Arab Brazilian
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Arab_Brazilian".

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Arab Brazilian
Árabe Brasileiro

Flag of Syria Flag of Lebanon Palestinian flag Flag of Brazil

Notable Arab Brazilians:
Luciana Gimenez • Paulo Maluf
Geraldo Alckmin • Daniella Sarahyba • Gilberto Kassab
Total population

10,000,000 Arab Brazilans[1]
Regions with significant populations
São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro
Language(s)
Brazilian Portuguese, Arabic
Religion(s)
Christianity (mostly Roman Catholic and Orthodox), with Jewish and Islam, minorities
Related ethnic groups
Other Arabs, Arab American

An Arab Brazilian (Portuguese: Árabe Brasileiro) is a Brazilian-born person of Arab descent, sometimes including other non-Arabic Middle Eastern peoples.

The population of Brazil identifying with either full or partial Arabic descent is estimated at between 8 to 10 million people, most of them tracing their roots back to Lebanese and Syrian immigrants who arrived in Brazil in the early 20th century. The Lebanese population in Brazil, over 7 million descendants and recent immigrants is larger than the population in Lebanon. Today, only a minority of these Arab Brazilians still know and use their original Arabic language, most of them having shifted to Portuguese.

Immigration of Arabs to Brazil started in the late 19th century, most of them coming from Lebanon, later from Syria and Jordan, Palestine and Iraq. Arab immigration to Brazil grew in the 20th century, and was concentrated in the state of São Paulo, but also extended to Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and other parts of Brazil.

Initially, most Arab immigrants in Brazil were Christians. However, after the 1970s, large number of Muslims from Lebanon, Syria, the Palestinian Territories, and other Muslim countries immigrated, and the current Muslim population of Brazil, predominantly Sunni Muslim, is estimated at about 1.5 million.[2] There are also Brazilian Jews who are or whose ancestors were immigrants from Lebanon, Syria and North Africa; among them is Harry Abdul, the father of American singer/dancer Paula Abdul.

Arab culture has influenced many aspects of Brazil's culture. In big towns of Brazil it is easy to find restaurants of Arab food, and Arab dishes, such as sfihas, hummus, kibbeh, tahina, tabbouleh and halwa are very well-known among Brazilians. Most Middle-Eastern immigrants in Brazil have worked as traders, roaming the vast country to sell textiles and clothes and open new markets. This economic history can be seen today in the ways that the Sao Paulo-based Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce has gained greater recognition in increasing Brazilian exports to the Arab world (see: Karam, John Tofik. 2007. Another Arabesque: Syrian-Lebanese Ethnicity in Neoliberal Brazil. Philadelphia: Temple University Press).

Arab-Brazilians are well integrated into Brazilian society. Many important Brazilians are of Arab descent, including important politicians, such as São Paulo's former mayor Paulo Maluf and governor Geraldo Alckmin, artists, writers and even top models.

Contents

Historical figures of Arab Brazilian

Arab settlement in Brazil
Source: (IBGE)[3]
 
Period
Ethnic groups 1884-1893 1894-1903 1904-1913 1914-1923 1924-1933
Syrians and Lebanese 96 7,124 45,803 20,400 20,400

Famous Brazilians of Arab descent

References

  1. ^ Brazil - Brasil - BRAZZIL - News from Brazil - Arabs: They are 12 Million in Brazil - Brazilian Immigration - September 2004
  2. ^ Saudi Aramco World : The Arabs of Brazil
  3. ^ Brasil 500 anos

See also

External links

v • d • e
Arab people and diaspora
General regions
Specific countries
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v • d • e
Demographics of Brazil
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