards | 15.337 | 581.718 | 597.055 |
| Germans | 70.781 | 256.435 | 327.166 |
| Japanese | | 183.799 | 183.799 |
| Russians | 8.835 | 108.121 | 116.956 |
| Poles | | 47.765 | 47.765 |
| Frenchmen | 8.008 | 32.375 | 40.381 |
| Total | 546.650 | 4.158.717 | 4.705.367 |
from ''História da vida privada no Brasil, vol. 3, p. 23.''
'Immigrants to Brazil (1881-1930)'
Italy: 35%
Portugal: 28%
Spain: 13%
Germany: 5%
Japan: 3%
other countries: 16%
from ''Des origines de l'humanité au XXIe s., Atlas de l'histoire du monde. Sélection du Reader's Digest.''
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 second largest number of immigrants in the
Western Hemisphere, after the
United States.
Brazil's structure, legislation and settlement policies for arriving 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 thar 2.5 million immigrants in its almost 100 years of continuous operation. People of more than 70 different nationalities were recorded.
Following the trend of several other countries in the
Americas, which encouraged immigration from many countries, Brazil quickly became a
melting pot of races and nationalities, probably the second largest in the world after the USA, but being peculiar in the sense of having the highest degree of intermarriage in the world. Immigrants found a strong social and cultural
tolerance toward
inter-racial marriage, including large numbers of
mulattoes (white and black),
mestizos (Indian and white) and mixed European, African and Indian people, though it was not accompanied by an entire lack of racism. Correspondingly, the same mentality reflected in low psychological and social barriers regarding intermarriage between Europeans,
Middle Easterners and Asians of several origins, as well as between people of different
religions.
Emigration
In the second half of the
1980s, Brazilians from various socioeconomic levels started to emigrate to other countries in search of economic opportunities. High inflation and low economic growth in the 1980s, signs of what became known as the "
lost decade" in
Latin America, followed by the government's unsuccessful liberal economic policies in the 1990s, meant that even educated Brazilians could make more money doing low-skilled work abroad.
Brazilian immigrants celebrating the ''"Brazilian Day Festival"'' in the streets of
New York City.
In the
1990s, near 1.9 million Brazilians were living outside the country, mainly in the
United States,
Paraguay and
Japan[5], but also in
Italy,
Portugal, the
United Kingdom,
France,
Canada,
Australia,
Switzerland,
Germany,
Belgium, the
Netherlands and
Israel. However, there were no specific policies implemented by the government to encourage or discourage this emigration process.
[6]
The 2000 Brazilian Census provides some information about the high number of migrants returning to Brazil. Of those who reported residing in another country less than 10 years before the 2000 census, 66.9 percent were Brazilians. If only the returning migrants (former Brazilian immigrants) are considered, 26.8 percent of Brazilians came from Paraguay, 17 percent came from Japan, and 15.8 percent came from the United States.
Ethnic groups
In part, the population descends from early
European settlers — chiefly
Portuguese;
African (
Yoruba,
Ewe,
Bantu, and others), and assimilated indigenous peoples (mostly
Tupi and
Guarani, but also of many other ethnic groups). Trans-ethnic marriages and concubinates have been common and well accepted ever since the first Portuguese settlers arrived. Starting in the late
19th century Brazil received substantial immigration from several other countries, mainly what are now the countries of
Italy,
Germany,
Spain,
Poland,
Lebanon and
Syria (mostly Christians),
Ukraine,
Japan, the
People's Republic of China and
Korea.
