Emigration from the Nordic countries to Brazil 1880–1914

The article explores the issue of Nordic emigration to Brazil in the period of global mass migration between 1880–1914, based on Brazilian immigration sources, something that has not hitherto been done. An analysis of different available figures for total Swedish emigration in 1885–1891 shows that the figures recorded in Brazilian sources should be revised upwards, with perhaps as much as 60%, which may be valid also for total Nordic emigration. A demographical, social and economic analysis against the background of the Brazilian agrarian structure shows that Nordic migration between 1880 and 1914 was dominated by young Swedish families who arrived in two major waves, 1890–1891 and 1910–1911. Structurally, the immigrants were predominantly agrarian, more specifically farmers (agricultores) who migrated to southern Brazil to establish family farms within the domestic sector. However, the analysis also shows that a surprisingly large proportion of total migration, including a great number of families, went to the export sector in the coffee zone in São Paulo.