What is "quilombo"

n. (context historical in Brazil English) A remote, inland settlement originally settled by fugitive slaves (or others).

A quilombo (; from the Kimbundu word kilombo) is a Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by people of African origin including the Quilombolas, or Maroons. Most of the inhabitants of quilombos (called quilombolas) were escaped slaves and, in some cases, later these escaped African slaves would help provide shelter and homes to other minorities of marginalised Portuguese, Brazilian aboriginals, Jews and Arabs, and/or other non-black, non-slave Brazilians who experienced oppression during colonization. However, the documentation on runaway slave communities typically uses the term mocambo, an Ambundu word meaning "hideout", to describe the settlements. A mocambo is typically much smaller than a quilombo. Quilombo was not used until the 1670s and then primarily in more southerly parts of Brazil.

A similar settlement exists in the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, and is called a palenque. Its inhabitants are palenqueros who speak various Spanish- African-based creole languages.

Quilombos are identified as one of three basic forms of active resistance by slaves. The other two are attempts to seize power and armed insurrections for amelioration. Typically, quilombos are a "pre-19th century phenomenon". The prevalence of the last two increased in the first half of 19th-century Brazil, which was undergoing both political transition and increased slave trade at the time.

Quilombo is a 1984 Brazilian drama film directed by Carlos Diegues. It was entered into the 1984 Cannes Film Festival.

Quilombo is a kind of hinterland settlement founded by slaves (or ex-slaves and their descendants) in Brazil.

Quilombo may also refer to:

Places

• Quilombo dos Palmares, a former Quilombo in Alagoas State, Brazil
• Quilombo, Santa Catarina, a city in Santa Catarina, Brazil
• Kakonda, traditional independent kingdom in Angola

Rivers

• Quilombo River (Mogi-Guaçu River), a tributary of the Moji-Guaçu River in São Paulo State, Brazil
• Quilombo River (Juquiá River), a tributary of the Juquiá River in São Paulo State, Brazil

Arts

• Quilombo (film), a 1984 Brazilian film, directed by Carlos Diegues
• ¡Quilombo!, the debut album of Steroid Maximus
• "Quilombo", a song by Soulfly on their eponymous debut album