The Quilombola are an ethnic minority in Brazil. They live in closed communities, called

quilombo A ''quilombo'' (; from the Kimbundu word , ) is a Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by people of African origin, and others sometimes called Carabali. Most of the inhabitants of quilombos, called quilombolas, were maroons, a term for e ...

s. They trace back from slaves (mostly Angolan), brought to Brazil in the seventeenth century. One of their leaders was

Chico Rei Chico Rei is a semi-mythic heroic figure from the slave trade in Brazil. According to oral tradition, in about 1740, Galanga, a tribal leader from the Congo, was taken along with a large part of his tribe and sold as a slave. They were brought f ...

, a Congolese king captured and sold as a slave to a

gold mine Gold Mine may refer to: * Gold Mine (board game) *Gold Mine (Long Beach), an arena *"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album ''ADHD'' See also * ''Gold'' (1974 film), based on the novel ''Gold Mine'' by Wilbur Smith * Gold mining *G ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

. He was the first to create a free

. The word Quilombo comes from the

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

n word kilombo, which means "different." The quilombo was based on the

African way of life African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Et ...

, an African-European language was adopted and the religion they followed was a mixture of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...

with African influences. As they had to fight for their existence ever since their establishment (against slave traders, the Dutch, the Portuguese, and Brazilian government), they keep closed, and their establishments are not freely accessible (because of Brazilian administration too). Quilombo's exist (but are not limited to) in Manqueira,

Ilha de Mare Ilha (Portuguese for "island") may refer to the following places in Portugal or Mozambique: *Ilha (Santana), a parish in the municipality of Santana, Madeira *Ilha (Pombal) Ilha is a former civil parish in the municipality of Pombal, Portugal. I ...

External links

Wds-Worldbank
Ethnic groups in Brazil {{Brazil-ethno-group-stub