Portuguese emigration after World War II — страница 4

annual number of departures to the United States rose from three thousand in 1960-64 to ten thousand in 1965-69, and to Canada the total rose from four thousand to six thousand. It is thought that lack of information on illegal migrants creates a bias in the relative weight of each sex, in the distribution by age group, and in the distribution by marital status. Origin and distribution by economic activity are meant to be the characteristics least affected, if not in absolute at least in relative terms. This analysis will therefore focus on the more reliable factors. Table IO.3 shows the distribution of Portuguese emigration by region of origin. Because the contributions of the islands and the mainland are quite different in terms of their respective shares in total flows, their

direction, and the characteristics of their migrants, they will be treated separately. Between 1950 and 1988, the islands’ migratory flow accounted for 21 percent of the total, and was overwhelmingly directed overseas. The Azorean flow went to the United States and grew markedly during the 1960s and the 1970s, particularly after the United States passed the 1965 amendments favoring family reunification in the concession of U.S. immigrant visas and revised its national origin quota system, in place since 1968. These measures increased the share of southern European migration and the Portuguese quota of entry with it. 11 Madeira’s flow contracted markedly after the 1950s, when Brazil ceased to be a major destination, and has remained at a relatively low level since. TABLE 10.3

Percentage of Portuguese Emigration by District, 1950-1988 1950-59 1960-69 1970-79 1950-79 1980-88 Aveiro 10.74 6.62 7.32 7.84 10.93 Beja 0.18 1.08 2.04 1.13 0.45 Braga 6.04 9.31 6.24 7.63 4.01 Bragança 6.32 3.78 1.81 3.85 1.06 C. Branco 1.43 5.17 1.94 3.33 1.15 Coimbra 4.80 2.84 3.78 3.59 3.65 Évora 0.10 0.38 0.73 0.41 0.24 Faro 2.25 3.69 2.45 2.98 1.28 Guarda 6.76 5.80 2.29 5.04 2.22 Leiria 3.98 7.66 6.88 6.53 4.95 Lisbon 2.17 8.10 12.14 7.78 18.91 Portalegre 0.15 0.37 0.31 0.30 0.20 Porto 10.47 8.55 7.73 8.79 7.76 Santarém 1.94 3.79 3.42 3.23 3.50 Setúbal 0.32 1.75 3.08 1.77 5.19 V. do Castelo 4.64 5.63 2.97 4.63 3.52 Vila Real 5.54 3.88 3.98 4.32 4.21 Viseu 10.59 4.73 5.39 6.37 3.26 Total mainland 78.41 83.12 74.51 79.51 76.50 Azores 6.14 11.17 19.30 12.23 21.21 Madeira

13.75 5.63 6.17 7.80 2.29 Unknown 1.70 0.08 0.01 0.46 0.00 TOTAL 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 Total number of emigrants 342,928 646,962 392,517 1,382,407 89,562 The flow from the mainland in the period 1950-88 represented 79 percent of the global flow. It was essentially directed toward Europe, particularly to France and Germany. It is possible to conclude from Table 10.3 that three regions of the mainland – the Lisbon interior, the Alentejo, and the Algarve – were poor sources of emigration. Together these three regions supplied only a total of 111,000 migrants between 1950 and 1988. This figure is lower than the total of any of the other five regions considered individually. The heaviest suppliers of the period were the coastal regions, always contributing more than

half the total migrants. The northern coast alone provided 305,000 migrants (26 percent of all the mainland flow). An analysis by periods shows that the most remarkable change is in the numbers leaving from the Lisbon coastal region. In the 1950s, this region had only 8,500 emigrants. The number rose to 64,000 and 60,000 during the 1960s and 1970s, respectively, when France and Germany became the preferred countries of destination. The Lisbon coastal region became the country’s main migratory area between 1980 and 1988, representing 24 percent (22,000 migrants) of mainland total legal flows. This change seems to be connected to a major difference between the composition of migration flows overseas and to Europe. When directed overseas, migration was essentially from rural

areas, both on the mainland and on the islands. When directed to Europe, it was increased linked to the most urban and industrial areas. Current trends show an even clearer intensification of this pattern, as documented by the growth of the Lisbon coastal region. Key Migrant Characteristics An analysis of the economic characteristics of the legal migrants will help complement the characterization so far done. Table 10.4, which summarizes legal migrant characteristics between 1955 and 1988, indicates that of the economically active migrants who left the country legally, 26 percent in 1955-59, 38 percent in the 1960s, and 50 percent in the 1970s were engaged in the secondary economic sector. Equally relevant is the increase in the annual number of departures from this sector. It