Important Message

Dear Readers,

Due to the Holiday Season, I will not upload any post during this week, because I do not have easy access to the internet where I am.

I wish you all an incredible 2011 and I hope to see you here on 3rd January.

Regards,

Larissa Bona

Merry Christmas

Dear friends, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic 2011! 

Larissa Bona

Portuguese Community in Brazil

Source: rouxinoldebernardim.blogspot.com

Brazil is the country with the largest Portuguese community outside Portugal and although official records inform that such community have 5 million members, there are unofficial estimations that this number could be of 18 million members.

Most Brazilians have some degree of Portuguese ancestry: some descend from colonial settlers, while others have recent immigrant Portuguese origin, dating back to anywhere between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries.

Due to "miscegenation", Brazilians of different "races" may have Portuguese ancestry: Whites, Blacks, Amerindians and people of mixed race.

There are no reliable figures for how many Brazilians descend from the Portuguese.

This is mainly because the Portuguese presence in Brazil is very old, making it almost impossible to find correct numbers.

Even though most Brazilians have Portuguese ancestry, most Brazilians identify themselves as being simply Brazilians.

In 1872, there were 3.7 million Whites in Brazil (the vast majority of them of Portuguese ancestry), 4.1 million mixed-race people (mostly of Portuguese-Amerindian-African ancestry) and 1.9 million Blacks (some of whom probably had some degree of Portuguese ancestry).

These numbers give the percentage of 80% of people with total or partial Portuguese ancestry in Brazil in the 1870s. 

At that time, the Portuguese were the only Europeans to settle Brazil in large numbers, since other groups (notably Italians) only started arriving in large numbers after 1875.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a new large wave of immigrants from Portugal arrived. From 1881 to 1991, over 1.5 million Portuguese immigrated to Brazil.

In 1906, for example, there were 133,393 Portuguese-born people living in Rio de Janeiro, comprising 16% of the city's population. Rio is still today considered the largest "Portuguese city" outside of Portugal itself.

Genetic studies also confirm the strong proportion of Portuguese genetic ancestry in Brazilians.

According to one study, at least half of the Brazilian population's Y chromosome comes from Portugal. Black Brazilians have an average of 48% non-African genes; most of them may have Portuguese ancestors.

Source: Wikipedia

Larissa Bona

Grandchildren of Portuguese Citizens: Practical Examples Part I

Source: cafepress.co.uk

On my previous posts, I have said it was very common for the grandchildren to have the opportunity to choose between the attribution of citizenship and the naturalisation (acquisition of citizenship), but that I advised to choose the acquisition only if the children of the Portuguese citizen has passed away.

Further on, I provide you practical examples for you to understand why I advise this:

Case - Imagine that Francisco is a Portuguese citizen, who had a son called Joseph who was born in the USA, therefore an American citizen. Later on, Joseph also had a child called John, also born in the USA and also an American citizen. John have read our blog and discovered that, as a grandchild of a Portuguese citizen, he can apply for the Portuguese citizenship. He writes to me and ask me: through which procedure should I apply for the citizenship?

First situation -  Joseph, who is John’s father and Francisco’s child, has passed away:

The indicated procedure in this case is the NATURALISATION (ACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP). In the moment that Joseph passed away, he lost the right to apply for the Portuguese citizenship as child.

Therefore, there is not the possibility of him obtaining the citizenship to, then, “transmit” it to John. Thus, the only option left for John is to obtain the citizenship though naturalisation as grandson.

Larissa Bona 

History of Portugal: Roman Lusitania and Gallaecia

Source: Wikipedia

The first Roman invasion of the Iberian Peninsula occurred in 219 BC. Within 200 years, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Empire.

The Carthaginians, Rome's adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies.

The Roman conquest of what is now part of modern day Portugal took several decades: it started from the south, where the Romans found friendly natives, the Conii.

It suffered a severe setback in 194 BC, when a rebellion began in the north. The Lusitanians and other native tribes, under the leadership of Viriathus, wrested control of all of Portugal.

Rome sent numerous legions and its best generals to Lusitania to quell the rebellion, but to no avail — the Lusitanians gained more and more territory.

The Roman leaders decided to change their strategy. They bribed Viriathus' ambassador to kill his own leader. Viriathus was assassinated, and the resistance was soon over.

Rome installed a colonial regime. During this period, Lusitania grew in prosperity and many of modern day Portugal's cities and towns were founded.