Jewish people, both from
Ashkenazi and
Sephardi origin, form considerably large communities, especially in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
The descendants of the European
immigrants, particularly the
Germans,
Italians and
Poles, are mainly concentrated in the southern part of the country, in the states of
Rio Grande do Sul,
Santa Catarina,
Paraná, and the most populate,
São Paulo; these states, together with the Spanish speaking countries of
Argentina and
Uruguay have a large majority of people of European descent. In the rest of the country, most of the
white population is of older
Portuguese settler stock. In the mid-southern states of
Rio de Janeiro,
EspÃrito Santo,
Minas Gerais,
Goiás,
Mato Grosso do Sul and in the Federal District of
Brasilia, the number of whites is somewhat equal to the number of
Afro-Brazilian and mixed race Brazilians. In the Northeast, which received large masses of African slaves to work in
sugarcane,
tobacco and
cotton plantations, people of African descent are dominant. The city of Salvador da
Bahia is considered one of the largest black cities of the World. Many poorer people from the Northeast have migrated to the large cities of
Rio de Janeiro and
São Paulo in the south, causing some increasing economic and social problems. In the Northwest (covering largely the Brazilian
Amazon), a great part of the population has distinguisheable ethnic characteristics that emphasize their Native Brazilian roots. Other ethnic groups have merged with the Indigenous tribes there. This region is not densely populated, and "
caboclos", people of mixed native and European descent, are a small part of the entire Brazilian population.
The
Japanese are the largest
Asian group in Brazil. In fact, Brazil has the largest Japanese population outside Japan, with 1.5 million
Japanese-Brazilians, most of them living in
São Paulo. Some
Chinese and
Koreans also settled Brazil. Most Chinese came from
mainland China, but others came from
Taiwan and
Hong Kong, and also from Portuguese-speaking
Macau—these Chinese from
Macau could speak and understand Portuguese, and it was not hard for them to adjust to Brazilian life. Those immigrant populations and their descendants still retain some of their original ethnic identity, however they are not closed communities and are rapidly integrating into mainstream Brazilian society: for instance, very few of the third generation can understand their grandparents' languages.
There are also a large number of Brazilians of
Arab descent (estimated at 10 million people) , most of
Christian Lebanese or
Syrian descent.
[7]
Aboriginal Brazilians
Main articles: Indigenous peoples in Brazil
The
Amerindians make up 0.4% of Brazil's population, or about 700,000 people. Indigenous peoples are found in the entire territory of Brazil, although the majority of them live in
indian reservations in the North and Centre-Western part of the country. Aboriginal Brazilians are all people who descend from the earliest settlers of the country.
Although millions of Brazilians possess Indian ancestry ( 60 million people, possess at least one Amerindian ancestor, according to a recent mitochondrial
DNA study
[1], although most of them do not know any information about their Native Brazilian ancestry). Only 0.4% of the population consider themselves to be Indians. Reasons for this include race-mixing and the loss of their identity throughout the centuries.
When the first
Portuguese arrived in Brazil, in 1500, there were about 5 million Indians living in the country. In the mid-
19th century they were only 100,000 and in the late
20th century close to 300,000.
Afro-Brazilians
Main articles: Afro-Brazilian
'African settlement in Brazil, from 1500 to 1855'
Source: (IBGE) |
|
'Period' |
'Group' |
1500-1700 |
1701-1760 |
1761-1829 |
1830-1855 |
Africans |
510,000 |
958,000 |
1,720,000 |
618,000 |
Black Brazilians make up 6.2% of Brazil's population, or about 11 million people. Blacks are found in the entire territory of Brazil, although the majority of them live in the Northeastern part of the country. Black Brazilians are mostly people who descend from the
African slaves.
Slavery in Brazil lasted for 350 years and brought about 3 million Africans to the country. Millions of Brazilians descend from Black slaves, although only 6.2% are reported black by the IBGE, though the number is growing. According to IBGE, this trend is mainly because of the revaluation of the identity of historically discriminated ethnic groups.
[8]
Asian Brazilians
Main articles: Asian Brazilian
Asian Brazilians make up 0.5% of Brazil's population, or about 1.5 million people. They are concentrated in two states;
São Paulo and
Paraná, but smaller communities are found in the entire territory of Brazil. Asian Brazilians are the descendants of
East Asian immigrants.
The vast majority of Asian Brazilian are of
Japanese ancestry. Brazil has the largest ethnic Japanese population outside of Japan, with over 1.5 million people.
