Croatian Peruvians

Croatian Peruvians are Peruvians of Croatian descent. Mostly settled in the Peruvian capital, Lima, Croatian Peruvians have scattered throughout the vast metropolis, but are known to have established a strong community in the Miraflores District, where strong ties to the ethnic group still remain. Due to intermarriage, most Croatian Peruvians are of mixed ancestry. Actual conversations in Croatian are common only within first generation immigrants. Although Croatian speech in Peru has been generally lost. ^{[citation needed]}

Croatian Peruvians

Notable Croatian Peruvians Sofía Mulánovich Vanessa Terkes Otto Guibovich Juan Bielovucic
Total population
c. 250,000
Regions with significant populations
Callao, Lima, Arequipa
Languages
Spanish, Croatian
Religion
Roman Catholic

Most Croatian Peruvians are Roman Catholic and either completely Croat or of mixed European origin.

History

Peru was the first South American country to receive immigrants from Croatia. Early settlers came from the Republic of Ragusa (modern-day Dubrovnik) in the 16th century. A more significant number of immigrants arrived in the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, mostly from the Dubrovnik area and the rest of the Croatian Adriatic coast. Some Croats were involved in the guano business that was flourishing in the late 19th century; others pursued copper, gold and silver mining in the Andes. By the end of the 19th century, Croats were the most prominent foreign community in the mining town of Cerro de Pasco.^[1]

A group of approximately 1,000 political emigrants from Croatia arrived in the country in 1948. The new generation of immigrants differed significantly from the old one, and the two populations remained separate for a long time.^[1]

Notable people

• Cesar Bielich-Pomareda, former Minister of the Navy of Peru
• Ismael Bielich-Flores, politician^[2]
• Juan Bielovucic, aviator^[3]
• Ivan Bulos, footballer^[4]
• Marko Ciurlizza, footballer
• Juan Gargurevich, journalist and university professor
• Otto Guibovich, former General Commander of the Peruvian Army and politician
• Saby Kamalich, actress
• Kristian Kreković, painter
• Baldo Kresalja [es], former Minister of Justice and Human Rights and university professor
• Sofía Mulánovich, surfer
• Esteban Pavletich, novelist and essayist
• Raul Ruidíaz, footballer
• Juan Sheput [es], politician
• Renzo Sheput, footballer
• Laura Spoya, TV host and Miss Peru 2015^[5]
• Vanessa Terkes, actress
• Guillermo Tomasevich, footballer
• Jhovan Tomasevich [es], rock vocalist from Huelga de Hambre and Zen [es]

See also

• Croatia portal
• Peru portal

• Croatia–Peru relations
• Croats
• List of Croats
• Ethnic groups in Peru
• Peruvians of European descent