In 27 BC, Lusitania gained the status of Roman province. Later, a northern province of Lusitania was formed, known as Gallaecia, with capital in Bracara (today's Braga).

As with the Roman names of many European countries, Lusitania was and is often used as an alternative name for Portugal, especially in formal and literary or poetic contexts.

The 16th century colony, which would develop into Brazil, was named Nova Lusitânia ("New Lusitania").

In common use are such terms as Lusophone, meaning Portuguese-speaking, and Lusitanic, referring to the Community of Portuguese Language Countries — once Portugal's colonies and presently independent countries still sharing some common heritage.

Source: Wikipedia

Larissa Bona

Grandchildren With At Least One Portuguese Grandparent

Source: cafeprees.co.uk

Still discussing case by case who is entitled to the Portuguese citizenship, today we will talk about the grandchildren of the Portuguese citizens.

The Article 6,4 of the Nationality Act establishes that the grandchildren, with at least one Portuguese grandparent, can apply for the Portuguese citizenship through naturalisation, without the need of living in Portugal, as long as his/her Portuguese grandparent has not lost the citizenship.

But opposite to the children of Portuguese citizens, whose the fact of having Portuguese parents is enough to justify their application, the grandchildren must meet further requirements, besides having a Portuguese grandparent, under the terms of Article 22,1 of the Nationality Statute, which are:

• Being over 18: this means that underage grandchildren cannot apply for the naturalisation, not even represented by their parents;
• Having enough knowledge of the Portuguese idiom;
• Not having been found guilty of a crime whose penalty, in Portugal, is of imprisonment of three or more years;
• Have never served the Army or worked for the government of any foreign country.

This procedure is only advised in the situation in which the parent of the grandchild, who is the child of the Portuguese citizen, has passed away before obtaining the Portuguese citizenship for himself/herself.

Summing up:

Case: grandchildren with at least one Portuguese grandparent, born abroad;

Type of citizenship: Derivative Citizenship.

Procedure: Acquisition of citizenship through naturalisation.

Documents to instruct the application: Birth Certificate of the grandchild; ID of the grandchild; Birth Certificate of the Portuguese grandparent; Birth Certificate of parent who is child of the Portuguese citizen; Document proving the knowledge of Portuguese of the applicant; Criminal clearance of the applicant.

Larissa Bona

Brazil vs. Portugal

This is a funny advertisiment made by Nike with the national football teams of Portugal and Brazil.

Very nice!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Larissa Bona

The Portuguese Community in South Africa

Source: crossed-flag-pins.com

The Portuguese explored the coasts of South Africa in the late 15th century, and nominally claimed them as their own with the erecting of padrões (large stone cross inscribed with the coat of arms of Portugal placed there as part of a land claim). 

Bartolomeu Dias did so in 1486, and Vasco da Gama recorded a sighting of the Cape of Good Hope in 1497, en route to India.

The early 20th century witnessed a trickle of emigrants from Madeira whose numbers greatly increased in the decades following World War II.

Madeiran immigrants, who are traditionally associated with horticulture and commerce, form the largest group within South Africa's Portuguese community.

The largest single event of Portuguese settlement occurred when two of the former Portuguese colonies, (Angola and Mozambique), became independent in 1975.

While most Portuguese from the two Portuguese-speaking African countries went to Portugal and the rest to Brazil, some of them were allowed to enter South Africa.

Their entrance made South Africa the home of the largest Portuguese African population, numbering about 49 000, but their number grew to 300,000.

One known Portuguese South African creation was Nando’s, created in 1987, which incorporated influences from former Portuguese settlers from Mozambique, many of whom had settled on the south-eastern side of Johannesburg after Mozambique's independence in 1975.

The Portuguese South African community is highly active within the South African community, both politically and economically.

Notable members include Maria Ramos who was the former director general of South Africa's National Treasury. She is currently the Group CEO of ABSA, one of South Africa's largest financial services companies.

Other Portuguese involvement within the business community includes companies like Mercantile Bank.

The community is also actively involved in investment activities with other Southern African countries like Angola and Mozambique.

Socially the Portuguese community have held an annual festival called Lusito Land (the second largest festival in South Africa).

Portuguese-South Africans natively speak European Portuguese (many in the Madeiran dialect), while also adopting South African English, which tends to become the first language of second- and third-generation Portuguese-South Africans.

