Portuguese in the Netherlands ( nl, Portugezen in Nederland; pt, Portugueses nos Países Baixos), also Portuguese Dutch (; ), Dutch Portuguese () or Luso-Dutch (), are the citizens or residents of the Netherlands whose ethnic origins lie in Portugal. Portuguese Dutch are Portuguese-born citizens with a Dutch citizenship or Dutch-born citizens of Portuguese ancestry or citizenship.

History

Middelburg Begraafplaats Portuguese Joden

Emanuel de Witte - Interior of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam - WGA25814

16th–17th centuries

The first relevant influx of Portuguese people coming to the Netherlands was recorded in the XVI century. In fact, the first immigrants from Portugal were Sephardic Jews who settled in the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in the sixteenth century because of the Inquisition in Portugal. This migration was partially a consequence of the expulsion decree enacted in 1496 by the Portuguese monarchy, specifically targeting Jews and Moors residing in Portugal. The decree compelled numerous Jews to either

convert Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

to Christianity (resulting in the emergence of "'' Cristão-novos''" – literally New Christians – and the practice of '' Crypto-Judaism'' ) or depart from the country. Seeking enhanced religious and economic liberties, numerous crypto-Jews departed Portugal in pursuit of regions with more relaxed religious laws and promising prospects that would allow their distinctive talents to flourish. Brazil, where the European population spoke Portuguese, and France – where around 10,000 Portuguese-Jews sought refuge – became popular destinations for many. After a couple of decades, clusters of crypto-Jews began arriving in the Dutch Republic. The

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

of Portuguese Jews across Europe, which found in liberal Netherlands one of its main destinations. Many of the Jews who left for the Dutch provinces were

crypto-Jews Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek ''kryptos'' – , 'hidden'). The term is especially applied historically to Sp ...

, persons who had converted to Catholicism but continued to practice Judaism in secret. After they had settled in the safety of the Netherlands, many of them 'returned' fully to practice of the Jewish religion. Denhaag kunstwerk spinoza

The Netherlands and England became in fact top destinations for Portuguese-Jewish emigrants due to the absence of the Inquisition. Other that adding to the economical and cultural aspects of their host countries, the Portuguese-Jews also established institutions that are still present, such as the

Esnoga The Portuguese Synagogue, also known as the Esnoga, or Snoge, is a late 17th-century Sephardic synagogue in Amsterdam, completed in 1675. ''Esnoga'' is the word for synagogue in Judaeo-Spanish, the traditional Judaeo-Spanish language of Sephardi ...

, in Amsterdam. Amsterdam emerged as one of the most beloved locations in the Netherlands for Sephardic Jews. Due to their influx, Amsterdam experienced substantial advantages as numerous refugees were skilled

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

s. Nevertheless, the decision to establish themselves in Amsterdam was not solely by choice; countless crypto-Jews, also known as

Marrano Marranos were Spanish and Portuguese Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were Forced conversion#Spanish Inquisition, forced to convert to Christianity during the Middle Ages, but continued to Crypto-Judaism, practice Judaism i ...

s, had been denied entry to trade hubs such as Middelburg and

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

, leading them to settle in Amsterdam. As a result of the impact made by Sephardic Jews, Amsterdam experienced rapid growth. Numerous Jewish individuals extended their support to the House of Orange, consequently receiving protection from the stadholder in return. Jonas Daniel Meijerplein 4 - Amsterdam - Rijksmonument 2041

Jonas Daniel Meijerplein 4 - Amsterdam - Rijksmonument 2041

Portuguese-Jews are connected to the expansion of the Dutch colonial empire, as they are responsible for the appearance of

Papiamentu Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; nl, Papiaments) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao), with official status in Arub ...

(a 300,000 speakers-strong Portuguese-based creole now official language in Aruba,

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

and

Bonaire Bonaire (; , ; pap, Boneiru, , almost pronounced ) is a Dutch island in the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west ( leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC i ...

) and of Sranan Tongo, an English-based creole influenced by Portuguese spoken by more than 500,000 people in the former Dutch colony of Suriname. Dealing with Suriname, it is noteworthy that its first capital,

Torarica Torarica is the original capital of Suriname. It was settled by Portuguese Jews in 1629. One origin offered for its name is as a Portuguese coinage meaning "Opulent Torah". The Portuguese Jews arrived via Holland and Brazil.Torah"'' in Portuguese), was established by

Portuguese-Jewish Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the i ...

settlers. The Portuguese-Jewish community in the Netherlands has produced many notable figures, among which there are famous philosopher

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

and mathematician

Rehuel Lobatto Rehuel Lobatto (6 June 1797 – 9 February 1866 ) was a Dutch mathematician. The Gauss-Lobatto quadrature method is named after him, as are his variants on the Runge–Kutta methods for solving ODEs, and the Lobatto polynomials. He was ...

