List of countries and territories where Portuguese is an official language
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Map_of_the_portuguese_language_in_the_world.svg/500px-Map_of_the_portuguese_language_in_the_world.svg.png)
The following is a list of the 10 sovereign states and territories where Portuguese is an official language.
List of countries and territories
Country | Location | Population (July 2017 est.)[1] | More information | Status |
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South America | 207,353,391 | Portuguese in Brazil | Spoken by vast majority as a native language |
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Southern Africa | 29,310,273 | Portuguese in Angola | Spoken by a significant minority as a native language; spoken by majority as a second language |
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Southern Africa | 26,573,706 | Portuguese in Mozambique | Spoken by a significant minority as a native language |
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Iberian Peninsula,Southwestern Europe | 10,839,514 | Portuguese in Portugal1 | Spoken by vast majority as a native language |
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Western Africa | 1,792,338 | Portuguese in Guinea-Bissau | Spoken by a significant minority as a native language |
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Asia/Oceania | 1,291,358 | Portuguese in East Timor | Spoken by a small minority as a native language |
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Central Africa | 778,358 | Portuguese in Equatorial Guinea | Spoken by a significant minority as a native language |
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Southeastern China | 601,969 | Portuguese in Macau | Spoken by a small minority as a native language |
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Central Atlantic Ocean,Western Africa | 560,899 | Portuguese in Cape Verde | Spoken by majority as a second language |
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Gulf of Guinea,Central Africa | 201,025 | Portuguese in São Tomé and Príncipe | Spoken by vast majority as a native language |
Total | c. 280 million | Community of Portuguese Language Countries |
Notes:
- Some linguists argue that Galician, spoken in Galicia, is merely a dialect of Portuguese rather than an independent language; this would make northwestern Spain a part of the Portuguese-speaking world.
- Macau is not a sovereign nation. It is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China (the other being Anglophone Hong Kong, a former British colony).
- Equatorial Guinea adopted Portuguese as one of its official languages in 2007, being admitted to CPLP in 2014. The use of the Portuguese language in this country is limited. However, a Portuguese-based creole language, Annobonese Creole, is used, mainly on islands of Annobon and Bioko.
- 15% of Uruguay's population speaks Portuguese (in the northern areas closer to Brazil) as a native language but it is not an official language in any capacity. A similar blending of Portuguese, Spanish, and Guarani (Jopara) occurs along the border with Paraguay.
Spread of Portuguese
During a period of Portuguese discoveries and through a large colonial empire, the language was spread to areas in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Portuguese-based creole languages also developed during this era.
Today, Portuguese continues to thrive outside the Lusophone world through the presence of large expat communities of Brazilians, Portuguese, Cape Verdeans, and Angolans found throughout the world.
Europe
Portugal
Portuguese is spoken as a first language in Portugal by nearly all of the nation's 10.6 million people.[2] The ancestor of modern Portuguese, Galician-Portuguese,[clarification needed] began developing in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in an area encompassing present-day northern-Portugal and Galicia, at around the 9th century. Modern Portuguese started developing in the early 16th century[clarification needed].
Rest of Europe
The Galician language, spoken natively in Galicia, Spain, is a dialect of Portuguese, according to many linguists[citation needed], which makes northwestern Spain a lusophone region. Portuguese-speaking immigrants from Portugal, Brazil, Portuguese-speaking Africa and Macau have also settled in Andorra (around 15 000 speakers), Belgium, France (around 500 000 speakers), Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In Luxembourg, 19% of the population speaks Portuguese as mother tongue, making it the largest minority language by percentage in a Western European country.[3]
Americas
Brazil
With a population of over 205 million, Brazil is by far the world's largest Portuguese-speaking nation and the only one in the Americas.[4] Portuguese was introduced during the Portuguese colonial period. Portuguese has also served as a lingua franca between the various ethnic groups in Brazil and the native Amerindian population[5] after the Jesuits were expelled from every Portuguese territory and the languages associated with them prohibited.
Portuguese is the first language of the overwhelming majority of Brazilians, at 99.5%.[6]
The form of Portuguese spoken in Brazil is somewhat different from that spoken in Europe, with differences in vocabulary and grammar that can be compared to the differences between American and British English,[7] but with somewhat different phonology and prosody from the remaining Portuguese-speaking countries. Nevertheless, European and Brazilian Portuguese are completely mutually intelligible[clarification needed]. The vast majority of Brazilian characteristics are also found in some rural, remote Portuguese registers[clarification needed] (or the African and Asian ones, indicating an Old Portuguese feature lost in Europe), [8] while nearly all distinctive European characteristics can be found in any major dialect of Brazil (such as fluminense, specially its carioca sociolect, and florianopolitano), due to a stronger or more recent Portuguese and other European immigration.[clarification needed]
Migration from Brazil also led to a great number of Portuguese speakers in the Southern Cone (especially Uruguay with portunhol da pampa), Paraguay (see brasiguayos), other regions of South America (especially Bolivia) except Venezuela, Japan (see Brazilians in Japan 400,000 and dekasegi, official numbers do not include second generation Portuguese speakers and naturalized citizens), South Korea, the Philippines (see Brazilians in the Philippines), and Israel (see Aliyah from Latin America in the 2000s).