Japanese people immigrated to Brazil from
1908 to
1960, due to economic problems in
Japan. There are also smaller communities of
Koreans and
Chinese.
Multiracial Brazilians
Multiracial Brazilians make up 38.5% of Brazil's population, about 68 million people. Multiracial Brazilians are mainly people of mixed
European,
African and
Indian ancestry.
Mixed-race Brazilians live in the entire territory of Brazil. Although, according to
DNA resources, most Brazilians possess a mixed-race ancestry, less than 40% of the country's population classified themselves as Multiracial.
[9]
White Brazilians
Main articles: White Brazilian
White Brazilians make up 53.7% of Brazil's population, or around 100 million people.
Whites are found in the entire territory of Brazil, although the main concentrations are found in the wealthier South and Southeastern part of the country. White Brazilians are all people who descend from White immigrants.
Up to 1800, close to 1 million Europeans had left for Brazil. The boom of the
immigration occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries, when about 6 million Europeans immigrated to Brazil. Nowadays, Whites make up the majority of the country's population. Until the mid-19th century, the vast majority of Brazil's White population was of
Portuguese origin, but in the large immigration period in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, people from several European countries immigrated.
Although White Brazilians make up the majority of the population, a large number of them have some Amerindian and/or African ancestry (similar admixture are found in
White Americans
[2] and
White Argentines [3]).
Nowadays, White Brazilians come from a very diverse background, which includes:
★ The '
Arab' Brazilian population is estimated at about 10 million people, mostly
Syrians and
Lebanese people.
★ The '
Dutch' were some of the first Europeans to settle in Brazil. At a certain time they controlled as much as half of present-day Brazil.
★ The first '
Germans' arrived in Brazil in 1824. 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.
[4]
★ '
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.
★ '
Poles' came in significant numbers to Brazil after 1870. Most of them settled in the State of
Paraná, working as small farmers.
★ 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' 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
[5].
Education and health
Main articles: Education in Brazil,
Health care in Brazil
The Federal Constitution of
1988 and the
1996 ''General Law of Education in Brazil'' (LDB) attributed to the Federal Government,
states,
Federal District and
municipalities the responsibility of managing the Brazilian educational system, considering three educational public systems as a basis for collaboration between these federal systems. Each of these public educational systems is responsible for its own maintenance, which manages funds as well as mechanisms and sources for financial resources. The new Constitution reserves 25% of state and municipal taxes and 18% of federal taxes for education.
[10]
As set out by the
Brazilian Constitution, the main responsibility for basic education is attributed to the states and municipalities. Hence, a historical feature of Brazilian
basic education is its extremely decentralized nature, which gives great organizational autonomy to sub-national governments (27 states and 5,546 municipalities) in organizing their educational systems. Early childhood education, from 0-6 years, is under exclusive responsibility of the municipalities. Responsibility for compulsory
primary education from 1st to 9th grades is shared between states and municipalities. Kindergarten and pre-school education are the responsibility of local levels of government, whereas secondary schools are under the responsibility of the states. Maintenance of the system, including salaries, the definition of teacher career structures and supervision of early childhood, primary, and secondary levels (which make up basic education) is decentralized, and these levels are responsible for defining their respective curriculum content.
Higher education starts with undergraduate or sequential courses, which may offer different specialization choices such as academic or vocational paths. Depending on the choice, students may improve their educational background with ''Stricto Sensu'' or ''Lato Sensu'' postgraduate courses. Higher education has three main purposes: teaching, research and extension, each with their own specific contribution to make to a particular course. Diplomas and certificates are proof of having passed through higher education.
In 2003, the literacy rate was at 88 percent of the population, and the youth literacy rate (ages 15–19) was 93.2 percent.
[10] However, Brazilian annalists tend to approach these favorable numbers with suspicion, considering the generally poor levels of performance displayed by students, especially in the public school network.
According to
Brazilian Government, the most serious health problems are:
[12]
★ Childhood mortality: about 2.51% of childhood mortality, reaching 3.77% in the northeast region.
