The State of Portuguese-American Health Disparities
By Carlos A. O. Pavão MPA, PhD
Historically, the United States (US) has been a magnet for Portuguese immigrants; there are several states with a significant population of Portuguese immigrants or Americans who claim Portuguese ancestry. Portuguese Americans are a diverse population consisting of people of Portuguese descent or immigrants from continental Europe, the Azores, and Madeira. The New England states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, along with New Jersey and New York, have a large concentration of Portuguese Americans; these people are mainly Azorean and Madeiran Portuguese and came to the United States to work in the textile mills.