Portuguese American

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Portuguese American
Luso-americanos

Notable Portuguese Americans:
Ramana Vieira · Brooke Burke · Jim Costa
Total population

Portuguese
1,442,077 Americans
Roughly 0.5% of the US population[1]

Flag of Portugal Flag of the United States
Luso Americans

Portuguese Speakers
Lusitanics in the United States
Regions with significant populations
East Providence, Rhode Island, Bristol, Rhode Island, Newark, New Jersey, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Fall River, Massachusetts, Tulare, California
Languages
American English · Portuguese
Portuguese Creole
Religions
Predominantly
Roman Catholic · Protestant · Jewish minority
Related ethnic groups
Portuguese · Italian · Spanish
European American · White Brazilian

Portuguese Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates in the southwest European nation of Portugal.

Colloquially, the term is also incorrectly applied to people whose ancestry stems from Portuguese-speaking countries. Such use of the term "Portuguese American" is employed as a synonym to Luso American. Accurately, a Portuguese American denotes any person born in the United States whose family came to the USA from Portugal. Americans and others who are not Europeans from Portugal but originate from countries that were former colonies of Portugal are codified as Lusitanic.

Contents

[edit] History

Portuguese people have had a long history in America, which may even be pre-Columbian, although there is lack of solid historical evidence. Navigators, like the Corte-Real family, may have visited the North American shores.[2] There is a monumental landmark, the Dighton Rock, in Massachusetts, that testifies their presence in the area. During the Colonial period, there was some limited Portuguese emigration to the present day United States.

In the late 19th century, many Portuguese, mainly Azorean and Madeiran, immigrated to the United States, establishing in cities like East Providence, Rhode Island, Bristol, Rhode Island, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Fall River, Massachusetts, East Cambridge, Massachusetts, Gloucester, Massachusetts, Newark, New Jersey, Jacksonville, Illinois, Modesto, California and Tulare, California. Many of them also moved to Hawaii during pre-U.S. times.

In the mid-late 20th century there was another surge of Portuguese immigration in America, mainly in the Northeast (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts). There are various Portuguese Clubs, principally in the larger cities of these states. Many Portuguese Americans may include descendants of Portuguese settlers born in Africa (like Angola, Cape Verde, and Mozambique) and Asia (mostly Macau). The country has also Puerto Ricans of Portuguese descent.

There were around 1 million Portuguese Americans in the United States by the year 2000. There is a much higher percentage of Portuguese in neighbouring Canada, also mostly from the islands, concentrated around large communities in Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec but now spread throughout the country. Most of this was sponsored immigration to fill the labour shortages from the 1950s to the 1970s and new immigrants generally had stronger community links developed than in the US.

Some of their surnames have been changed like: Rodrigues to Rogers, Oliveira to Oliver, Silva to Silver, and Pereira to Perry.

A general contribution the Portuguese people have made to American music is the ukulele, which originated in Madeira and is now popular in Hawaii. [3]

[edit] Related Ancestry

[edit] Ancestry Map

[edit] Census 2000

Portuguese ancestry in yellow and red. The darker the shade, the larger the population.
Portuguese ancestry in yellow and red. The darker the shade, the larger the population.

[edit] By the Numbers

Portuguese-Americans are the fourth largest ethnic group in the State of Hawaii, fifth largest group in Rhode Island and the eighth largest group in Massachusetts. [4]

[edit] Top 3 Biggest Communities

Top 3 Biggest Portuguese-American communities in the country (2000 Census):


(1) Metro Boston area leads the way with 192,017 Portuguese-Americans; (3.3% of Metro population). [5]
(2) Greater New York/New Jersey area with 129,865; (0.6% of total Metro population). [5]
(3) San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area with 121,757; (1.7% of total Metro population). [5]

[edit] Numbers by state

The states with the largest Portuguese populations:

Portuguese

The states with the top percentages of Portuguese:

  • Rhode Island 91,445 (8.7% of state population)
  • Massachusetts 279,722 (4.4%)
  • Hawaii 48,527 (4%)
  • Connecticut (1.3%)
  • New Hampshire (1.1%)
  • California (1%)
  • New Jersey (0.9%)
  • Nevada (0.6%)
  • Florida (0.3%)

[edit] Resources

[edit] References

  1. ^ S0201. Selected Population Profile in the United States U.S. Census Bureau
  2. ^ [http://www.dightonrock.com/ Associação Dr. Manuel Luciano da Silva" Acervo Documental]. Retrieved on December 17, 2006.
  3. ^ Ukulele origins from Madeira Portugal. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
  4. ^ Portuguese American Population Numbers. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
  5. ^ a b c Census 2000- Population of European-American and other ethnic groups in major American metropolitan areas. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.

[edit] External links

[edit] Culture

[edit] Education

[edit] News

[edit] Organizations

[edit] Radio

  • KIGS - Portuguese Radio based in California
  • Rádio Ponte - WHTB 1400 AM, broadcasting from Fall River, Massachusetts
  • WFAR: Radio Familia - Family oriented radio station in Connecticut broadcasting in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian.
  • WJFD-FM - Portuguese radio station in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

[edit] See also


v • d • e
European Americans
Northern Europe
Western Europe
Central Europe
Eastern Europe
Southern Europe
Albanian · Bosnian · Croatian · Cypriot · Greek · Italian (Sicilian) · Macedonian · Maltese · Montenegrin · Portuguese · Serbian · Slovene · Spanish (Basque • Catalan • Hispano • Isleño) • Turkish ·
Caucasus
Other
† Azerbaijanis of Azerbaijan; Iranian Azeris live outside Europe.
v • d • e
Portuguese diaspora
Angola • Brazil • Canada • Guyana • Luxembourg • Mozambique • South Africa • United Kingdom • United States
Languages