Portuguese Venezuelans

Portuguese Venezuelans
  • Luso-venezuelanos
  • Luso-venezolanos
Total population
0.4 million[1] – 1.3 million[1](Portuguese ancestry)
55,441 (2017)[2] (Portuguese born)
Regions with significant populations
 Portugal: 24,603[3]
 Venezuela400,000[1] – 1,300,000[1]
 United States80,500[3]
 Peru40,000[3]
 Colombia20,500[3]
 Chile20,300[3]
 Ecuador10,800[3]
Languages
Spanish and/or Portuguese
Religion
Roman Catholicism

Portuguese Venezuelans (or Luso-Venezuelans) are Portuguese-born citizens with Venezuelan citizenship or Venezuelan-born citizens of Portuguese ancestry or citizenship. Mostly located in Caracas, Valencia and Maracaibo, also Barquisimeto,[4] the Portuguese community of Venezuela are among the largest ethnic groups in the country. The State of Portuguesa takes its name from the Portuguesa River, in which a Portuguese woman is said to have drowned.

Portuguese arrived to Venezuela in the early and middle 20th century, as immigrants, mostly from Madeira Island. Venezuela has the second largest Portuguese diaspora in America, after Brazil. There is strong interest among a large segment of the Portuguese in Venezuela to preserve the culture and familial bond with the old country Portugal, while they have been important in the development of Venezuela holding a substantial number of businesses in the retail trade. The Portuguese language in Venezuela influences Venezuelan Spanish with some neologisms and loanwords.

  1. ^ a b c d "Maior comunidade portuguesa da América Latina esperançada numa nova Venezuela". Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). April 13, 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-07-25.
  2. ^ "Observatório da Emigração – Venezuela". Observatório da Emigração, ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon. 2024-02-20. Table A.1.1 Residents born in Portugal by sex, 2000-2020. Archived from the original on 2021-10-20. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Gortázar, Naiara Galarraga (March 26, 2018). "Radiografía del gran éxodo venezolano" – via elpais.com.
  4. ^ Ramos-Rodríguez, Froilán (2018). Travesía de la esperanza. La inmigración portuguesa en Barquisimeto. FEDUPEL (Pedagogic University). ISBN 978-980-273-534-1.