Caribbean Brazilians () refers to

Brazilians Brazilians (, ) are the citizens of Brazil. A Brazilian can also be a person born abroad to a Brazilian parent or legal guardian as well as a person who acquired Brazilian nationality law, Brazilian citizenship. Brazil is a multiethnic society, ...

of full, partial, or predominantly

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

ancestry, or Caribbean-born people residing in Brazil. Many Caribbean Brazilians are of Barbadian descent.

Migration history

During the

rubber boom The Amazon rubber cycle or boom (, ; , ) was an important part of the socioeconomic history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related to the commercialization of rubber and the genocide of indigenous peoples. Cente ...

in the

Brazilian Amazon Brazilian commonly refers to: * Brazil, a country * Brazilians, its people * Brazilian Portuguese, its dialect Brazilian may also refer to: * "The Brazilian", a 1986 instrumental music piece by Genesis * Brazilian Café, Baghdad, Iraq (1937) * Bra ...

, between 1880 and 1912, the construction of a railroad linking the

Madeira River The Madeira River ( ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is the biggest tributary of ...

in Brazil to the Mamore River in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

was undertaken to solve the problem of rubber transportation in that region. The railway would help to get the Bolivian rubber out of the jungle, past the rapids on the Madeira and then reach the navigable part of the river in

Porto Velho Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital (political), capital of the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin. The population is 460,434 people (as of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, ...

, in the state of

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). It is bordered by Acre (state), Acre in the west, Amazonas, Brazil, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bo ...

. For the construction of the

Madeira-Mamoré railroad The Madeira-Mamoré Railroad is an abandoned railroad built in the Brazilian state of Rondônia between 1907 and 1912, during the rubber boom. The railroad links the cities of Porto Velho and Guajará-Mirim. It became known as the "Devil's Railro ...

, many African-Caribbean workers, especially from

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, were taken to that part of the

. The enterprise was first a British project but later was controlled by the American

Percival Farquhar Percival Farquhar (1865–1953) was an American investor and financier with extensive interests in Latin America and pre-Soviet Russia, including railways, mines, hotels, and restaurants. Early life Farquhar was born to a wealthy Maryland-Penn ...

who had a Brazilian business empire. This adventure in the Amazon brought about the death of about six thousand workers, caused by attacks from Indigenous Amerindian tribes, malaria and many other diseases. The term Barbadian, in fact, was used as a globalizing identification attributed to the foreign Blacks who went to the Amazon from several parts of the Caribbean, mainly

, but also from

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...

and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. They migrated, or rather were taken, to the Brazilian state of

which was a wilderness in the beginning of the twentieth century. It was a migration motivated by work, by the search for a new life, causing the rupture of family roots and culture as well as producing a feeling of displacement and lack of emotional ties. Their job was to cut the railway through the mainly terrain of Rio Abuna. Under the order of the English engineer, Collier, the Caribbeans worked hard for the American enterprise.

Notable Caribbean Brazilians

* Nabiyah Be - Actress *

Alfred Enoch Alfred Lewis Enoch (born 2 December 1988) is a British and Brazilian actor. He is best known for playing Dean Thomas (Harry Potter), Dean Thomas in the fantasy film series Harry Potter (film series), ''Harry Potter'' and List of How to Get Away ...

- Actor *

Adriana Lima Adriana Lima (; born 12 June 1981) is a Brazilian model. She was a Victoria's Secret Angel from 1999 to 2018. She was the longest-running model and named "the most valuable Victoria's Secret Angel" in 2017. She is also known as a spokesmodel fo ...

- Model *

Tony Tornado Antonio Viana Gomes, better known as Tony Tornado or Toni Tornado ( Pirapozinho, May 26, 1930), is a Brazilian actor and singer. In 1970 he won the Brazilian stage of the V Festival Internacional da Canção with the soul song "BR-3". Biography ...

- Singer

References

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

{{Brazil-ethno-group-stub

Migration history

Notable Caribbean Brazilians

See also

References