Some others also speak Afrikaans. Many members of younger generations of Portuguese-South Africans can only speak Afrikaans or English.

Source: Wikipedia

Larissa Bona

Children of Either Portuguese Parent, Born Abroad - Part II

Source: portugalnet.pt

The children of either Portuguese parent, born abroad, even though their Portuguese parent (s) is not serving the Portuguese State, are also entitled to the Portuguese citizenship (remember Portugal adopts the jus sanguinis rule) as long as they declare their wish to become Portuguese.

According to the Article 8.1. of the Portuguese Nationality Statute, all the child needs to do is to declare that he/she wishes to be Portuguese and then register his/her birth in the Portuguese Civil Register Office.

That is, the child must resort to the procedure of the attribution of citizenship through declaration and the child can declare his/her wish to become Portuguese at any moment of his/her life.

If the child is underage, only his/her parents can apply for the Portuguese citizenship. If the child is over 18, only he/she can apply for the Portuguese citizenship.

In all above mentioned situations, the applicant must instruct his/her application with a proof of the Portuguese citizenship of his/her Portuguese parent – Portuguese Birth Certificate.

Opposite to the case of the children of Portuguese citizens serving the Portuguese State abroad, whose registration of birth in Portugal can be made even after their deaths, the right to the citizenship is extinguished with the death of the child of the Portuguese parent and if this happens the citizenship chain is broken, as I have previously explained.

Therefore, if you are child of a Portuguese citizen, even though you do not have any interest in Portugal or Europe, it is important for you to obtain the citizenship, because, if you do not do it, it becomes harder for your children and grandchildren to obtain the citizenship for themselves.

Besides, the Portuguese law authorises the dual citizenship, consequently, the fact you obtain the Portuguese citizenship does not cause the loss of your current citizenship, at least for Portugal, which is a huge advantage because we do not know what the future holds and it is always better to have several options.

Summing up:

Case: children of either Portuguese parent, born abroad, who declare their wish to become Portuguese.

Type of citizenship: Original Citizenship.

Procedure: Attribution of Citizenship through Declaration.

Documents to instruct the application: Birth Certificate of the child; ID of the child; and Birth Certificate of the Portuguese parent.

Larissa Bona

Sounds of Portugal: Fado

Nem às paredes confesso (Not even to the walls I confess) sung by Amália Rodrigues

Fado is currently a worldwide known symbol of Portugal, being represented for many years in foreign countries by Amália Rodrigues, and more recently by Dulce Pontes, Mariza and Katia Guerreiro, among others.

But where did the word Fado came from? It came from the Latin fatum, which means fate, the inexorable destiny that nothing can change. That is why Fado is usually so melancholic, so sad: as it sings that part of destiny that was opposite to the wishes of its owner.

Although taking many forms, as it is sung differently in Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon, the Fado is, by self-earned right, the very expression of the Portuguese soul.

Portugal, since the moment of its birth, emerged in a crossroad of cultures. This makes difficult to point out a precise origin of Fado, but all scholars agree that its origins go back many centuries, maybe even to times before the existence of Portugal as an independent country.

The most commonly accepted explanation, at least when speaking about Lisbon Fado, is that it came from the songs of the Moors, which kept living near Lisbon even after the Christian take-over. The sadness and melancholy of those songs, that are so common in Fado, are a good base to explain the rhythms of Fado.

However, there are those who say that the Fado came to Portugal, once more through Lisbon, under the form of Lundum, the music of the Brazilian slaves. By this explanation, it should have arrived to Portugal with the sailors returning from their long trips, approximately in the year of 1822. Only after a while, Lundum started modifying until it became the Fado. Supporting this belief is the fact that the first songs of the kind were related not only to the sea but also with the lands far beyond them, where the slaves lived. One can look as an example to one of Amália's song, called "The Black Boat", which talks precisely of a senzala (place where the slaves were kept).

Another possibility puts the birth of Fado back to the middle ages, to the time of the minstrels and the jesters. Already in that time one could find the characteristics that even today it conserves. For example, "cantigas de amigo" (friend songs), that were love songs for a woman, have great similarities with diverse subjects of the Fado of Lisbon. The love songs, that were sung by a man to a woman, seem to find kinship in the Fado of Coimbra, where the students intone their songs beneath the window of the loved one (serenades). We still have, in the same time, satire songs, or of disdain that are still today frequent themes for Fado, in social and political critics.