18th–19th centuries

Portuguese people started arriving again as immigrants to the Netherlands in the middle of 18th century, mostly from

Madeira Island Madeira is a Portuguese island, and is the largest and most populous of the Madeira Archipelago. It has an area of , including Ilhéu de Agostinho, Ilhéu de São Lourenço, Ilhéu Mole (northwest). As of 2011, Madeira had a total population of ...

and

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

20th century

During the

Shoah The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...

, nearly 4,000 Portuguese Jews residing in the Netherlands lost their lives, making up the largest group of casualties with a Portuguese background in the Nazi German genocide. Among famous Portuguese-Jewish victims of the Shoah there are figures such as painter

Baruch Lopes Leão de Laguna Baruch Lopes Leão de Laguna (16 February 1864, Amsterdam – 19 November 1943, Auschwitz) was a Dutch painter of Portuguese-Jewish ancestry; associated with the Laren School. He is known primarily for portraits, genre scenes and still-lifes of ...

, composer Leo Smit or professor Juda Lion Palache.In the 1960s, Portuguese guest workers came to work in the Netherlands. Before 1975 Cape Verdean immigrants were registered as Portuguese immigrants from the overseas province of Portuguese Cape Verde. The Netherlands are not among the traditional destinations chosen by Portuguese migrants, especially because of lack of linguistic affinity between the two countries. Nevertheless, starting in the late 1980s, in conjunction with the slowdown in departures towards France and the United States of America, Portuguese people have started opting for less "traditional" destinations such as Switzerland, Luxembourg and, although in lesser numbers, the Netherlands.

21st century

Starting from 2000 and especially since the

2008 Global recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...

, Portuguese have flocked to the Netherlands in great numbers. The number of Portuguese has more than doubled in the period 1996–2020 from 13,000 to more than 30,000. Koningin-maxima-okt-15-s

Of the almost 40,000 Portuguese that arrived in the Netherlands since 2000, 75% did so after 2008 and 58% after 2012, year in which the unemployment rate in Portugal soared to 16.1%. Since 2006 the annual influx of individuals born in Portugal entering the Netherlands has consistently exceeded 1,000 individuals and, since 2017, more than 2,000 Portuguese have annually embarked on migration towards the Netherlands in pursuit of enhanced economic prospects. The sole exception occurred in 2020, during which a decline in the influx of Portuguese individuals was observed. This decline is most likely attributable to the Coronavirus pandemic. Moreover, the subsequent spike in the number of entries by Portuguese nationals in 2021 can be most likely partly attributed to the postponement of migration processes in the preceding year. The Portuguese community in the Netherlands is fairly young, with 60% of the Portuguese being under 40. Moreover, among immigrants, more than 85% is under 40. Portuguese migrants generally tend to settle for shorter periods of a few years, as opposed to permanent migrations prevalent during the 1960s great emigration movements from Portugal towards France. In fact, since 1995 26,883 Portuguese have left the Netherlands and half of them did so after 2013. It is worth noting that, starting from 2014, the Portuguese unemployment rate has steadily fallen and the economic outlook has bettered.Dealing with the Sephardic community in the Netherlands, called the ''

Portugees-Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap The Portugees-Israëlitisch Kerkgenootschap (PIK) (Portuguese Israelite Religious Community) is the community for Sephardic Jews in the Netherlands. Sephardic Jews have been living in the Netherlands since the 16th century with the forced relocat ...

'' (PIK) (Portuguese-Israelite Religious Community), it has today a membership of some 270 families (translating to approximately 600 persons), and is concentrated in Amsterdam. They constitute now some 2% of the

Dutch-Jewish The history of the Jews in the Netherlands began largely in the 16th century when they began to settle in Amsterdam and other cities. It has continued to the present. During the occupation of the Netherlands by Nazi Germany in May 1940, the ...

community. The PIK also has a youth movement, J-PIG (''Jongeren Portugees-Israëlitische Gemeente'' – Youth Portuguese-Israelite Community). The Portuguese are part of a wider Portuguese-speaking community in the Netherlands, comprising around 35,000 people from PALOP countries (the overwhelming majority being from Angola or from

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

), Timor-Leste or Macau and 76,500

Brazilians Brazilians ( pt, Brasileiros, ) 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 citizenship. Brazil is a multiethnic society, which me ...

. People from CPLP countries thus number around 147,500 people, accounting for 0.84% of the population of the Netherlands. The Netherlands is the Benelux country with the smallest community of people coming from CPLP countries: In Belgium there are around 156,000 people (1.33% of the population) while in Luxembourg there are over 150,000 Portuguese alone.

