Portuguese in the Czech Republic

Portuguese in the Czech Republic (Czech: Portugalci v České republice) are citizens and residents of the Czech Republic who are of Portuguese descent.

Czech Portuguese
Luso-checos (Portuguese)
Portugalci v České republice (Czech)
Czech Republic Portugal
Total population
903[1]
Languages
Czech, Portuguese
Religion
Predominantly Christianity (Roman Catholicism), Irreligion
Related ethnic groups
Other Portuguese people, Portuguese in Slovakia

Portuguese in the Czech Republic (also known as Portuguese Czechs/ Czech-Portuguese Community or, in Portuguese, known as Portugueses na República Checa/ Comunidade portuguesa na República Checa/ Luso-checos) are the citizens or residents of Czechia whose ethnic origins lie in Portugal.

Portuguese Czechs are Portuguese-born citizens with Czech citizenship or Czech-born citizens of Portuguese ancestry or citizenship.

According to official Czech estimates, there were 903 Portuguese people residing in Czechia in 2021. Only 1 Portuguese citizen has acquired Czech citizenship since 2008.[2] The Portuguese constitute approximately 0.01% of the country's population.[3]

History
Map showing the location of the two countries within Europe

The history of the Portuguese community in Czechia is very recent. Both countries are EU as well as NATO members. Dealing with having a common currency, Czechs are quite reluctant towards adopting the euro, even though Czechia might become part of the Eurozone by 2030.[4][5][6][7]

The Portuguese community in Czechia is relatively small compared to other immigrant communities in the country, such as Ukrainians or Vietnamese. Many Portuguese individuals moved to Czechia for work or study opportunities, particularly in fields like tourism, language education, and business.[8][9][10]

Czechia is quite popular amongst Erasmus+ students as well: in 2021 alone around 900 Portuguese nationals chose to study or carry out research in the Czech Republic under the Erasmus+ agreement (Higher education, Adult education, youth mobility, staff mobility).[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

The Portuguese community in Czechia has grown steadily - at least since the COVID-19 Pandemic - over the years (around 1,150 Portuguese have entered the country since 2008) but it still represents a relatively small percentage of the total foreign population in the country. The Portuguese community in the country has shrunk after the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic (in 2020 there were more than 2,500 Portuguese living in the country) probably because many Portuguese work in multinational companies that have switched/introduced remote work.[20][21][22][23]

Footballers

In recent years some Portuguese international footballers have moved to Czechia in order to play for Czech clubs.

For instance, in 2023 footballers Duarte Ferreira (1. SC Znojmo FK), Luís Pedro (1. SC Znojmo FK), João Rodrigues (1. SC Znojmo FK), Catalin Moraru (1. SC Znojmo FK), Keyner De Vasconcelos (1. SC Znojmo FK), Júnior Agostinho (FK Baník Sokolov), Jayden Luke Fernandes (Prague Raptors) were playing in the country. Dean da Lança was active as a coach to Prague Raptors.[24][25][26][27][28][29][30]

Remittances
Portuguese embassy in Prague

The two countries enjoy friendly relationships and mutual trust, witnessing increasing trade as well.[31][32][33]

The Portuguese community in Czechia retains strong ties with its homeland and, between 2000 and 2021, it has sent approximately 10.08 million euros (€) to Portugal in remittances. In the same timeframe, Czechs in Portugal (numbering around 740 individuals)[34] have sent approximately 33.5 million euros (€) to Czechia.[21]

Portuguese language

Despite the Portuguese language not being widely spoken in Czechia there is interest towards Portuguese culture, literature and products. There is curiosity especially dealing with Portuguese cinema, art, poetry and culinary delicacies. Every year around 700 Czechs start studying Portuguese and the Czech Republic is a CPLP associate observer. The country also hosts Portuguese Cultural Institutes and its Universities offer Portuguese language courses; there is also a Portuguese school in Prague, designed for Lusophone expats' children. Dozens of businesses import Portuguese products (especially wines and cork) and in Prague there are also some cafés targeted at the Portuguese community, Portuguese tourists visiting the country (almost 40,000 in 2022) or - in most cases - Czechs curious about Portuguese culture.[35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53]

As of today, the Portuguese are part of a wider Portuguese-speaking community in the Czech Republic, comprising around 285 people from PALOP countries (the majority being from Angola and Cape Verde), Timor-Leste or Macau and around 1,500 Brazilians.[54][55][56] People from CPLP countries thus number around 2,690 people, accounting for 0.02% of the population of Czechia.

See also

References
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  2. "Observatório da Emigração". observatorioemigracao.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  3. "Czech Statistical Office". Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  4. "Czech Republic and NATO | Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic". www.mzv.cz. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  5. "Czechia – EU member country profile | European Union". european-union.europa.eu. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  6. "Economist: "50% chance Czechia will adopt euro by 2030"". Radio Prague International. 31 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  7. "Czechia and the euro". economy-finance.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  8. "Trabalhadores da Europa do Sul escolhem República Checa". euronews (in Portuguese). 4 July 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  9. Costa, Gabriela (24 April 2013). "Portugueses pelo mundo - VER". VER (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  10. DIA, BOM (20 September 2015). "Histórias de portugueses na República Checa". BOM DIA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
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  12. "data.europa.eu". data.europa.eu. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
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  15. Directorate-General for Education, Youth (2021). Erasmus+ annual report 2020: statistical annex. LU: Publications Office of the European Union. ISBN 978-92-76-45611-7.
  16. Directorate-General for Education, Youth (2022). Erasmus+ annual report 2021: statistical annex. LU: Publications Office of the European Union. ISBN 978-92-76-58692-0.
  17. Lusa (19 January 2013). "República Checa atrai cada vez mais estudantes e quadros portugueses". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
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  19. Aveiro, Agrupamento de Escolas de (2 December 2022). "PROTOCOLO DE INTERCÂMBIO – PORTUGAL – REPÚBLICA CHECA". Agrupamento de Escolas de Aveiro (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
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  27. Junior Ainca Agostinho -- Highlights -- phenomenal, magical, technical, retrieved 1 August 2023
  28. Muzika, Rudolf (27 August 2021). "Jak žije cizinecká legie v Rakovníku? Pořád roste". Rakovnický deník (in Czech). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  29. "Prague Raptors Football Club | Men". Prague Raptors FC. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  30. "Jayden Luke Fernandes". Pražský fotbalový svaz. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  31. "Chéquia". Portal Diplomático (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
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  33. Leiria, Manuel. "A Caruma atua no festival Lusófona em Praga". Região de Leiria (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
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  39. Ramos, Joaquim José de Sousa Coelho; Grauová, Šárka; Jindrová, Jaroslava (1 April 2016). Língua Portuguesa na Europa Central: estudos e perspetivas (in Portuguese). Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press. ISBN 978-80-246-3147-9.
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  42. "Produtores portugueses na República Checa - winesofportugal.com". winesofportugal.com. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  43. "Café Oliveira une emigrantes portugueses em Praga para os quartos de final". TSF Rádio Notícias (in European Portuguese). 20 June 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  44. Lusa, Agência. "República Checa solicitou estatuto de observador associado da CPLP". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  45. "Tradutora checa de literatura portuguesa Pavla Lidmilová morre aos 86 anos". www.dn.pt (in European Portuguese). 28 January 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  46. "Czechia" (PDF).
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  50. "República Checa: Constituída Sociedade de Língua Portuguesa em Praga". Camões, I.P. (in European Portuguese). 6 November 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  51. "Praga: Cinema Português na República Checa - Camões - Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua". www.instituto-camoes.pt. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  52. "Dia Mundial da Língua Portuguesa 2023". Instituto Camões em Praga (in European Portuguese). 22 November 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
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  54. "All valid permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship on 31 December of each year". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  55. "Acquisition of citizenship by age group, sex and former citizenship". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
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