Rest of South America
Although Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in South America, it has the largest population, area and economy on the continent. Thus, the South American trade bloc Mercosul uses Portuguese alongside Spanish as its working languages. A Spanish influenced Portuguese dialect is spoken in the northern Uruguayan border area with Brazil. Given the proximity and trading relations between Portuguese speaking Brazil, and its respective Spanish speaking nations, Portuguese is offered as a foreign (sometimes obligatory) language course at most schools in Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Venezuela and Bolivia, and has become the second (after English) most studied foreign language in these countries.
In Venezuela and Guyana, there are communities of Portuguese immigrants (mostly Madeirans) and their descendants who speak Portuguese as their native language.[9]
Given the similarities between Spanish and Portuguese, a colloquial mix of both, unofficially called "Portuñol" or "Portunhol", is spoken by large number of people travelling between Brazil and its Spanish-speaking neighbours. People living in the border areas usually mix the two languages in their daily conversation, a phenomenon similar to Spanglish for Latinos living in the United States.
North America
There are more than 1.5 million Portuguese Americans and about 300,000 Brazilian Americans living in the United States,[10][11] and Portuguese is spoken by over 730,000 people at home in the country.[12] There are over 500,000 people of Portuguese descent living in Canada; however, most of the community's population now speaks English or French as their primary language. Portuguese is also a primary language along with English in the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. [13]
in Mexico in the states, mainly in Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Jalisco, Mexico City, there are small communities of speakers who are Brazilians, Portuguese, Cape Verdeans, Angolans, Uruguayans are mainly from the Rivera Department.
Africa
Angola
Portuguese is the sole official language of Angola, and 85% of the population profess fluency in the language.[14] Additionally, 75% of Angolan households speak Portuguese as their primary language, and native Bantu languages have been influenced by Portuguese through loanwords.[14]
Mozambique
Portuguese is the sole official language of Mozambique and serves as a lingua franca between the various ethnic groups in the country. Slightly over 30% of the population are native speakers of Portuguese, while 65% profess fluency.[15] Most of Mozambican media is available solely in Portuguese, and the country receives several Portuguese and Brazilian television stations.
Guinea-Bissau
Despite being the sole official language, only 50% of the population professes fluency in Portuguese.[16] However, a Portuguese-based creole called Guinea-Bissau Creole (Kriol) is spoken by nearly the whole population.
Cape Verde
Similar to Guinea-Bissau, although Portuguese is the only official language, a Portuguese-based creole known as Cape Verdean Creole is spoken by the majority of the population. Most Cape Verdeans are fluent in Portuguese as well. Education and media are available largely in standard European Portuguese only.
São Tomé and Príncipe
In São Tomé and Príncipe, Portuguese is by far the most spoken language, with around 95% of the population speaking it at home or professing fluency.[a] A Portuguese-based creole called Forro is also spoken.
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea was a Spanish colony between 1778 and 1968 and was originally a group of Portuguese colonies between 1474 and 1778. A Portuguese creole is spoken by locals on the island of Annobón.
In 2007, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema announced a decision to make Portuguese the third official language of the country after Spanish and French. This was in an effort by the government to improve its communications, trade, and bilateral relations with Portuguese-speaking countries.[17] Despite government promotions, Portuguese remains rarely spoken in Equatorial Guinea, but increased political and trade relations with Portuguese-speaking nations (i.e. Brazil, Angola, Portugal) will soon increase the number of Portuguese speakers in the country. News, sports, and entertainment media in Portuguese will undoubtedly also facilitate increased comprehension.[18] The majority of the population (~90%)[citation needed] still speaks Spanish as their primary language, and Spanish is still the administrative language and that of education, while French is the second official language.[19]
Rest of Africa
Large Portuguese-speaking communities are found in Namibia, South Africa and Zambia due to immigration from the lusophone African countries. Portuguese is also taught in the schools of these countries.
Asia & Oceania
East Timor and Indonesia
Portuguese is co-official with Tetum in East Timor and Flores, Indonesia and was introduced during the colonial period. A little under 39% of the population professes fluency in Portuguese, and their number is steadily growing. Meanwhile on the Indonesian side, it is rare to hear a Portuguese speaker because it lost in competition with the local language after becoming a Dutch colony in 18th century. The local Tetum language has been heavily influenced by Portuguese through loanwords, and code-switching between the two languages is common.[20]
Macau
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Macau-Chinese%26Portuguese.jpg/250px-Macau-Chinese%26Portuguese.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/CalcadaSaoPaulomacau.jpg/220px-CalcadaSaoPaulomacau.jpg)
Due to the one country, two systems policy of China regarding its special administrative regions, Macau is able to retain Portuguese as an official language alongside Cantonese. Portuguese was first introduced to Macau when Portuguese traders established a permanent settlement there in 1537. Despite being a Portuguese colony for over four centuries, the Portuguese language was never widely spoken in Macau and remained limited to administration and higher education. It was spoken primarily by the Portuguese colonists, Macanese people of mixed ancestry, and elites and middle-class people of pure Chinese blood. As a consequence, when Macau was handed back to China in 1999, Portuguese did not have a strong presence like English had in Hong Kong and continued its decline which began when Macau was still under Portuguese rule. Nevertheless, it was only after Portuguese rule ended that the Portuguese language in Macau began to see an increase in speakers due to China's increased trading relations with Lusophone countries. There has been an increase in the teaching of Portuguese owing to the growing trade links between China and lusophone nations such as Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, and East Timor, with 5,000 students learning the language.[21] Today, about 3% of Macau's population speaks Portuguese as a first language and 7% of the population professes fluency.[22] Code-switching between Cantonese and Portuguese are commonly heard. A Portuguese creole called Macanese (Patuá) was spoken by Macanese of mixed ancestry but is near extinction today.