Anyway, Fado seems to have first appeared in Lisbon and Porto, being later taken to Coimbra with the University students (since Coimbra was, during many years, the University city by excellence), and having there acquired different characteristics.

Despite Fado being a symbol of the Portuguese nationality, it is not, by all means, the national song. From region to region, Portugal possesses several rich and typical folklores of each geography, which has nothing to do with Fado. Perhaps we can, if you like, say that it is the form of folklore of Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra.

Extracts from the text The History of Fado published at Lisbon Guide.

Larissa Bona

Children of Either Portuguese Parent, Born Abroad - Part I

Source: cafepress.co.uk

Previously, I have explained about the case of the children of either Portuguese parent, born in the Portuguese territory.

Today, I will explain the case of the children of either Portuguese parent, born abroad.

As you may have noticed, I have written “Part I” on the title of this post because there are two possible situations that we must take into account when analysing the cases of such applicants:

The children of either Portuguese parent that were born abroad because their Portuguese parent(s) was/were serving the Portuguese State;

The children of either Portuguese parent, whose Portuguese parent (s) was/were not serving the Portuguese State abroad.

When I say “Portuguese parent (s) that was/were serving the Portuguese State” abroad, I refer to the Portuguese diplomats, members of the Portuguese Army in mission abroad and any other public servant performing any activity abroad due to order of the Portuguese State.

Mr. Miguel Reis understands that the expression “Portuguese State” also comprises those workers who render services to the indirect public administration abroad.

In this case the birth of the child must be registered in the Portuguese Civil Register Office at any time by the parents, when the child is still underage; by the child himself/herself, if he/she is over 18, or by the child’s descendents if the child has passed away.

The Birth Record of this child will contain a special remark informing that his/her parents were serving the Portuguese State abroad when he/she was born.

When registering the birth in the Portuguese Civil Register Office, the applicant must provide a document, issued by the department in which the Portuguese parent was working, proving that he/she was abroad to serve the Portuguese State.

This demand can be dispensed if the Registry Officer has official knowledge of the situation the Portuguese parent.

For example: the Consul of the Portuguese Consulate has the official knowledge that the Portuguese employees of the Consulate are serving the Portuguese State abroad. Therefore, if one of these employees has a child abroad and goes to the Consulate to register his/her child, the Consul will have official of knowledge of his/her status.

Summing up:

Case: children of either Portuguese parent, born abroad, when his/her Portuguese parent (s) was/were serving the Portuguese State abroad.

Type of citizenship: Original Citizenship;

Procedure indicated: Registration of birth;

Documents to instruct the application: Birth Certificate of the child; ID of the child; Birth Certificate of the Portuguese parent; Proof that the Portuguese parent was serving the Portuguese State abroad.

Larissa Bona

DUE TO TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WE WILL NOT HAVE POST TODAY - I APOLOGISE FOR THAT

The Portuguese Community in Canada

Source: crossed-flag-pins.com

Today, I am going to talk about the Portuguese Community in Canada, which is the 6^th biggest Portuguese Community in the world, with around 400,000 members.

The Portuguese migration to Canada is not as ancient as the migration to Brazil or the USA, although there are records of Portuguese migration since the 16^th Century.

The first time that a considerable number of Portuguese people migrated and settled in Canada was in 1953, after the Canadian government invited them to come to Canada, most of them coming from the Azores.

The members of the Portuguese Community in Canada are mostly based in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.

In Toronto the neighbourhood Trinity-Bellwoods is also known as Portugal Village or Little Portugal, because the Portuguese Community and now the Brazilian Community are based there. Due to the fact the most of the Portuguese migrants that went to Canada were of Azorean origin, there is also a street there called “Rua Azores”.

There are several notable Portuguese Canadians, being the singer Nelly Furtado the most famous world-wide, who has strong roots with the Portuguese Community, to the point she was the one who recorded the theme-song of Euro 2004, which took place in Portugal.

My personal impression of the Portuguese Community in Canada is that, although they are in a smaller number than in other countries, they seem to be very united and attached to their roots.

I wish that someday I could have more contact with such community and I am really planning to go to Toronto to pay a visit. This may happen sooner than later.

