The Brazilian diaspora refers to the migration of Brazilians to other countries, a mostly recent phenomenon that has been driven mainly by economic problems that afflicted Brazil in the 1980s and '90s.
Demographics
There are an estimated 1.5 million Brazilians living abroad, mainly in the U.S., Japan, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom France, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Angola, and another 100,000 are living in other European countries.
There were an estimated 246,000 Brazilian Americans as of 2007. Another source gives an estimate of some 800,000 Brazilians living in the U.S. in 2000, while still another estimates that some 1,100,000 Brazilians live in the United States, 300,000 of them in Florida. Major concentrations are in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin, and California. West 46th Street has historically been a commercial center for Brazilians living or visiting New York City. In 1995 the city officially recognized it as "Little Brazil Street". In Massachusetts, there is a very small but significant concentration of Brazilian immigrants in the town of Framingham, which in recent years has spilt out into the neighbouring towns of Marlborough and Hudson, among others. In the Brazilian community, it is said that Pompano Beach in Florida has the greatest concentration of Brazilians in the USA. The Brazilian communities in these towns are vibrant, having contributed much to the local cuisine and culture, but Brazilian immigrants often feel discriminated against and are often thought to be illegal immigrants by their non-Brazilian neighbours. A disproportionate number of Brazilians who have emigrated to the US came from the town of Governador Valadares, in the state of Minas Gerais.
United Kingdom
The 1991 Census recorded 9,301 Brazilian born people in the UK, and the 2001 Census recorded 15,215. In 2004, the Brazilian Consulate in London had 13,000 Brazilians registered as living in the UK. The Office for National Statistics estimates suggest that there were 56,000 Brazilian-born people resident in the UK in 2008. The ONS estimates that in 2018, 87,000 people born in Brazil were living in the UK.
Japan
The majority of Brazilians living in Japan are of Japanese descent, and they have been migrating there since 1990 when the Immigration Act was altered to allow children and grandchildren of Japanese nationals, as well as their non-Japanese spouse, to get the work permit easily. Most of them live in industrial areas where there used to be a plenty of job offers at factories, such as Aichi, Shizuoka and Gunma Prefectures, among others. While approximately 300,000 Brazilians lived there at its climax, the economic crisis in 2008 slashed their job and more than a third of them have decided to return to Brazil.
is another important destination for Brazilians, owing to a common language and given the fact that a significant number of Brazilians already hold Portuguese citizenship. Cultural similarities are abundant and the Portuguese are fairly acquainted with Brazilian pop culture. Approximately a fourth of all foreigners currently residing in Portugal are Brazilian citizens and their profile ranges from working-class people without higher education to yuppies who decided to leave their home country due to a widespread belief that Brazil had become an unsafe country.
Paraguay
Brazilians and their descendants living in Paraguay are called Brasiguayos. This numerous community of landowners is mainly involved in agriculture.
