Portuguese community in Guyana

Portuguese Guyanese

Regions with significant populations
Georgetown, New Amsterdam
Languages
English (Guyanese)  · Portuguese
Religion
Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Portuguese diaspora

A Portuguese Guyanese is a Guyanese whose ancestors came from Portugal, or a Portuguese who has Guyanese citizenship.

The history of Portuguese Guyanese community relates directly with the end of slavery. After the abolition of slavery in 1834, the planters of British Guiana sought alternative sources of labour. They were eager to recruit white labourers in order to bolster the proportion of white to coloured residents in the colony.

In 1834, the first Portuguese people arrived from the Portuguese island of Madeira, having been sponsored by a coalition of planters and by the colonial government. Between 1834 and 1882, some 30,645 Portuguese arrived in Guyana, the vast majority from Madeira, but others from the Azores Islands. Mixed race Portuguese speaking elements from Cape Verde and Brazil also were brought in.

The Madeiran Portuguese, or simply Madeirans as they came to be known, soon shunned working in the fields given the high mortality rate due to tropical diseases. They settled in Georgetown, New Amsterdam and other towns in Guyana and dedicated themselves into the venture of the retail and wholesale trades. By 1851, 173 out of 296 shops in Georgetown were Portuguese-owned, while the figure was 28 out of 52 in New Amsterdam. In 1891, Portuguese numbered 4.3% of the population of Guyana.

The Portuguese of Guiana faced considerable discrimination from both the black Creoles and the white British ruling class. The former believed them to be opportunists and lackies of the white establishment while the latter considered the Portuguese inferior due to their Catholic and Mediterranean racial roots. The Portuguese are white, but the white ruling class knew that, although the Portuguese were racially European, they were also indigent peasants from Madeira.

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Wikipedia