Brazilian ethnography

The Brazilian people are formed by the mixture of diverse elements; indigenous, European, African and, to a lesser extent, Asian.

A genetic meta-study of autosomal DNA by (Rodrigues de Moura et al, 2015), which included 25 other studies, with 38 populations from Brazil, determined that the composition of the country is as follows: 62% European contribution; 21% African contribution; and 17% of indigenous contribution, although mitochondrial DNA indicates that 33% of the total Brazilian population has indigenous blood.

Portuguese colonizers began arriving in Brazil in the 1500s and colonized the country until its independence in 1822. With black slavery, which began in the second half of the 16th century, several million Africans from the West Coast of Africa were taken to Brazil, until the slave trade was prohibited, in 1850 with the Euzébio de Queiroz law. And of the millions of immigrants from various parts of the world.

Immigration in Brazil

Starting in the second half of the 19th century, significant rates of European and Asian immigrants began to enter Brazil, mainly Italians and Portuguese arriving from Europe. To a lesser extent Spanish, German, Swiss and Slavs (Poles, Ukrainians, Russians). During the period of great immigration in Brazil (between 1850 and 1950), among the immigrants who entered Brazil, more than half were Italian (35.5%) and Portuguese (29%). Arab settlers (Lebanese, Syrians) and, from 1908, Japanese arrived from Asia.

Immigrants from various origins entered Brazil in large numbers until 1930, when President Getúlio Vargas decided to limit the entry of foreigners into the country, although this was not the case and although it stopped a bit, European immigrants continued to arrive as far as the 70's

Ethnic groups by Brazilian regions

Percentage of indigenous population by states (2010).

• Southern Region of Brazil: The European element has predominated, starting with a small number of Portuguese settlers followed by large waves of German, Italian and Slavic immigrants during the centuryXIX. There are also minorities of African and indigenous origin.

• Southeast Region of Brazil: The European element has also predominated, started by Portuguese and followed by Italian and Spanish immigrants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. But African and indigenous elements are present, although in a small percentage and in the State of São Paulo, the Asian (Japanese and Arab) element is significant.

• Northern Region of Brazil: Already formed in the seventeenth century, African and European elements (Portuguese) have predominated, but also with some indigenous contribution. In the states of Ceará, Paraíba and Rio Grande del Norte, Caboclos predominate, in those of Bahia, Piauí, Pernambuco and east of Maranhão the mulatos predominate, in Maranhão and Bahia the chafuzos are also very common.

• Northern Region of Brazil: The European element has predominated, with the indigenous and black elements. The zambos are common in the coastal areas of the Amapá and Pará states. However, Capeclos are the majority of the population.

• Central-West Region of Brazil: The population is mainly made up of people of European origin (many of them descendants of those who were expelled or fled their lands on the coast during the colony and empire), then mixed with indigenous elements and to a lesser extent African.

Descriptive previews

In 2016, the majority of the Brazilian resident population is brown: 95.9 million people, representing 46.7% of the total. 53% of its inhabitants consider themselves and perceive themselves as such (black, brown, etc.). There are fewer whites than other ethnic groups, which include a significant number of pardos (mulattos, zambos, and mestizos), and to a lesser extent blacks, Asians, and indigenous people.

Typical German house in the State of Rio Grande del Sur.

Studies carried out on the mtDNA of different individuals from various regions of Brazil have revealed a wide diversity of female ancestors from the various regions. Due to the fact that the inheritance of the mitochondrial genome is exclusively through the maternal route and that there is a fragment in this genome of 400 bp (base pairs) that is highly polymorphic, we can consider that this DNA remains unchanged by this route for many years. Because of this, this DNA is often used to trace the origin of various populations (matrilineal descent).

