Portuguese in Denmark

Portuguese in Denmark (Danish: portugisisk i Danmark) are citizens and residents of Denmark and its dependencies who are of Portuguese descent.

Portuguese in Denmark (also known as Portuguese Danes/ Danish-Portuguese Community or, in Portuguese, known as Portugueses na Dinamarca / Comunidade portuguesa na Dinamarca / Luso-dinamarqueses) are the citizens or residents of Denmark whose ethnic origins lie in Portugal.

Portuguese Danes are Portuguese-born citizens with a Danish citizenship or Danish-born citizens of Portuguese ancestry or citizenship.

There are approximately 4,476 Portuguese people living in Denmark as of 2021. They represent 0.08% of the country's population.

History

The Portuguese community in the country has experienced considerable growth, especially after Brexit. Portuguese emigrants are in fact leaving the United Kingdom for Nordic countries: most of them are highly qualified and aged between 20 and 40, looking for better quality of life and economic stability. Portuguese emigration towards Denmark didn't slow down even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are also Portuguese living in territories of the Danish Realm other than metropolitan Denmark: in 2023 there were 8 Portuguese-born residents in Faroe Islands and 10 in Greenland.

Footballers

In recent years many Portuguese international footballers have moved to Denmark to play for Danish clubs. In 2023 these included: Carlos Ferreira (in the Faroe Islands, Skála ÍF), André Monteiro (Vejle), Anderson Rosso de Sena (Brabrand), Pedro Ferreira (AaB) and Diogo Gonçalves (Copenhagen).

Remittances

The Portuguese community in Denmark retains strong ties with its homeland and, between 2000 and 2021, it has sent approximately 92.84 million euros (€) to Portugal in remittances. In the same timeframe, Danes in Portugal (numbering around 1,600 individuals) have sent approximately 11.13 million euros (€) to Denmark.

Portuguese language

As of today, the Portuguese are part of a wider Portuguese-speaking community in Denmark, comprising around 720 people from PALOP countries (the overwhelming majority being from Angola or from Mozambique), Timor-Leste or Macau and 5,800 Brazilians.

People from CPLP countries thus number around 11,000 people, accounting for 0.19% of the population of Denmark. Despite being small, the immigrant community of people coming from CPLP countries in Denmark is quite visible when compared to the ones in other Nordic countries: in Finland there are a little more than 5,000 CPLP nationals (0.09% of the country's population), in Iceland there are around 2,000 CPLP nationals (0.52% of the country's population), while in Norway there are around 25,300 CPLP nationals (0.38% of the population) and in Sweden 26,700 (0.25% of the population).

Notable people

Berengaria of Portugal (1198–1221): Portuguese infanta (princess) and Queen of Denmark, by marriage to King Valdemar II
Christopher I of Denmark (1219–1259): King of Denmark between 1252 and 1259. He was the son of Valdemar II of Denmark by his second wife, Berengaria of Portugal
Christopher, Duke of Lolland (1341–1363): great-great-grandson of Christopher I of Denmark
Eleanor of Portugal, Queen of Denmark (1211–1231): Portuguese infanta, the only daughter of Afonso II of Portugal and Urraca of Castile, Queen of Portugal. Eleanor was Queen of Denmark by marriage to Valdemar the Young
Eric IV of Denmark (1216–1250): King of Denmark from 1241 until his death in 1250, son of Berengaria
Erika de Casier (1990): Portuguese-Danish singer, songwriter, and record producer
Lukas Fernandes (1993): retired Danish footballer
Emilie da Fonseca (1803–1884): Norwegian-Danish stage actor and opera singer
Ida Henriette da Fonseca (1802–1858): Danish opera singer and composer
Margaret I of Denmark (1353–1412): Queen regnant of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (which included Finland) from the late 1380s until her death, and the founder of the Kalmar Union that joined the Scandinavian kingdoms together for over a century. great-great-granddaughter of Christopher I of Denmark
Pedro Oliveira (1971): Portuguese academic
Camille Pissarro (1830–1903): Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter