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 Lebanese Brazilians inNova Friburgo, late 19th century | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 1 million[1][2][3][4][5] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| São Paulo,Minas Gerais,Rio de Janeiro,Goiás,Rio Grande do Sul,Ceará,Pernambuco | |
| Languages | |
| Brazilian Portuguese •Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlyChristian withMuslim,Druze, andJewish minorities | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherArabs,Asian Brazilians,Arab Americans,Arab Canadians,Lebanese Canadians,Lebanese Australians,Arab Argentines |
Arab Brazilians areBrazilian citizens ofArab ethnic,cultural,linguistic heritage andidentity. The majority of Arab Brazilians trace their origin to theLevantine region of theArab World, known inArabic asBilad al-Sham, primarily fromLebanon andSyria, as well asPalestine.[6][7][8]Christians are the majority of the Arab Brazilians.[8][9] The firstSyrians andLebanese arrived inSão Paulo around 1880. It is not known exactly when, although the Syrians and Lebanese say that in 1885 there was a small core of peddlers working in the market square. By 1920, the census listed 50,246 Syrians and Lebanese in Brazil, 38.4% (2/5) of these in thestate of São Paulo. The 1940 census enumerated 48,614 Syrians, Lebanese and other related groups with a decrease of approximately 1647 people. As immigration almost ceased after 1929 and the colony aged, it is surprising that the decline was not even greater. The trend of the period between 1920 and 1940 was the continuous concentration of Syrians and Lebanese in São Paulo. Almost half (49.3%) of Syrians and Lebanese residents in Brazil lived in São Paulo.
Contemporary data on the number of Arab descendants in Brazil is highly inconsistent. The nationalIBGE census has not questioned the ancestry of the Brazilian people for several decades, considering that immigration to Brazil declined almost to zero in the second half of the 20th century. In the last census questioning ancestry, in 1940, 107,074 Brazilians said they were the children of a Syrian, Lebanese,Iraqi or Arab father. The native Arabs were 46,105 and the naturalized Brazilians, 5,447. Brazil had 41,169,321 inhabitants at the time of the census, so Arabs and children were 0.38% of Brazil's population in 1940. Currently, many sources cite that millions of Brazilians are of Arab descent. Itamaraty claims that there are between 7 and 10 million Lebanese descendants in Brazil. However, independent research, based on the interviewee's self-declaration, found much smaller numbers. According to a 2008 IBGE survey, 0.9% of the white Brazilians interviewed said they had a family background inWestern Asia, which would give about one million people. According to another 1999 survey by the sociologist and former president of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) Simon Schwartzman, only 0.48% of the interviewed Brazilians claimed to have Arab ancestry, a percentage that, in a population of about 200 million of Brazilians, would represent around 960,000 people.
Arab immigration to Brazil started in the 1890s asLebanese andSyrian people fled the political and economic instability caused by the collapse of theOttoman Empire; the majority were Christian but there were also many Muslims. Immigration peaked aroundWorld War II.[10] Arab immigrants were among the largest non-European immigrant groups to Brazil. Groups in Brazil who may have protested against the immigration of non-Europeans were less concerned, since many of the immigrants from Syria, Lebanon andNorth Africa were Christians. Fewer than 200,000Middle Eastern and Arab immigrants arrived in Brazil, who eventually dispersed in many different cities.[11]
By the 19th century, most of the immigrants arrived from Lebanon and Syria,[12] and later from other parts of theArab world. When they were first processed in the ports of Brazil, they were counted asTurks because they carried passports issued by the TurkishOttoman Empire that ruled the present day territories ofLebanon andSyria.[13] There were many causes for Arabs to leave their homelands in the Ottoman Empire; overpopulation in Lebanon,conscription in Lebanon and Syria, and religious persecution by the Ottoman Turks. Arab immigration to Brazil grew also afterWorld War I and the rest of the 20th century, and concentrated in the states ofSão Paulo,Mato Grosso do Sul,Minas Gerais,Goiás, andRio de Janeiro.
Most Arab immigrants in Brazil wereChristians, Muslims being a minority.[14] Intermarriage between Brazilians of Arab descent and other Brazilians, regardless of ethnicity or religious affiliation, is very high; most Brazilians of Arab descent only have one parent of Arab origin. As a result of this, the new generations of Brazilians of Arab descent show markedlanguage shift away from Arabic. Only a few speak any Arabic, and such knowledge is often limited to a few basic words. Instead the majority, especially those of younger generations, speakPortuguese as a first language.[12]
The Brazilian and Lebanese governments claim there are 7 to 10 million Brazilians of Lebanese descent.[15][16] Also, the Brazilian government claims there are 4 million Brazilians of Syrian descent.[15] However, those numbers might be an overestimate, given that an official survey conducted by theBrazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in 2008 showed that less than 1 million Brazilians claimed any Middle-Eastern origin (only 0.9% of white Brazilian respondents said they had family origins in theMiddle East).[17]
Arab immigration to Brazil, which had declined during the mid-20th century, saw new movements after 2011 related to the Syrian Civil War. In 2013, the National Committee for Refugees (CONARE) issued Normative Resolution No. 17, which established a legal framework to facilitate visas for individuals affected by the conflict in Syria for humanitarian reasons. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty), this resolution allowed for the "flexibilization of requirements regularly demanded for the issuance of visas."[1]
This period also involved financial allocations from the Brazilian government toward international humanitarian efforts. Official records indicate that approximately $1.8 million was provided through agencies such as UNHCR and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF-OCHA) to address the humanitarian situation. In the years following these measures, individuals arriving under this framework established a presence in several urban centers, including São Paulo and Curitiba.
Arab immigration has influenced many aspects ofBrazil's culture – besides and beyond the Arabic influence inherited via Portugal, as, for instance, some Portuguese words of Arabic origin.
In many cities across the country, it is easy to find restaurants that cook Arab food; and Arab dishes, such assfihas (Portugueseesfirra),tabbouleh (Portuguesetabule),kibbeh (Portuguesequibe),hummus,tahina andhalwa are very well known among Brazilians.
Most Arab immigrants in Brazil have worked as traders, roaming the vast country to sell textiles and clothes and open new markets.[citation needed] This economic history can be seen today in the ways that the São Paulo-based Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce has gained greater recognition in increasing Brazilian exports to the Arab world.[19]
Arab-Brazilians are well integrated into Brazilian society. Today, only a minority of Arab Brazilians still know and speak the Arabic language, the vast majority of them being monolingualPortuguese speakers.[12]
Many importantBrazilians are of Arab descent, including importantpoliticians such asPaulo Maluf,Geraldo Alckmin,Gilberto Kassab, formerPresidentMichel Temer,José Maria Alkmin, artists, writers (for instanceRaduan Nassar) andmodels.
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