Asian Brazilians
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (2,084,288 1.09% of Brazilian population per 2010 Census) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mainly in São Paulo and Paraná | |
| Languages | |
| Predominantly Portuguese, Japanese, Arabic, Konkani, Caribbean Hindustani, Hindi, Tamil, Chinese dialects and Korean | |
| Religion | |
| Majority Christian: 61.2% Roman Catholicism, 13.3% Protestantism, 12.5% Non-religious, 0.8% other Christian beliefs Minority: Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism |
Asian Brazilians are Brazilian citizens of full or predominantly East Asian, South Asian and in some cases South East Asian ancestry, or an Asian-born person permanently residing in Brazil. Asian Brazilian community received most of immigrants from the East Asian region, although there have also been smaller numbers of South Asians, from the Indian sub-continent, as well as from the Caribbean, Mozambique, and Kenya.
Recent research has suggested that Asians from the early Portuguese Eastern Empire, known as Luso-Asians first came to Brazil during the sixteenth century as seamen known as Lascars, or as servants, slaves and concubines accompanying the governors, merchants and clergy who has served in Portuguese Asia. This first presence of Asians was limited to Northeast Brazil, especially Bahia, but others were brought as cultivators, textile workers and miners to Para and other parts of the Northeast. These Asians intermarried people of African and European ancestry and left a legacy in the food, early art and boat-making traditions of the Northeast.
The first substantial Asian immigration to Brazil were a small number of Chinese people (3,000) during the colonial period as coolie slaves. However, significant immigration from Asia to Brazil started in the late 19th century, when immigration from Lebanon and Syria became important. In Brazil, most of definitions of an Asian Brazilian usually do not refer to the community of West Asian origins such as Arabs, Turks, and Armenians.
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