Larissa Bona

Children of Either Portuguese Parent, Born in the Portuguese Territory

Source: cafeprees.com

Now, that we know who is entitled to the citizenship, the types of citizenship, the procedures through which someone can obtain it and the effects of such procedures, we will now analyse case by case of those who are entitled to the Portuguese citizenship.

The Article 1, 1, (a) of the Nationality Act and the Article 3, (a) of the Portuguese Nationality Statute establish that “the children of either Portuguese parents, born in the Portuguese territory” are native Portuguese citizens.

This is, indeed, the most straightforward case of all, in which a child of a Portuguese couple or of a couple formed by at least one Portuguese citizen is born in Portugal, Azores or Madeira.

The Portuguese Civil Registration Code, on its Article 96, establishes that the births occurred in the Portuguese territory must be verbally communicated to a “Conservatória do Registo Civil” – Portuguese Civil Register Office, within 20 days of the birth, or at the hospital or maternity in which the birth took place, if the hospital/maternity has this service available, until the date mother and child are discharged from there.

The Registration Code also establishes that the parents are the ones who should communicate the birth of the child to the Portuguese Civil Register Office. Only in their absence is that a third person or entity can make such declaration.

So, every child that is born in the Portuguese territory to a Portuguese parent will grant his/her citizenship in the moment the parent register his/her birth in the Portuguese Civil Register Office. And this is it, nothing further must be done.

But this does not mean that exceptions cannot take place and that something that seems to be so straightforward cannot become complicated.

For example: the case of the children of Portuguese citizens born in the Portuguese territory that, later on, have stopped being a Portuguese territory. This we will talk about further on.

Summing up:

Case: children of either Portuguese parent, born in the Portuguese territory;

Type of citizenship: Original Citizenship;

Procedure indicated: Registration of Birth.

Larissa Bona

History of Portugal: The Pre-History

Source: eb1-mateus-n2.rcts.pt

The region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens.

Early in the first millennium BC, several waves of Celts invaded Portugal from central Europe and intermarried with the local populations, forming different ethnic groups, with many tribes.

Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, and the Cynetes or Conii of the Algarve.

Among the lesser tribes or sub-divisions were the Bracari, Coelerni, Equaesi,Grovii, Interamici, Leuni, Luanqui, Limici, Narbasi, Nemetati, Paesuri, Quaquerni, Seurbi, Tamagani, Tapoli,Turduli, Turduli Veteres, Turdulorum Oppida, Turodi, and Zoelae).

There were, in the southern part the country, some small, semipermanent commercial coastal settlements founded by Phoenicians-Carthaginians (such as Tavira, in the Algarve).

It should also be mentioned that, according to some scholars, Celtic culture may well have developed first in far Southern Portugal and Southwestern Spain, approximately 500 years prior to anything recorded in Central Europe.

Source: Wikipedia

Larissa Bona

The Effects of the Procedures to Obtain the Portuguese Citizenship

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Larissa Bona

Visa

Source: uwf.edu

The Oxford Dictionary says that border means “a line separating two political or geographical areas, especially countries”.

The borders establish the boundaries of the territory of the nations and, even though most of them are just fictional, they are sometimes harder to be surpassed than if they were high mountains.

Every day, we see in the press cases of people who risk their lives to surpass the border of the countries seeking better life condition, like those migrants that cross the Mexican desert to reach the USA or those migrants that go from Africa to Europe in canoes.

Some of these people make it, some of these people are arrested and some of these people die trying to reach other countries, but all of them have something in common: they do not have a Visa.

The Visa, word derived from the Latin expression “Charta Visa” – which means paper that has been seen, is the right key that opens the gates of all borders in the world, that is, this document is an authorisation issued by the countries allowing people that are not their citizens to enter in their territories.

There are several reasons that motivate a person to leave his/her own country and head to another country: tourism, medical treatment, work, seeking asylum, war, investment and others.

Due to this, all countries have several types of Visas, each one suitable for every single reason that justifies the entrance of a foreigner in their territories, and each type of Visa has the requirements that the aliens (word also used to refer to foreigners) must meet in order to earn the permission to enter in the territory of a country.

For example, when someone applies for a Tourist Visa, this person is usually required to show proofs that he/she has enough bonds with his/her country, so they are not using the trip to migrate illegally, thus this person will have to show that he/she has a job, money to support himself/herself during the trip, accommodation and so on.

Sometimes, depending on the country that the foreigner comes from, due to international agreements, he/she does not need a Visa to enter in the territory of another country.