A 2000 study found the national average for mtDNA ancestry to be 33% Amerindian, 28% African, and 36% European, although regions of the country varied widely: the northern region recorded 54% indigenous, 15% African and 31% European; the northeast 22% indigenous, 44% African and 34% European; the southeast was the one that presented the most varieties, 33% indigenous, 34% African, 31% European, to which is added 2% mtDNA of Asian origin; finally the south registered 22% Amerindian, 12% African and 66% European.

Studies carried out on autosomal DNA or nuclear DNA, inherited by equal halves between father and mother to each individual frequently used for individual identifications, indicate a greater degree of European ancestry, with African and indigenous contributions (see tables below). A study of this type carried out in 2008 carried out on 25,772 individuals (8.26% from the North, 23.86% from the Northeast, 4.79% from the Center-West, 10.32% from the Southeast and 52.7% from the South). indicate a greater presence of the European heritage although this varies between the regions, the contribution in the North region is distributed in a 60.6% European contribution, 21.3% African and 18.1% Amerindian, in the Northeast 66, 7% European, 23.3% African and 10.0% indigenous, in the Center-West 66.3% European, 23.3% African and 12.0% Amerindian, in the Southeast 60.7% European, 32, 0% African and 7.3% Amerindian and in the South 81.5% European, 9.3% African and 9.2% Amerindian. 2009 studies from the Catholic University of Brasilia indicate that the region with the greatest differences in the country It was the South in contrast to the others with a national average of high European contribution.

Between 1999 and 2000, a UN study on the indigenous population in Latin America estimated a million and a half indigenous people living in Brazil in 1992, the majority in the Amazon and inland territories, under constant risk of losing their cultural identity.

In 1992, a study by E. García Zarza estimated that in 1991 the Brazilian population was 53% white, 2% indigenous and Asian, and 45% pardos. As for the pardos, they were distributed in 12% mestizos, 11% blacks and 22% mulattoes, the zambos are not included. The black Brazilian population fell to 6.5 in 2009 and the white to 48, 8% product of miscegenation and the greater appreciation and acceptance of mestizo heritage in society. There is a strong claim by Amazonian organizations, who consider that the title of pardos is usually confused with that of mulatto so the mestizos lose their ethnic and cultural identity.

According to a 1965 genetic study, “Methods of Analysis of a Hybrid Population” (in Human Biology, vol. 37, n. 1), conducted by D. F. Roberts and R. W. Hiorns, the contribution European to the population of Northeast Brazil is 65% European, the African contribution 25%, and the indigenous contribution 9%.

According to a 2006 autosomal genetic study, the composition of the population of the state of São Paulo is as follows: European contribution of 79.00%, African contribution of 14.00% and indigenous contribution of 7.0%

According to a 2011 autosomal genetic study, the composition of the population of the city of Belém, in the state of Pará is 69.70% of European ancestry, 10.90% of African ancestry and 19.40% of ancestry indigenous.

According to a 2008 autosomal genetic study, the composition of the population of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul is as follows: European contribution of 73.60%, African contribution of 13.90% and indigenous contribution of 12.40%.

In the city of Salvador, according to a 2008 autosomal genetic study, African heritage is dominant (49.20%), but also with European (36.30%) and even indigenous (14.50%) contributions.

Genetic studies

National autosomal studies

Studies carried out on autosomal DNA or nuclear DNA, inherited by equal halves between father and mother to each individual frequently used for individual identifications, indicate a greater degree of European ancestry, with African and indigenous contributions (see tables below).

An autosomal genetic meta-study by (Rodrigues de Moura et al, 2015), which included 25 other studies, with 38 populations from Brazil, determined that the composition of the country was as follows:

Autosomal study by (Manta et al, 2013):

Autosomal study of (Pena et al. 2011)

Results of the autosomal study of (Lins et al, 2009):

Autosomal study by (Oliveira, 2008), conducted by the University of Brasilia:

Contributions by inheritance lines

The following table shows the contribution of mitochondrial DNA, transmissible only through the mother, used to identify matrilineal ancestry) by region: