Today we’re going to do the last part of our lesson on naturalidades, which determine exactly where a person is from in Brazil: either the city or the state. These are written in lower case, as opposed to in English, in which we use upper case, as in Hawaiian or Alaskan.

Let’s look at the Central and Western regions.

A person from Mato Grosso do Sul is called mato-grossense-do-sul or guaicuru, and a person from the capital of Campo Grande is called campo-grandense. The Guaicurus were a Native American tribe that lived in the region of Mato Grosso do Sul, and were famous for their skills as warriors and equestrians.

A person from the state of Mato Grosso is called mato-grossense, and a person from the capital of Cuiabá is called a cuiabano. This is not to be confused with cubano, a person from Cuba.

A person from the state of Rondônia is called rondoniense, and a person
from the capital of Porto Velho is called porto-velhense.

A person from the state of Goiás is called goiano, and a person from the capital of Goiânia is called goianiense.

A person from the state of Distrito Federal is called brasiliense, and a person from the capital of Brasília is called brasiliense or candango. The Brazilian capital, like the U.S. capital, is quite small, so if you’re from the “state” you are also from the city.

Candango was the name given to the workers who migrated to Brasília during its construction in the 1950s. It is a word of African descent, from modern-day Angola, and means “ordinary” or “bad.” During the 1700s and 1800s, the Angolan slaves called the slave owners “candangos.” It’s not clear why the construction workers of Brasília were given this name, but to this day the term “candango” is often the preferred name for a person born in Brazil’s capital.

Examples:

O goiano na foto acima não está sorrindo. The man from Goiás in the photo above isn’t smiling.
Os candangos têm orgulho da sua cidade moderna. The people of Brasilia are proud of their modern city.

Note: naturalidades can also refer to something from that region that’s not a person:

O futebol mato-grossense tem menos torcedores do que o futebol goiano. Soccer in Mato Grosso has less fans than soccer in Goiás.

O governo rondoniense tem muitos problemas. The government of Rondonia has many problems.