Well, thanks to a new interactive map put out by the Migration Policy Institute it is now possible for you to see just how many of your fellow countrymen are living in countries all around the globe.
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs … estination
Just type select the country of origin that you want figures for from the drop-down menu in the search field, then hover the mouse pointer over the country that you want their number in that country.
I was quite surprised that although Brazil was only the No. 2 choice for US citizens in South America, with 24,000 US citizens here, more surprised still that there were actually so few Americans here. Ecuador was No. 1 with 39,000 US citizens.
Shocked would describe my reaction to the news that there are only 2,000 of my fellow Canadians here in Brazil. Both Bolivia and Ecuador have more Canadian immigrants, with 3,000 in each country, they share the No. 1 spot.
The population in Brazil of immigrants from some countries is so small that there aren't even any figures available. If you come from Bangladesh, Pakistan or the Philippines don't waste your time looking there is such a small population of your fellow countrymen here that no figure shows up. If you are from India only 1,000 of your countrymen are here.
Now I know why I've had such a tough time finding other Canucks here in Brazil.... yikes. Gosh, we're way outnumbered by citizens from the UK here in Brazil, they number 5,000.
This map sort of sheds a whole new light on our ability to network here in Brazil.
My sincerest thanks to my buddy and Ecuador Expert cccmedia for posting this information on the Ecuador Forum. I'd have never known otherwise and wouldn't have been able to pass this very important information along to you.
Cheers,
James Expat-blog Experts Team
Find out how many of your countrymen are living around the world
I was reading an article 3-4 years ago regarding Brazil where it was discussed the low number of professionals working in Brazil and the problems that creates. On average a country has app 3% of non-citizens in their work force. This is of course due to a number of reasons - they attract professionals they lack themselves or people move by themselves because there are good joob opportunities they are unable to find in their home contries for whatever profession they have.
In Brazil there is only 0,3% of their workforce that is non-brazilian. I would claim that there is few countries that need some foreign influence more than Brazil but they have made it so difficult for foreigners to work in this country that most people give up to try.
Now, this was written during the hight of the offshore oil boom and how difficult the goverment made it to use foreign labour even when it was impossible to find qualified Brazilians to do the job but i would claim that most professions in Brazil would benefit a lot by having some competition from people from other contries just to learn.
Unfortunately i hear all the time from even well educated Brazilans that they have to be careful because "the foreigners are here just to steal our natural resources"
The single largest problem for expats living and working in Brazil are the restrictive and highly protectionist laws that govern foreigners. For example, Decreto/Lei 6815/80 Estatuto de Estrangeiro, which was written toward the end of the Military Dictatorship and reflects that authoritarian attitude. It has remained virtually unchanged until today.
Many other Brazilian laws were also enacted around that time and had the net effect of closing the doors completely. Brazilian politician constantly say they're going to reform the laws, but that's all it is, just talk.
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil was enacted in 1988. All laws, regardless of when written, must conform to the Constitution. Most of them don't conform even 27 years after the Constitution was written. Many other laws, especially regarding work are vague and depend on other laws that were never written. That's what happens in a country that is governed by people who are POLITICALLY ILLITERATE.
Cheers,
James Expat-blog Experts Team
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