★ Motherhood mortality: about 73.1 deaths per 100,000 born children in 2002.
★ Mortality by non-transmissible illness: 151.7 deaths per 100,000 habitants caused by heart and circulatory diseases, along with 72.7 deaths per 100,000 habitants caused by cancer.
★ Mortality caused by external causes (transportation, violence and suicide): 71.7 deaths per 100,000 habitants (14.9% of all deaths in the country), reaching 82.3 deaths in the southeast region.
Religion
Main articles: Religion in Brazil
According to the
IBGE census: 74% are
Roman Catholics (about 130 million); 15.4% are
Protestants (about 28 million); 7.4% consider themselves
agnostics,
atheists or without a religion (about 12 million); 1.3% are followers of
Spiritism (about 2.2 million); 0.3% are followers of African traditional religions such as
Candomblé and
Umbanda; 1.7% are members of other religions. Some of these are
Jehovah's Witnesses (1,100,000),
Latter-day Saints (600,000),
[13] Buddhism (215,000),
Judaism (150,000), and
Islam (27,000) and some practice a mixture of different religions, such as Catholicism, Candomblé, and indigenous American religions.
[14]
Brazil has the largest
Roman Catholic population in the world.
Followers of
Protestantism are rising in number. Until 1970, the majority of Brazilian Protestants were the ones of "traditional churches", mostly
Lutherans,
Presbyterians and
Baptists. Since then, numbers of
Pentecostal and Neopentecostal adherents have increased significantly.
Islam in Brazil was first practiced by African slaves.
[15] Today, the Muslim population in Brazil is made up mostly of
Arab immigrants. A recent trend has been the increase in conversions to Islam among non-Arab citizens.
[16]
The largest population of Buddhists in Latin America lives in Brazil. This is mostly because Brazil has the
largest Japanese population outside
Japan.
[17]
Brazil appears as a devout country to outsiders yet in an
IBOPE poll, about 8% of Brazilians declared themselves to be non-religious (with 2% declaring themselves atheists) and 58% of Catholics considered themselves "not very practicing" or "not at all practicing".
[18]
According to IBGE 2000 Census,
[19] these are the biggest religious denominations in Brazil (only listed those with more than a half million members):
| Rank | Religion | Members | Other information |
|---|
| 1 | Roman Catholic Church | 125 million | :
★ Its Charismatic Renewal branch is fast growing; the Progressive Branch (Liberation Theology) and the Conservative branch are in decline. Only 30% of the Roman Catholic Church's membership attends the church regularly.:
★ The Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney in Campos dos Goytacazes is one of the most leading traditionalist Catholic groups in the world.:
★ See Roman Catholicism in Brazil. |
| 2 | Assemblies of God''(Assembléias de Deus)'' | 8,4 million | :
★ General Convention of the Assemblies of God: 3,6 Million. :
★ Affiliated with the American Assemblies of God, Springfield, MO.:
★ National Convention of the Assemblies of God: 2,5 Million. A.k.a. Madureira Ministry of the Assemblies of God.:
★ Other independent Assemblies of God: 1,9 Million, such as Bethesda Assemblies of God. |
| 3 | Baptist | 3,1 million | :
★ Brazilian Baptist Convention: 1,2 Million adherents. Affiliated to US Southern Baptists:
★ National Baptist Convention: 1 Million. Charismatics Baptists.:
★ Independent Baptist Convention: 400,000. Scandinavian Baptists.:
★ Other Baptists: 400,000. |
| 4 | Christian Congregation of Brazil | 2,6 million | :
★ Italian-Brazilian Pentecostals |
| 5 | Spiritist | 2,2 million | :
★ These includes Kardec Spiritualist; Afro-Brazilian Sincretists, New Age, etc, but with a much larger influence than their numbers. |
| 6 | Universal Church of the Kingdom of God''(Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus)'' | 2,0 million | :
★ Neo-Pentecostal Movement. |
| 7 | Foursquare Gospel Church | 1,3 million | :
★ Classic Pentocostals in US, but second-wave pentecostals in Brazil. |
| 8 | Adventists | 1,2 million | :
★ Seventh-day Adventist Church: 900,000.:
★ Promise Adventist Church: 150,000. Indigenous Pentecostal Adventists.:
★ Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement: 50,000.:
★ Other Adventists: 100,000. |
| 9 | Lutherans | 1 million | :
★ Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confission.:
★ Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil.:
★ Other Lutherans. |
| 10 | Calvinists | 1 million | :
★ Presbyterian Church of Brazil: 450,000.:
★ Independent Presbyterian Church: 300,00.:
★ Congregationalists: 100,000.:
★ Other Calvinists:150,000. |
| 11 | Jehovah's Witnesses | 638,000 |
| 12 | God is Love Pentecostal Church | 700,000 | :
★ Divine Healing movement. |
| 13 | Independent Catholics | 600,000 | :
★ Groups like Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church and many other small ones. |
| 14 | Anglicans | 100,000 | :
★ Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil. |
| 15 | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | 800,000 | :
★ ("LDS Church"; see also Mormon). |
| 16 | Buddhism | 214,873 | |
| 17 | Judaism | 86,825 | |
| 18 | Islam | 27,239 | |
| 19 | Hinduism | 2,905 | |
| - | Atheists and Agnostics | 12 million | :
★ The non-religious people. |
Languages
Main articles: Languages of Brazil,
Brazilian Portuguese
Portuguese is the only official language of Brazil
[20]. It is spoken by nearly the entire population and is virtually the only language used in schools, newspapers, radio, TV and for all business and administrative purposes. Moreover, Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in
the Americas, making the language an important part of Brazilian national identity.
Portuguese as spoken in Brazil has developed independently of the European mother tongue, and it has undergone fewer phonetic changes than the language spoken in Portugal,
[21] thus it is often said that the "
language of
Camões", an important Portuguese fifteenth century author, sounded closer to modern Brazilian Portuguese than to the language spoken in Portugal today, and that his work is poetically more perfect when read the Brazilian way.
Many Amerindian languages are spoken daily in indigenous communities, primarily in Northern Brazil. Although many of these communities have significant contact with Portuguese
[22], today there are incentives stimulating preservation and the teaching of native languages. According to
SIL International, 133 native American languages are currently endangered. Some of the largest indigenous language groups include Arawak, Carib, Macro-Gê and Tupi.
[23] In 2006, the City of
São Gabriel da Cachoeira in the region of Cabeça do Cachorro (Northwestern region of the State of
Amazonas), has adopted some indigenous languages as some of its other official languages along with
Portuguese.
Other languages are spoken by descendants of immigrants, who are usually bilingual, in small rural communities in Southern Brazil. The most important are the
Brazilian German dialects, such as
Riograndenser Hunsrückisch and the
Pomeranian language, and also the
Talian, based on the
Italian Venetian language. In the city of
São Paulo,
Japanese,
Chinese and
Korean can be heard in the immigrant neighborhoods, such as
Liberdade.
English is also part of the official high school curriculum in most of the Brazilian states, but very few Brazilians are fluent.
Spanish is understood to varying degrees by many Brazilians, especially on the borders with
Colombia,
Peru,
Argentina,
Paraguay and
Uruguay. The same applies to French which is spoken and understood in the cities bordering
French Guiana.
Demographic Breakdown
Demographics of Brazil, Data of
FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.
Population
:188,078,227
:''Note'': Brazil took a count in August 2000, which reported a population of 169,799,170; that figure was about 3.3% lower than projections by the US Census Bureau, and is close to the implied underenumeration of 4.6% for the 1991 census; estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.). However, there has also been a dramatic decrease in fertility rates since the 1970s.
Age structure
:0-14 years: 25.8% (male 24,687,656/female 23,742,998)
:15-64 years: 68.1% (male 63,548,331/female 64,617,539)
:65 years and over: 6.1% (male 4,712,675/female 6,769,028) (2006 est.)
