Ukrainian migration to Portugal. From non-existence to the top three immigrant groups

Abstract

Like in other southern European countries, immigration into Portugal did not become an academically and politically relevant subject until the 1980s. Historically, Portugal has been a country of emigration. The number of immigrants was relatively low until 2000 and immigration was supported mainly from the Portuguese-speaking countries. The emergence and development of sizeable groups of immigrants in the 1990s imposed on the state the necessity to elaborate policies of immigration and to develop institutional and legal apparatus, and consequently to translate these policies into practice.