from 2002 revealed that if the pardo category were removed from the census, at least half of those identifying as pardo would instead choose to identify as black. Another survey from 2024 showed that only 40% of pardos consider themselves Black.

During the slavery period between the 16th and 19th centuries, Brazil received approximately four to five million Africans, who constituted about 40% of all Africans brought to the Americas. Many Africans who escaped slavery fled to quilombos,