IO DE JANEIRO: Pouring Kaslik-pressed olive oil atop pots of fresh hummus as a faint sea-breeze blew past, guests sitting on the sidewalk tables of Amir Restaurante relished what could have been a fine Mediterranean afternoon.

Lebanese, Brazilian and hyphenated iterations of the two have enjoyed authentic Levantine fare at the eatery, located just off Rio de Janeiro’s Copa Cabana Beach since 2001 when owner Nicolas Haber set up shop. “The Brazilian-Lebanese, we’re like the Phoenicians,” Haber told The Daily Star. “We like to discover.”

Haber is one of several million Lebanese and their descendants living in Brazil.

While some have suggested it may be as high as 12 million, the number of people of Lebanese descent currently living in Brazil hovers somewhere around 4 million, according to Roberto Khatlab, director for the Center of Latin American Studies at Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik.

The epicenter of the Lebanese community in Brazil today is, without question, Sao Paulo, the country’s largest city and commercial nerve center. There, thriving Lebano-Brazilian businesses, politicians and cultural activities are highly visible, says John Tofik Karam, a professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at De Paul University.