Portuguese speakers are the second largest linguistic group in Massachusetts, comprising an estimated 800,000 to 1 million people. Of those, about 200,000 live in the greater Boston area alone. Portuguese speakers come from a variety of cultural, ethnic and racial backgrounds.
Most MAPS clients in the greater Boston and Lowell areas come from Brazil, Cape Verde or Portugal, but the area also has attracted newcomers from Angola, Guinea Bissau, Macau, Mozambique, São Tome/Principe and East Timor.
Heaviest concentrations of Brazilians are in the Allston-Brighton and East Boston sections of Boston, Somerville, Cambridge, Framingham/Metro West, Lowell and Cape Cod.
Largest numbers of Cape Verdeans are in the Roxbury/Dorchester area of Boston, and in southeastern Massachusetts including Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard.
Largest numbers of Portuguese are in Fall River, Taunton, New Bedford, Cambridge, Somerville, central Massachusetts and the Lowell/Peabody area.
Sources: US Census (2000), the Archdiocese of Boston, and the Consulates of Brazil, Cape Verde and Portugal.
Some of the communities in Massachusetts with the largest Portuguese-speaking populations include:
- Arlington
- Boston
- Brockton
- Cambridge
- Cape Cod
- Chicopee
- Everett
- Fall River
- Framingham
- Hyannis
- Hudson
- Lowell
- Ludlow
- Malden
- Martha’s Vineyard
- Medford
- Milford
- New Bedford
- Peabody
- Somerville
- Taunton
- Tewksbury
MAPS is dedicated to providing assistance to Portuguese speakers of all backgrounds and from every area in the state to promote a better quality of life and a stronger, more unified presence in Massachusetts.
