Demographic studies in a Brazilian population of Arabian origin

Abstract

Marital distance, exogamy, inbreeding, admixture, and fertility were studied in 513 families of mixed and unmixed Arabian origin living in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. The 212 unmixed Arabian families were divided into two subgroups: 83 couples married before migration and 129 couples married after migration. The exogamy index and marital distance were significantly higher for the couples married after migration, and the coefficients of inbreeding for both autosomal and sex‐linked genes were also higher for this subgroup. Admixture was studied in 301 families, most of which were comprised of an Arabian man married to a non‐Arabian woman. The frequency of mixed marriages has increased in recent years. The unmixed Arabian group has a significantly higher fertility, but it seems to be dependent upon cultural changes over the years.