Ethnically Complex Brazil

Brazil struggles with defining its population by race or ethnicity. Like the United States, Brazil is composed of people whose ancestors emigrated from many places. Portugal and West Africa have been the leading places of origin, but large numbers have come from other European countries, Japan, Southwest Asia, and elsewhere. In addition, a large number of indigenous people inhabited Brazil prior to the emigration of people from other continents.

Brazil’s Races & Ethnicities

Genetic studies show that roughly 70 percent of Brazilians have predominantly European ancestry, 20 percent predominantly African, and 10 percent predominantly Indigenous. However, through many generations of marriages and births, most Brazilians have a mix of ethnicities.

Rather than ethnicity, though, Brazil’s census classifies people according to skin color. The race to which a person chooses to be classified is an important element of cultural identity in Brazil.

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, a government agency that conducts the official census, asks Brazilians to identify themselves as belonging to one of five so-called races: branco (white), pardo (brown), preto (black), amarelo (yellow), and indigenous. Brancos and pardos each comprise more than 40 percent of Brazil’s population and together account for more than 90 percent.

Races In Brazil Based On Census

Official results from 2010 census.

Further complicating Brazil’s racial classifications, Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics researcher José Luiz Petrucelli found that Brazilians don’t care for the census choices. When asked an open-ended question about their race, Brazilians responded with 143 different answers. Most significant were the large numbers who identified themselves as moreno (brunette or olive) or moreno claro (light brown), races not even included in the census

Races In Brazil Based On Self-Identification

Results of a self-identification study by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.

A number of Brazilians also identified with two races that both translate into English as (black) preto and negro. On the other hand, few Brazilians considered themselves pardo, which the official census uses for brown (Figure 7-14). Today, more Brazilians are self-identifying as preto or pardo, whereas in the past they would have selected branco.

Brazilian Schoolchildren, Brasília

Pause & Reflect 7.1.4

If you had to fill out Brazil’s census, what race would you select for yourself? Why?

Distribution of Races in Brazil

Brazil displays sharp differences in the distribution of races. At a national scale, regions of the country have clusters of various races.

• South. On a national map, brancos are clustered in the south. Brazil’s four southernmost states, including the largest city, São Paulo, are approximately 70 percent branco, compared to 40 percent in the rest of the country. The south was a major destination for immigrants from Portugal during colonial times and from other European countries after independence.

• North. Brazil’s interior north, which is covered primarily by the Amazon tropical rain forest, has the highest percentage of indigenous people, who are classified by Brazil’s census as pardo. Relatively few European immigrants reached the interior.

• Northeast. Brazil’s northern coast is also populated primarily by persons classified as pardos. The region also received the largest number of pretos forced to migrate from Africa to be enslaved. Nearly one-half of Brazil’s pretos are clustered along the east coast between Recife and Rio de Janeiro.

• West-central. This region has a mix of pardo and branco population. It was sparsely inhabited until Brasília was constructed in the region to be the capital of Brazil beginning in 1960. Brazilians of all races have migrated to the region to work in the capital.

Distribution of Races in Brazil

(a) Branco (white), (b) Pardo (brown/mixed)

Local-scale racial diversity can also be observed. For example, the above shows the distribution of races in São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city. Brancos are clustered closer to the center of the city, whereas pardos are living in outer areas. The racial divide in São Paulo is reflected in the housing . Near the center, brancos cluster in modern high-rise apartments, whereas in the outer areas pardos live in poor-quality housing (see Chapter 13). Brazil’s racial divide has been a source of both pride and tension (Figure 7-18).

Distribution of Races In São Paulo

(a) Branco (white), (b) Pardo (brown/mixed)

São Paulo Contrasts

Modern downtown apartment buildings occupied mostly by brancos (background), and poor-quality suburban housing occupied mostly by pardos (foreground).

Black Consciousness Day, Brazil

November 20 is Black Consciousness Day, a public holiday in Brazil. It honors Brazil’s large preto population.