Early history in
Lagos Antiquity Although there may have been people of
Black African descent living in Portugal since the
Antiquity, they started arriving in significant numbers only after the
Moorish conquest of the Iberian Peninsula and, more significantly, after the creation of the
Portuguese Empire.
Slave trade (1440-1593) For instance, there are early reports of
Sudanese working in Portugal dating back to 1440 and of
Ethiopian people living in
Porto in 1466. The first slaves were brought to Portugal as early as 1444 in
Lagos. However, from the 1480s until the 16th century, Lisbon became the principal entry port. The city not only consumed a significant number of enslaved people but also acted as a redistribution hub, sending captives to other Portuguese cities and abroad, particularly to
Castile and
Aragon. The presence of African slaves was a defining characteristic of Portuguese society, frequently noted by travellers in their accounts. Their numbers increased over time, though it remains difficult to determine their precise proportion within the
Portuguese population. They were responsible for daily domestic tasks as well as
economic activities, contributing to their owners' financial gains. There are also records of there being Black slaves in
Lisbon in the
Middle Ages. By the mid-16th century, there were approximately 10,000 Africans in Lisbon, around 10% of the city's population. By the end of the 16th century, the predominantly African neighborhood of Mocambo was established in the modern neighborhood of . Most enslaved people imported into Portugal came from sub-Saharan Africa, including
Arguin,
Cape Verde,
Guinea-Bissau,
São Tomé and Príncipe,
Benin,
Saint George of the Mine, Angola, and Mozambique. Various groups were involved in the slave trade, including monarchs, officials, shipowners, crew members, merchants (both Portuguese and foreign), nobles, and clergy members. However, precise records of the number of captives sent to Portugal remain incomplete. Estimates suggest that in the 16th century, around 2,000 to 3,000 enslaved people arrived annually from different regions.
Free slaves and slavery abolition (1593-1761) The slave trade was highly profitable for the
Portuguese Crown, which actively encouraged and regulated it. Since 1486, when
King João II established the Casa dos Escravos ("House of Slaves") in Lisbon, all incoming shipments of captives were processed, assessed, taxed, and sold there. Later, these responsibilities were transferred to the Casa da Guiné e da Mina (House of Guinea and Mina). , thought to be João de Sá, and black laborers.|alt=Painting in the Flemish style with tens of figures. From the bottom up: The river with four boats carrying black and white people. A person unloads straw onto the dock. Four riders, one of them is black and has a red cross on his cape. On the right, two white men in uniform carry a black man watched by armed white men and bystanders. On the left, a building with arches. In the arches, six animal heads throw water. Many people, white and black, surround the fountain some of them black women with white headscarves carrying red pitchers on heir heads. Moving upwards, other figures, male and female, black and white, adult and children, move, stand, talk or carry things. There are several two- and three-storey buildings in the background. Over time, many captives gained their freedom and lived as free people in Lisbon. By 1593, the Bairro do Mocambo (Mocambo Quarter) was established as a settlement for freed Africans. Enslaved and freed individuals contributed significantly to Portuguese history, with some achieving social mobility, such as
João de Sá, who served at the court of
King João III. By the mid-16th century, the number of enslaved people sent to Portugal declined as the trade focused on the Americas and the importation of enslaved individuals into Portugal was
banned in 1761. From 1993 onwards, with Portugal's
slum eradication program, many people have been provided with alternative public housing and, despite the initial discrimination, many have nowadays found success. For instance, in
Amadora only around 10,000 people used to live in shanty towns such as: , calling for full equality|left • Bairro 6 de Maio: settled in 1970, it housed 1,200 Cape Verdean families, it has been completely demolished in 2021 • Fontainhas and Bairro Novo das Fontainhas: demolished in 2005 • Cova da Moura and Estrela d'Africa: Housing 6,500 people, is the biggest informal settlement still existing in
Amadora and possibly in the whole of Portugal. It was partially demolished in 2004. • Pedreira dos Húngaros: In the northern portion of
Oeiras, bordering
Benfica. It was considered one of the biggest slums – if not the biggest – in Portugal and in 1984 already housed more than 4,000 people. With the growing Cape Verdean community, it reached a peak of 30,000 shacks. It was fully demolished in 2003. The area was acquired by a Chinese group in 2019 with plans to build residential buildings and offices. The first unites should be inaugurated in 2023. The area is now known as Miraflores and little to nothing of the old settlement remains. • Bairro da Quinta da Lage: The demolition process is ongoing, having started in 2019. Up to 300 families used to live here, with the overwhelming majority having already resettled. This slum was different from the previous ones since a plurality of the inhabitants was not of African descent. • Bairro de Santa Filomena: Football player
Nani was originally from here. It suffered a major demolition and subsequent resettlement campaign in 2012–2016. Until 2012 around 2,000 people lived here in precarious conditions, housed in 442 shacks. Despite initial difficulty during the resettlements, many Afro-Portuguese people have now access to enhanced opportunities and some popular neighbourhoods built for housing them, such as Outurela and Casal da Mira, have been praised for their succeeding in actually bettering the living conditions of citizens once neglected. Immigration to Portugal, historically low, soared after the
country's accession to the EU in 1986 and increased significantly starting in the late 1990s, also under form of
human trafficking.
21st century After a hiatus due to the
2008 global recession, immigration increased again starting in mid-2010s. African immigrants have always been an important fraction of the total immigrant population, especially those coming from former Portuguese colonies. In 2015,
Francisca Van Dunem (Angolan-Portuguese) became the first black Portuguese minister in the
Portuguese government. From the inauguration of Portuguese democracy until 2024, 6 Portuguese people of African descent had been elected MPs. In recent years, a renewed interest towards immigration to Portugal has emerged, particularly in
Portuguese-speaking African countries and for study purposes. For instance, the number of students coming from a Portuguese-speaking African country has increased by 170% from 2017 to 2022. Moreover, as Portugal started returning tuition fees to those who come to study and then stay in the country to work student visas are in high demand. In early 2023, Portugal regularized around 113,000
CPLP citizens residing illegally in the country, with
PALOP citizens having their status legalized numbering around 20,000.
Immigrants from non-Lusophone countries in Africa In recent years, Afro-Portuguese immigration has emerged from non-Lusophone African countries, such as Kenya, South Africa, The Gambia and Ghana. In 2021, 866 Nigerians lived in Portugal. Since the
Russian invasion of Ukraine some Nigerians have also started arriving in Portugal from Eastern Europe. The small community from Mali is well integrated and characterized by their staying legally in the country, contrarily to what happens in other European nations. Other recently arrived immigrants include
refugees (e.g. Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia) as well as
investors (e.g. Uganda, Namibia, Nigeria and Kenya). == Demographics ==