During a
period of Portuguese discoveries and through a
large colonial empire, the language was spread to areas in Africa, the Americas, and Asia, beyond
East Timor and
Macau in the
Far East.
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
Angolans,
Brazilians,
Cape Verdeans,
Portuguese, and
Timorese found throughout the world.
Europe Portugal Portuguese is spoken as a first language in Portugal (the language's namesake) by nearly all of the nation's 10.6 million people. The ancestor of modern Portuguese,
Galician–Portuguese, began developing in the north-west 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.
Galicia (Spain) The region of
Galicia in Spain is not exactly classified as Lusophone, but holds close ties to the Lusophony. The
Galician language used to form a common dialect continuum with
Portuguese during the Middle Ages, denominated as
Galician–Portuguese by historians. Thus, efforts have been made by the
Xunta de Galicia to promote cultural and linguistical interchange between Galicia and the Lusophone world, such as the
Euroregion between Galicia and North Portugal. The
Consello da Cultura Galega (Council of Galician Culture) has been considered an observer member of the
CPLP since 2016.
Rest of Europe Portuguese-speaking immigrants from Portuguese-speaking Africa, Brazil, Macau, and Portugal 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.
Africa Angola Portuguese is the sole official language of Angola, and 85% of the population profess fluency in the language. Additionally, 75% of Angolan households speak Portuguese as their primary language, and native
Bantu languages have been influenced by Portuguese through loanwords. The majority of the population (~90%) 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.
Guinea-Bissau Despite being the sole official language, only 50% of the population professes fluency in Portuguese. However, a Portuguese-based creole called
Guinea-Bissau Creole (Kriol) is spoken by nearly the whole population as a lingua franca.
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 17% of the population are native speakers of Portuguese, totaling circa 5,8 million native speakers and making it the fourth biggest Portuguese native speaker community in the world right behind Brazil, Angola and Portugal. Also approximately 58,1% profess fluency, which amounts to almost 20 million speakers (a bigger community than Portugal if L2 speakers are counted). According to the 2017 Mozambican census, Portuguese is the second preferred native language (in first place is the Emakwa language spoken mostly in the northern provinces), being the main native language in both the Maputo province and the Maputo Capital in particular and a common second most spoken native language in the Gaza and Nampula provinces. The government, courts, education and most of Mozambican media is available solely in Portuguese, and the country receives several Portuguese and Brazilian television stations.
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; 99.8% declared speaking Portuguese in the 1991 census. A Portuguese-based creole called
Forro is also spoken.
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.
Americas North America There are more than 1.5 million
Portuguese Americans and about 300,000
Brazilian Americans living in the
United States, and Portuguese is spoken by over 730,000 people at home in the country. 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. In
Mexico, mainly in the states of
Jalisco,
Quintana Roo,
Yucatán, and
Mexico City, there are small communities of speakers who are
Brazilians.
Portuguese,
Cape Verdeans,
Angolans, and
Uruguayans are mainly from the
Rivera Department. A Portuguese-based creole known as
Papiamento, is commonly spoken in the
Dutch Caribbean islands of
Aruba,
Bonaire and
Curaçao. It is the sole surviving Portuguese-based creole still in frequent use in the Americas and given official status.
South America Brazil With a population of over 212 million, Brazil is by far the world's largest Portuguese-speaking nation and the only one in the Americas. 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 after the Jesuits were expelled from every Portuguese territory and the languages associated with them prohibited. Portuguese is the native and official language of the overwhelming majority of Brazilians, at 99.5%. The
form of Portuguese spoken in South America is somewhat different (mainly in accent) from that of
spoken in Europe, with minor differences in vocabulary and grammar that can be compared to the
differences between American and British English, but with somewhat different
phonology and
prosody from the remaining Portuguese-speaking countries. Nevertheless, European and Brazilian Portuguese are completely mutually intelligible. The vast majority of Brazilian characteristics are also found in some rural, remote Portuguese registers (or the African and Asian ones, indicating an Old Portuguese feature lost in Europe), 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.
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
Argentina,
Bolivia,
Paraguay,
Uruguay, and
Venezuela, and has become the second-most-studied foreign language (after English) in these countries. In
Guyana and
Venezuela, there are communities of Portuguese immigrants (mostly
Madeirans) and their descendants who speak Portuguese as their native language. Given the similarities between Spanish and Portuguese, a colloquial mix of both, unofficially called "Portuñol" or "Portunhol", is spoken by a large number of people travelling between Brazil and its Spanish-speaking neighbours. People living in the border areas usually like Paraguay and Uruguay mix the two languages in their daily conversation, a phenomenon similar to Spanglish for Latinos living in the United States.
Asia East Timor and Indonesia Portuguese is co-official with
Tetum in East Timor 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.
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. 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 a 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.
Macau 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. Currently, there is only one school in Macau where Portuguese is the medium of instruction, the
Macau Portuguese School, and Portuguese is also mainly taught in government schools. 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. Today, about 3% of Macau's population speaks Portuguese as a first language and 7% of the population professes fluency. 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.
Rest of Asia Portuguese is spoken in
Japan among
returned immigrants (500,000) or migrant workers from Brazil known as
dekasegi.
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 and
Singapore (and a diaspora community in
Perth,
Australia) a Portuguese creole known as
Papiá Kristang or
Cristão is still spoken by some of the Eurasian population. ==See also==