Median age
:Total: 28.2 years
:Male: 27.5 years
:Female: 29 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate
:1.04% (2006 est.)
Birth rate
:16.56 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate
:6.17 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate
:-0.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio
:At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
:Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
:15-64 years: 0.983 male(s)/female
:65 years and over: 0.697 male(s)/female
:Total population: 0.976 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate
:Total: 28.6 deaths/1,000 live births
:Male: 32.3 deaths/1,000 live births
:Female: 24.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Note: states from the south have this rate as low as 12.4 deaths/1,000 live births, which shows an incredible difference concerning quality of life in the various regions of the country.
Life expectancy at birth
:Total population: 71.97 years
:Male: 68.02 years
:Female: 76.12 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate
:1.91 children born/woman (2006 est.)
Nationality
:Noun: Brazilian(s)
:Adjective: Brazilian
Ethnic groups
The only relatively isolated minority ethnic groups in Brazil are various non-assimilated
indigenous tribes, comprising less than 1% of the population, who live in officially delimited reservations and either avoid contact with civilized people, or constitute separate social and political communities.
The rest of the population can be considered a single "Brazilian" ethnic group, with highly varied racial types and backgrounds, but without clear ethnic sub-divisions. By physical type, a recent survey gives 53% "white", 38% "mixed", 6% "black", 1% "other".
The
ethnic origins of the Brazilians can be traced to: the
Bantu; the
Ewe; the
Germans; the
Guarani; the
Italians; the
Japanese; the
Lebanese; the
Poles; the
Portuguese; the
Spaniards; the
Syrians; the
Tupi; the
Ukrainians; and the
Yoruba.
Religions
:Roman Catholic (nominal) 73.6%, Protestant 15.4%, Spiritualist 1.3%, Bantu/voodoo 0.3%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.2%, none 7.4% (2000 census)
Languages
:Portuguese (official)
Literacy
:Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
:Total population: 90.1%
:Male: 90.4%
:Female: 89.8% (2003 est.)
See also
★
Brazil
★
Race in Brazil
References
1. Sapo.pt Imigrantes
2. Contry Studies Brazil
3. Census Questionnaires
4. Karen Dialogue
5. FT.com, "Signs betray ‘hidden workers’ of Japan", retrieved 20 July 2007.
6. Amaral, Ernesto F. (2005) "Shaping Brazil: The Role of International Migration", Migration Policy Institute website. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
7. http://www.washtimes.com/world/20050711-092503-1255r.htm
8. PNDA Census 2005 race
9. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0103-40142004000100004&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en#tab06
10. Japan Bank for International Cooperation report, November 2005, "Sector Study for Education in Brazil", retrieved 28 Feb 2007
11. Japan Bank for International Cooperation report, November 2005, "Sector Study for Education in Brazil", retrieved 28 Feb 2007
12. Ministério do Planejamento website, "Saúde" (fact sheet, 2002), retrieved 12 June 2007.
13. Igreja no Brasil
14. Religion in Brazil
15. Lovejoy, Paul E., ''Muslim Encounters With Slavery in Brazil'', Markus Wiener Pub., 2007. ISBN 1558763783.
16. US Department of State, "International Religious Freedom Report 2006", retrieved 05 June 2007
17. MOFA: Japan-Brazil Relations
18. Pesquisa de Opinião dos Católicos Brasileiros sobre Direitos Reprodutivos, Relação Igreja-Estado e temas Relacionados
19. IBGE 2000 Census
20. Portuguese, the official language of Brazil
21. Although Brazilian Portuguese was influenced by the coastal Tupi language, African languages brought by slaves, and other immigrant languages, it was isolated from the French influence on Iberian Portuguese in the eighteen century. See "The Portuguese Language in the Americas," retrieved 4 July 2007.
22. Portuguese throughout the world
23. SIL International, "LÃnguas IndÃgenas do Brasil", retrieved 12 June 2007.
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