Demographics

According to Portuguese registers, in 2022 around 35,800 Portuguese citizens are registered as living in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, as of 2022, over 31,000 of Dutch people are of Portuguese descent, meaning people born in Portugal or children of at least one Portuguese-born parent. The number of people of Portuguese background is lower than that of Portuguese nationals because many Portuguese may have been born in third countries such as France, Luxembourg, Belgium or Germany, countries neighbourhing the Netherlands and all having large Portuguese populations. Overzicht - Beemster - 20335624 - RCE

The Portuguese did not acquire in significant amount

Dutch citizenship Dutch nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds Dutch nationality. The primary law governing these requirements is the Dutch Nationality Act, which coming into force, came into force on 1 January 1985. Regulations apply to t ...

due to their status as EU citizens. In fact, according to Dutch legislation, an individual may possess only one nationality. Therefore, many Portuguese are unwilling to renounce their Portuguese citizenship. Interestingly, since the year 2000, only 1,620 Portuguese nationals have been naturalized as Dutch citizens, which accounts for a mere 0.2% of the total number of naturalizations. However, it is worth noting that the Portuguese represent 1.2% of the foreign population, meaning they are under-represented in the naturalization process. The Portuguese community in the Netherlands retains strong ties with its homeland and, between 2000 and 2021, it has sent more than €700 million to Portugal in remittances. In the same timeframe, Dutch people in Portugal (numbering around 12,100 individuals) have sent approximately 42.43 million euros (

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

) to the Netherlands. In 2021, about 16.4% of the Portuguese in the Netherlands were between 0 and 15 years old, or a total of 5,141 people. Of these 5,141 persons, 1,179 children belonged to the first generation of Portuguese and 3,962 children to the second generation. In contrast, about 6.6% of the Portuguese in the Netherlands were 65 years or older, or 2,067 persons in total with 99.3% of them being first generation migrants. This means that the Portuguese in the Netherlands are younger than the Portuguese in Portugal itself.

Notable people

* Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (1605–1693): a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

, scholar, kabbalist and writer. In 1656, he was one of several elders within the Portuguese-Israelite community in the Netherlands who excommunicated

* Frieda Belinfante (1904–1995): Dutch cellist, philharmonic conductor, a prominent lesbian, and a member of the Dutch resistance during World War II *

Cláudio Braga Cláudio José Ferreira Braga (born 23 November 1974) is a Portuguese professional football manager. Managerial career Braga began his career as youth trainer with the academies of Excelsior, Sparta Rotterdam, Feyenoord, PSV, and Jong FC Utr ...

(1974): Portuguese

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

who has worked in the Netherlands *

Abraham Caceres Abraham de Caceres or Casseres ( fl. 1718-1740) was a Dutch Jewish composer of the late baroque period. Caceres is primarily known as the composer-in-residence to the Amsterdam Sephardic community between 1720 and 1740. He preceded the Gentile Ch ...

(1718–1740): Dutch composer of the late baroque period *

Abraham Capadose The Revd Dr Abraham Capadose or Capadoce (22 August 1795, Amsterdam – 16 December 1874, The Hague) was a Dutch physician and Calvinist writer. A Jewish convert to Christianity from 1822 onwards, he was part of the Dutch Réveil circle that ...

(1795–1874): Dutch physician and Calvinist writer *

Isaac Orobio de Castro Balthazar (Isaac) Orobio de Castro (c.1617 in Bragança, Portugal – November 7, 1687 in Amsterdam), was a Portuguese Jewish philosopher, physician and religious apologist. Life While still a child, he was taken to Seville by his parents, wh ...

(1617–1687): Portuguese Jewish philosopher, physician and religious apologist * Isaac Cohen Belinfante (1720–1781): poet, bibliophile, and magid in Amsterdam *

Isaäc da Costa Isaäc da Costa (14 January 1798 – 28 April 1860) was a Jewish poet. Da Costa was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. His father, an aristocratic Sephardic Portuguese Jew, Daniel da Costa, a relative of Uriel Acosta, was a prominent me ...

(1798–1860): a Jewish poet *

Jacques Franco-Mendès Jacques Franco-Mendès (1816 – 22 August 1889) was a Dutch cellist and composer. Life He was born in Amsterdam in 1816, to a Portuguese Jewish family. Aged 13, he studied in Vienna with the cellist Joseph Merk. He performed in London in 1831 wi ...

(1816–1899): Dutch composer *

Jan Gildemeester Jan Gildemeester Jansz. ( Lisbon, 1744 – Amsterdam, 1799) was a Dutch art collector. Biography Jan's parents had moved to the Netherlands a few years after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. He lived with his father in a house on the Keizersgracht i ...

(1744–1799): art collector * Danny Henriques (1997): Portuguese

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

born in the Netherlands to Portuguese

migrants Migrant may refer to: Human migration *Human migration *Emigration, leaving one's resident country with the intent to settle elsewhere *Immigration, movement into a country with the intent to settle * Economic migrant, someone who emigrates from o ...

