Portuguese Migration to São Paulo in the second half of the 19 th century: A case study

Abstract The analysis of a unique migratory experience between Portugal (Beira / Lousã County) and the province of São Paulo (Espírito Santo do Pinhal region) presents some considerations about the demographic and social characteristics of the contingent of Lousanenses, who went to the Colonial Nucleus of Nova Lousã (founded in 1867).Based on the analysis of demographic data collected through the use of parish registers (baptism and marriage) from Vila da Lousã and Nova Lousã, crossed with different sources, it was intended to compare the specific profile of the population that emigrated to the colony in the interior of São Paulo (between the 1860s and 1880s), with the one that remained in the native land. We try to emphasize different behaviors of the population that immigrated, taking into account the new environment and the new conditions of life in the land in which these individuals were inserted.