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Portuguese American
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Portuguese American Luso-Americanos |
|---|
   |
| Notable Portuguese Americans: Ramara Viera · Brooke Burke · Jim Costa |
| Total population |
|
Portuguese
|
| Regions with significant populations |
| East Providence, Rhode Island, Bristol, Rhode Island, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Fall River, Massachusetts, Tulare, California |
| Language(s) |
| American English · Portuguese Portuguese Creole |
| Religion(s) |
| Predominantly Roman Catholic · Protestant · Jewish minority |
| Related ethnic groups |
| Portuguese · Italian · Spanish European American · White Brazilian |
Portuguese Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates in the southwest European nation of Portugal.
Colloquially, the term is also incorrectly applied to people whose ancestry stems from Portuguese-speaking countries. Such use of the term "Portuguese American" is employed as a synonym to Luso American. Accurately, a Portuguese American denotes any person born in the United States whose family came to the USA from Portugal.
Contents |
Portuguese people have had a long history in America, which may even be pre-Columbian, although there is lack of solid historical evidence. Navigators, like the Corte-Real family, may have visited the North American shores.[1] There is a monumental landmark, the Dighton Rock, in Massachusetts, that testifies their presence in the area. During the Colonial period, there was some limited Portuguese emigration to the present day United States.
In the late 19th century, many Portuguese, mainly Azorean and Madeiran, immigrated to the United States, establishing in cities like East Providence, Rhode Island, Bristol, Rhode Island, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Fall River, Massachusetts, East Cambridge, Massachusetts, Gloucester, Massachusetts, Newark, New Jersey, Jacksonville, Illinois and Tulare, California. Many of them also moved to Hawaii during pre-U.S. times.
In the mid-late 20th century their was another surge of Portuguese immigration in America, mainly in the Northeast (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts). There are various Portuguese Clubs, principally in the larger cities of these states. Many Portuguese Americans may include descendants of Portuguese settlers born in Africa (like Angola, Cape Verde, and Mozambique) and Asia (mostly Macau). The country has also Puerto Ricans of Portuguese descent.
There were around 1 million Portuguese Americans in the United States by the year 2000. There is a much higher percentage of Portuguese in neighbouring Canada, also mostly from the islands, concentrated around large communities in Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec but now spread throughout the country. Most of this was sponsored immigration to fill the labour shortages from the 1950s to the 1970s and new immigrants generally had stronger community links developed than in the US.
Some of their surnames have been changed like: Rodrigues to Rogers, Oliveira to Oliver, Silva to Silver, and Pereira to Perry.
A general contribution the Portuguese people have made to American music is the ukulele, which originated in Madeira and is now popular in Hawaii. [2]
| Portuguese-Americans [3] |
|---|
| Total population |
|
1,177,112 (2000), 0.4% of America's population |
| Regions with significant populations |
California: 330,974, Massachusetts: 279,722, Rhode Island: 91,445, New Jersey: 72,196, Florida: 48,974, Hawaii: 48,527, Connecticut: 44,695, New York: 43,839, Washington: 17,200, Texas: 16,552, Oregon: 14,674, Pennsylvania: 13,566, New Hampshire: 13,095 |
| Language(s) |
| Predominantly English and Portuguese and/or its dialects. |
| Religion(s) |
| Predominantly Roman Catholic |
Portuguese-Americans are the fourth largest ethnic group in the State of Hawaii, fifth largest group in Rhode Island and the eighth largest group in Massachusetts. [3]
Top 3 Biggest Portuguese-American communities in the country (2000 Census):
(1) Metro Boston area leads the way with 192,017 Portuguese-Americans; (3.3% of Metro population). [4]
(2) Greater New York/New Jersey area with 129,865; (0.6% of total Metro population). [4]
(3) San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area with 121,757; (1.7% of total Metro population). [4]
The states with the largest Portuguese populations:
Portuguese
- California- 330,974
- Massachusetts- 279,722
- Rhode Island- 91,445
- New Jersey- 72,196
- Florida- 48,974
The states with the top percentages of Portuguese:
- Rhode Island 91,445 (8.7%)
- Massachusetts 279,722 (4.4% of state pop)
- Hawaii 48,527 (4%)
- Connecticut (1.3%)
- New Hampshire (1.1%)
- California (1%)
- New Jersey (0.9%)
- Nevada (0.6%)
- Florida (0.3%)
- ^ [http://www.dightonrock.com/ Associação Dr. Manuel Luciano da Silva" Acervo Documental]. Retrieved on December 17, 2006.
- ^ Ukulele origins from Madeira Portugal. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
- ^ a b Portuguese American Population Numbers. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
- ^ a b c Census 2000- Population of European-American and other ethnic groups in major American metropolitan areas. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
- Igreja Portuguesa de Nossa Senhora de Fátima — Church of Our Lady of Fatima, Yonkers, New York
- Portuguese American Community Center, Yonkers, New York
- Portuguese-American Historical & Research Foundation Franklin, North Carolina
- Congregation Shearith Israel — the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue (New York, NY, USA)
- Kahal Kadosh Mikveh Israel (Philadelphia, PA, USA)
- Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island
- The Dighton Rock
- Distinguished Americans & Canadians of Portuguese Descent
- Memoir about growing up in a large Portuguese American family in 1930s & 40s America - "Hello Dolly"
- Distinguished Americans & Canadians of Portuguese Descent - Portuguese-American Historical & Research Foundation, Inc.
- Lusa Web - The meeting place for Portuguese-Americans
- Portuguese Americans. - Culture, History & People.
- Viva Portugal - Linking the Portuguese Communities in Canada, The US, and other countries outside of Portugal.
- O Journal - Serving Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
- Portugal News - News from Portugal, in English and Portuguese.
- Portuguese Times
- EUA Contacto - Portuguese Community Website in USA
- Elizabeth Portuguese Lions Club
- Portuguese-American Federation
- Portuguese-American Police Association
- Portuguese Club of Hartford
- Portuguese Cultural Center of Danbury, Connecticut
- Portuguese Foundation of Connecticut
- Portuguese Music World : record company in Dartmouth, Massachusetts
- KIGS - Portuguese Radio based in California
- Rádio Ponte - WHTB 1400 AM, broadcasting from Fall River, Massachusetts
- WFAR: Radio Familia - Family oriented radio station in Connecticut broadcasting in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian.
- WJFD-FM - Portuguese radio station in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
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