Immigration to Brazil
After Brazil was taken by the Portuguese in possession, began in 1500, the settlement of convicts. By 1550 there were about 30,000 Portuguese in Brazil. Between 1500 and 1650 approximately 580,000 Portuguese arrived in Brazil, followed by further 600,000 immigrants during the gold rush in Minas Gerais from 1700 to 1760.
In southern Brazil, the climatic and geological conditions were such that Europeans live here and were able to operate with the methods they are familiar with agriculture.
After the independence of Brazil in 1822, the political leadership sought to develop the less developed, temperate zones, especially in the south of the country by the settlement of European farmers and their families. At the same time the south of Brazil should be protected against a possible military threat from Argentina.
Between 1872 and 1940, about 5 million Europeans in Brazil settled.
Immigration to Brazil 1800 - 1950:
- Portuguese: 2 million
- Italians: 1.5 million
- Spain: 0.7 million
- German: 0.3 million
- Japanese: 0.2 million