Goa (India)
Portuguese is present in the Indian state of Goa, which was a Portuguese colony until 1961. Although it was the sole official language during Portuguese colonial rule, it is mostly spoken by the elderly and educated populations today and is not an official language. Rather, Goa's official state language is Konkani, which has however picked up some Portuguese vocabulary as a legacy of Portuguese influence. Attempts to make Konkani be written in the Portuguese alphabet and reintroduce Portuguese as a co-official language of Goa have been made in recent years; presently Portuguese is officially taught there.[23]
Portuguese rule in Daman and Diu has also left a smaller Portuguese influence on the territory. A Portuguese-based creole called Língua da Casa is spoken in the territory. As a result of the renewed interest in the Portuguese language and culture, the Portuguese language is making an impressive comeback. Portuguese is still taught in some schools in Goa.
Portuguese people were also present in the area of Vasai , previously Bassein or Bacaim since 1560 until 1739. Though the Portuguese were defeated by Marathas, there are some words which are used by the locals which were borrowed from the Portuguese language. Today there is a large Catholic population, and many churches built during those days are still being used for worship.
Rest of Asia
Portuguese is spoken in Japan among returned immigrants (500,000) or migrant workers from Brazil known as dekasegi.[24] Portuguese loanwords are also present in the Japanese language due to trading relations between Japan and the Portuguese Empire in the 16th century. Portuguese is now part of the curriculum in many Japanese schools, and many radio and television stations are broadcast exclusively in the Portuguese language.
In Malacca, Malaysia, a Portuguese creole known as Papiá Kristang or Cristão is still spoken by some of the Eurasian population.
See also
- Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP)
- Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP)
- List of international organisations which have Portuguese as an official language
- Luso American
- Portuguese dialects
- Portuguese creole
- Portuguese language
- Latin America
- Latin Europe
- Romance-speaking Africa
- Glossary of Japanese words of Portuguese origin
- UN Portuguese Language Day
Notes
- ^ 99.8% declared speaking Portuguese in the 1991 census
References
- ^ "The World Factbook -- Field Listing - Population - CIA". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 2015-03-07.
- ^ "Special Eurobarometer 243 "Europeans and their Languages"" (PDF). European Commission. 2006. p. 6. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
- ^ Special Eurobarometer 386 Europeans and their Languages
- ^ "Geography of Brazil". Central Intelligence Agency. 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - ^ Darcy Ribeiro. O Povo Brasileiro, Vol. 07, 1997 (1997).
- ^ "Portuguese language in Brazil". Countrystudies.us. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
- ^ Logan Gaspar (2006-08-07). Portuguese For Dummies. Wiley. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-470-04973-0.
- ^ Anthony Julius Naro and Maria Marta Pereira Scherre. Origens do Português Brasileiro.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Portuguese emigration from Madeira to British Guiana". Guyana.org. 2000-05-07. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
- ^ [1] Archived October 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "United States - Selected Population Profile in the United States (Brazilian (360-364))". 2008 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ^ Population: Ancestry, Language Spoken At Home, U.S. Census Bureau, archived from the original on 2007-12-25, retrieved 2011-12-27
- ^ "Ethnic Origin, Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses and Sex for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 Census - 20% Sample Data". 12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
- ^ a b "A língua portuguesa". Linguaportuguesa.ufrn.br. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
- ^ "A língua portuguesa". Linguaportuguesa.ufrn.br. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
- ^ "A língua portuguesa". Linguaportuguesa.ufrn.br. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
- ^ "Equatorial Guinea Adds Portuguese as the Country's Third Official Language". PRNewsWire. 2011-10-14. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
- ^ Público (Lisbon), 2012-07-20
- ^ "VILLAGES AND CULTURES - Official Web Page of the Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea". Guineaecuatorialpress.com. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
- ^ "Timor Leste, Tetum, Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesia or English?". Thejakartapost.com. April 20, 2012.
- ^ China Sees Advantages in Macao's Portuguese Past, New York Times, October 21, 2004
- ^ Leach, Michael (2007), "talking Portuguese; China and East Timor", Arena Magazine, archived from the original on 2011-11-05, retrieved 2011-05-18
- ^ "Konkani:The Tussule over the script". Navhind Times. Retrieved 18 October 2008.
- ^ [2] Archived June 6, 2010, at archive.today