Portuguese Burghers

Portuguese Burghers
Total population
5,000
Regions with significant populations
Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA
Languages
Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole, Portuguese, English, Sinhala and Tamil
Religion
Catholic and other Christian denominations
Related ethnic groups
Luso-Asians, Luso-Indians, Burgher people, Portuguese, Dutch Burghers, Sinhalese, Kaffirs & Sri Lankan Tamils

The Portuguese Burghers[1][2][3] are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka, of mixed Portuguese and Sri Lankan descent.[4] They are largely Catholic and some still speak the Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese language, a creole based on Portuguese mixed with Sinhalese.[5] In modern times, English has become the common language while Sinhalese is taught in school as a second language. Portuguese Burghers sometimes mixed with but are to be distinguished from other Burgher people, such as Dutch Burghers.[6]

  1. ^ DeVotta, Neil (2004). Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka. Stanford University Press. p. 276. ISBN 9780804749244.
  2. ^ "The Portuguese Burghers" (PDF). Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. ^ Müller, J.B. "One Nation : diversity and multiculturalism". Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  4. ^ West, Barbara A. (2009). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania. Infobase Publishing. p. 1025. ISBN 9781438119137.
  5. ^ McGilvray, Dennis B. (1982). Dutch Burghers and Portuguese Mechanics: Eurasian Ethnicity in Sri Lanka. Cambridge University Press.
  6. ^ "History of the Dutch in Ceylon (Sri Lanka)". Retrieved 24 January 2016.