(1864–1943): Dutch painter *

(1797–1866): Dutch mathematician whose notable contributions include Gauss-Lobatto quadrature method and the Lobatto polynomials *

Francisco Lopes Suasso Francisco Lopes Suasso, second Baron d'Avernas le Gras (''c.'' 1657 – 22 April 1710) was a banker and financier of the Dutch Republic. He was also known within the Sephardic Jewish community as Abraham Israel Suasso. Background and early life ...

(1657–1710): banker and financier of the Dutch Republic *

Aron Mendes Chumaceiro Aron Mendes Chumaceiro (January 28, 1810, Amsterdam—September 18, 1882, Amsterdam) was chakam (rabbi) of Curaçao, Dutch West Indies. He received the various rabbinical degrees (that of "morenu" in 1846) at the celebrated ''bet ha-midrash' ...

(1810–1882): Hakham of

, in the former Dutch West Indies * Romy Monteiro (1992): Dutch singer * Fatima Moreira de Melo (1978): Dutch field hockey player *

Solomon de Oliveyra Solomon de Oliveyra (, ; – 23 May 1708) was a Dutch Republic, Dutch rabbi, poet, and philologist. He has been described as the "preeminent and omnipresent Hebrew poet of Jewish Amsterdam" in the late seventeenth century. Biography Oliveyra was ...

(1633–1708): Dutch

, poet, and philologist * Abraham Pais (1918–2000): Dutch-American physicist and science historian * Arie Pais (1930–2022): Dutch politician * Juda Lion Palache (1886–1944): professor of Semitic languages ( Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic) at the University of Amsterdam and a leader of the Portuguese Jewish community in that city. He came from the

Pallache family "Pallache" – also de Palacio(s), Palache, Palaçi, Palachi, Palacci, Palaggi, and many other variations (documented below) – is the surname of a prominent, Ladino-speaking, Sephardic Jewish family from the Iberian Peninsula, who spread mostl ...

* Luís Pedro (1990): Dutch professional

* Fernando Pereira (1950–1985): Portuguese-Dutch freelance photographer, who drowned when French intelligence ( DGSE) detonated a bomb and sank the ''Rainbow Warrior'', owned by the environmental organisation

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

on 10 July 1985 *

Isaac de Pinto Isaac de Pinto (10 April 1717 – 13 August 1787) was a Dutch merchant and banker of Portuguese Sephardic Jewish origin who was one of the main investors in the Dutch East India Company, as well as a scholar and philosophe who concentrated on Je ...

(1717–1787): Dutch merchant and banker * Ruben Roosken (2000): Dutch

* Samuel Sarphati (1813–1866): Dutch physician and Amsterdam city planner * Leo Smit (1900–1943) : Dutch composer *

Pedrinho Sousa Pedro Xavier da Silva de Sousa (born 7 July 1990), commonly known as Pedrinho, is a Curaçaoan footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for CVV Willemstad. He formerly played for RKSV Centro Dominguito and UNDEBA Union Deportivo Banda Abou Is a ...

(1990): Dutch

from Willemstad,

(1632–1677): Dutch philosopher of

origin *

Alexander Teixeira de Mattos Alexander Louis Teixeira de Mattos (April 9, 1865 – December 5, 1921), known as Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, was a Dutch-English journalist, literary critic and publisher, who gained his greatest fame as a translator. Early life The Teix ...

(1865–1921): Dutch-English journalist,

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

and publisher, who gained his greatest fame as a translator * Virgilio Teixeira (1973): retired Dutch–Portuguese

Fernando Venâncio Fernando Venâncio (Mértola, Portugal, born 1944) is a Portuguese born writer, intellectual, literary critic, linguist and academic. At present he holds Dutch nationality. Fernando Venâncio spent his childhood in Lisbon and completed his seconda ...

(1944): Portuguese-born writer, intellectual,

, linguist and academic *

Jacob ben Abraham Zaddiq Jacob ben Abraham Zaddiq (; also written ''Zaddik'', and known under the Latinized name Jacob Justo) was a Dutch Jewish merchant of Portuguese descent who worked in Amsterdam in the early 17th century. Biography Zaddiq was a Portuguese-Jewish ba ...

(XVII century): Portuguese-Jewish banker and merchant *

Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti Máxima may refer to * ''Máxima'' (magazine) * Máxima FM, Spanish radio station * Queen Máxima of the Netherlands Máxima (born Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti; 17 May 1971) is Queen of the Netherlands as the wife of King Willem-Alexander. A ...

(1971): Current

Queen of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...

as the wife of King Willem-Alexander

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portuguese in the Netherlands Ethnic groups in the Netherlands Netherlands Netherlands