Portuguese Venezuelans (or Luso-Venezuelans) are

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

-born citizens with

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n citizenship or Venezuelan-born citizens of Portuguese ancestry or citizenship. Mostly located in Caracas,

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

and Maracaibo, also

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; guc, Watkisimeeta) is a city in Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial and transportation center of the country, recognized as the f ...

, the Portuguese community of Venezuela are among the largest ethnic groups in the country. The State of Portuguesa takes its name from the

Portuguesa River The Portuguesa River (Spanish: ''Río Portuguesa'', also ''Río la Portuguesa'', ''Río de la Portuguesa'') is a river of Venezuela. It is part of the Orinoco River basin, and is a tributary of the Apure River (which is, in turn, a tributary of th ...

, in which a Portuguese women is said to have drowned. Portuguese arrived to Venezuela in the early and middle 20th century, as immigrants, mostly from Madeira Island. Venezuela has the second largest Portuguese diaspora in America, after Brazil. There is strong interest among a large segment of the Portuguese in Venezuela to preserve the culture and familial bond with the old country

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, while they have been important in the development of Venezuela holding a substantial number of businesses in the retail trade. The Portuguese language in Venezuela influences Venezuelan Spanish with some neologisms and loanwords.

Notable Portuguese Venezuelans

* Danny Alves, footballer *

Nico Castel Nico Castel (August 1, 1931 – May 31, 2015), born Naftali Chaim Castel Kalinhoff, was a comprimario tenor and well-known language and diction coach, as well as a prolific translator of libretti and writer of books on singing diction. Although Cas ...

, lyric singer *

Vanessa Gonçalves Vanessa Andrea Gonçalves Gomes (born February 10, 1986) is a yoga teacher, dentist, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Venezuela 2010. She represented Venezuela at Miss Universe 2011 and placed in the Top 16. Daughter of ...

Miss Venezuela 2010 Miss Venezuela 2010 was the 57th edition of the Miss Venezuela pageant held on October 28, 2010 at the Palacio de Eventos de Venezuela in Maracaibo, Venezuela. At the end of the event, outgoing titleholder Marelisa Gibson crowned Vanessa Gonça ...

Laura Gonçalves Laura Gonçalves (born February 4, 1989) is a Portuguese-Venezuelan model and beauty pageant titleholder. She was crowned Miss Universo Portugal 2011, on July 29 at the Hotel Miragem in Cascais. She represented Portugal at the Miss Universe 201 ...

, Miss Portugal 2011 * Marjorie de Sousa, model and actress *

Osmel Sousa Osmel Ricardo Souza Mancilla (born 26 September 1946) is a Cuban-Venezuelan beauty pageant entrepreneur, and the former president of the Miss Venezuela Organization. Prominently known for his excellence in both pageantry and advertising, Sousa ...

Miss Venezuela Miss Venezuela (Spanish: ''Organización Miss Venezuela'') is the national beauty pageant of Venezuela, traditionally held in September. It is preceded by two or three months of preliminary events, with the awarding of corporate prizes. The fi ...

president (''born in Cuba'') *

Fernando de Ornelas Fernando Franco de Ornelas (born 29 July 1976 in Caracas), is a retired Venezuelan football player. Club career De Ornelas has played for clubs in several countries in his career, such as Norwegian Odd Grenland and Hong Kong First Division League ...

, former footballer *

Leonardo Jardim José Leonardo Nunes Alves Sousa Jardim (; born 1 August 1974) is a Portuguese football manager, currently in charge of Emirati club Shabab Al Ahli. He started working at the professional level at the age of 35, initially with Camacha and Cha ...

, football manager *

Lance dos Ramos Lance Dos Ramos (born 4 April 1985) is a Venezuelan actor, model and animator. He was born in Caracas, the son of Portuguese immigrants. He is the brother of actress Kimberly Dos Ramos. He is best known for the role of Chema Esquivel in the seri ...

, actor, model and animator *

Kimberly dos Ramos Kimberly Dos Ramos de Sousa (born April 15, 1992) is a Venezuelan actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Matilda Román in Nickelodeon's ''Grachi''. She started her career in commercials and promotions for the Venezuelan television stat ...

, actress, model and singer * Catherine Joy Perry, Competes as Lana in

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

- professional wrestling valet, actress, model and singer (''born in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

'') * La Divaza, Internet personality

References

European Venezuelan

{{ethno-group-stub

Notable Portuguese Venezuelans

See also

References