Portuguese people

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The Portuguese people are the ethnic group or nation native to the country of Portugal, in the Iberian peninsula of southwest Europe. Portugal is a European Latin country. Portuguese is their native language and Roman Catholic is their predominant religion.

The Portuguese are a southern European population. Their ethnic origin is mainly a mixture of pre-Roman Celtic and Iberian tribes (called Celtiberians, such as the Lusitanians, the Calaicians or Gallaeci and the Cynetes or Conii, amongst other less significant tribes such as the Bracari, Celtici, Coelerni, Equaesi, Grovii, Interamici, Leuni, Luanqui, Limici, Narbasi, Nemetati, Paesuri, Quaquerni, Seurbi, Tamagani, Tapoli, Turduli, Turduli Veteres, Turdulorum Oppida, Turodi and Zoelae).

Other important influences were the Romans (the Portuguese language derives from Latin; one can consider that the Romans were the most important cultural influence), the Visigoths and the Suevi (Quadi and Marcomanni) , all of whom settled in what is today Portuguese territory.

Minor influences were the Greeks and the Phoenicians-Carthaginians (small semi-permanent commercial coastal establishments), the Vandals (Silingi and Hasdingi) and the sarmatian Alans (both expelled or partially integrated by the Visigoths and Suevi), and the Moors (mainly the Berber with some Arab, expelled or converted to Catholicism after the Christian reconquest or Reconquista).

As with many European countries, there has been in Portugal a degree of admixture from other European nations, past and present, namely French, German, English, Scottish, Irish, Dutch and Flemish, Italian and Spanish. People from the former colonies (namely India, Africa and Brazil) have, in the last two to three decades, migrated to Portugal. More recently, a great number of Slavs, especially Ukrainians (now the biggest ethnic minority), are also migrating to Portugal.

Typically amongst Portuguese people, dark hair and brown eyes dominate but blonde hair and blue/green eyes are also seen.

For the paternal and maternal genetic lineages of the Portuguese and other peoples, see: [link] and [link]

There are around 10 million Portuguese in Portugal. About 35 million Brazilians have recent Portuguese background, due to massive immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Portuguese immigration to Brazil occurred since the 16th century. Significant Portuguese minorities (and of Portuguese descent) exist in:

Europe
*France (nearly 1 million)
*Luxembourg (over a third of the population)
*Germany
*Switzerland
*Belgium
*Andorra
*United Kingdom

Portuguese Sephardic Jews (mostly descendants) are also important in Israel, the Netherlands, the United States and Turkey.

As a result of interracial marriage and cultural influence, there are Portuguese influenced people with their own culture and Portuguese based dialects in parts of the world other than former Portuguese colonies, most notably in Malaysia, Aruba, Curaçao, Guyana, Equatorial Guinea and Sri Lanka.

Portuguese people

See also