An example of this is the fact that Portuguese citizens do not need a Visa to enter in the USA or Brazil as tourists.

Larissa Bona

Procedures to Obtain the Portuguese Citizenship

Source: europabrasil.com.br

The Portuguese Nationality Act, on its Title I, lists the procedures through which someone can obtain the Portuguese citizenship, which are:

• The Attribution of Citizenship (Chapter I);
• The Acquisition of Citizenship (Chapter II).

The attribution of citizenship is the procedure that those persons who are entitled to the original citizenship must follow in order to obtain the Portuguese citizenship.

It is in this procedure that we see the “transmission” of citizenship from parents to children and it is the easiest and most straightforward way to obtain the Portuguese citizenship.

The acquisition of citizenship is the procedure that the persons who are entitled to the derivative citizenship must follow to obtain the citizenship.

The Nationality Act subdivides the acquisition of citizenship into:

1. Acquisition of citizenship through effect of will: this is the procedure that must be followed to obtain the citizenship for spouses and civil partners of Portuguese citizens and for underage children of Portuguese citizens that have obtained the Portuguese citizenship through acquisition of citizenship;
2. Acquisition of citizenship through adoption: this is the procedure that must be followed by the underage adopted children of Portuguese citizens;
3. Acquisition of citizenship through naturalisation: this is the due procedure for grandchildren, great grandchildren, children of foreign parents born in Portugal, foreign citizens that live in Portugal for over 6 years.

Besides these two procedures, there is also the late registration of birth, regulated by the Portuguese Civil Registration Code, which is suitable for the cases in which the birth of the child was not registered within one year of his/her birth.

This is the procedure that must be followed by those who were born in Goa, the former African Colonies, Macau and East Timor, because these people are all Portuguese but, because the territories they were born are no longer part of Portugal, their births were not registered in the Portuguese Civil Register Office.

Summing up and still speaking roughly, we have three procedures through each the applicants can obtain the Portuguese citizenship.

Larissa Bona

The Portuguese Community in the USA

Source: Presidency of Portugal website

Today, I will talk about the Portuguese Community in the USA, the second largest Portuguese community outside Portugal (only Brazil has more Portuguese community members than the USA).

For a long time, there were not accurate numbers with regards to the Portuguese community in the USA, because the American Census always included them in the Latino category.

However, since 2007, the U.S. Census has included the option Portuguese when asking the ancestry of the USA residents and then it was discovered that there were around 1,5 million members in the Portuguese community.

In June of that same year, the President of Portugal, Mr. Cavaco Silva, travelled to the USA and had a meeting with the Portuguese Community in Newark, NJ. And below I put a text I have extracted from the website of the “Meeting with the Portuguese Communities”, talking about the Portuguese people in the USA:

“The Portuguese presence in America goes back to 1850, when many Portuguese took part in the gold rush and in the creation of agricultural settlements in California. Businesses connected with whale fishing equally contributed to a large wave in immigration.

In the first twenty years of the XX century some 130,000 Portuguese emigrated to the USA. From 1900 to 1914, that number represented 16.7% of our emigration. In 1916 and in 1920 that percentage increased to 46.3% and 37.3%, respectively. The 30’s and 40’s witnessed a large decrease (11,372), an effect of the immigration quotas, by the great depression and by the universal instability. From the mid 50’s (Capelinhos volcanic eruption in the Azores) and during the 60’s, emigration to America again increased and, in accordance with official figures, the USA received, from 1960 to 1990, 218,.541 Portuguese. The last American census, dated 2000, states a total number of 1,173,691 Portuguese and Portuguese descendants resident in the USA.

The large majority of the members of the Portuguese Community are employed by industrial enterprises, and a considerable number are employed by the service industry and are also noted personalities in the scientific, educational and arts areas. A significant number are also members of the liberal professions.

At this moment there are approximately 95 Portuguese or citizens of Portuguese ascendancy elected to political office.

There are 385 Portuguese and Portuguese descendant communities in the United States of America, which include recreational and cultural associations, social and sports clubs, educational foundations, libraries, theatrical groups, brass bands, folklore dancing groups, philanthropic and religious societies and regional associations.

Portugal currently has Consulates General in Boston, New York, Newark and S. Francisco, Consulates in New Bedford and Providence and a Consular Section in the Portuguese Embassy in Washington.”

Larissa Bona