Portuguese people them went there during the gold rush of the 18th century. Brazil received more European settlers during its colonial era than any other country in the Americas. Between 1500 and 1760, about 700,000 Europeans immigrated to Brazil, compared to 530,000 European immigrants in the United States. They managed to be the only significant European population to populate the country during colonization, even though there were French and Dutch invasions. The Portuguese migration was strongly marked by the predominance of men (colonial reports from the 16th and 17th centuries almost always report the absence or rarity of Portuguese women). This lack
Parliamentary Confederation of the Americas necessity to create a hemispheric parliamentary organization became apparent at the first Summit of the Americas, held in Miami, Florida, USA, in December 1994. The Summit brought together the Chief Executives of every country in the Americas except for Cuba, with no input from the parliamentary/legislative branches of those countries. Since its creation, COPA has been an observer and participant at every subsequent Summit of the Americas: Santiago, Chile; Quebec City, Canada; and Mar del Plata, Argentina. COPA's membership includes all national and sub-national (provincial, state and territorial) parliamentarians or legislators from every country in the Western Hemisphere except Cuba.