List of territorial entities where Portuguese is an official language

Global spread of Portuguese.

  Native language

  Official and administrative language

  Cultural or secondary language

  Portuguese-speaking minorities

  Portuguese-based creole

The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where Portuguese is an official or de facto language.

Countries and territories where Portuguese is official

Country	Population (2014 est.)[1]	More information
Brazil	202,656,788	Portuguese in Brazil
Mozambique	24,692,144	Portuguese in Mozambique
Angola	19,088,106	Portuguese in Angola
Portugal	10,813,834	Portuguese in Portugal
Guinea-Bissau	1,693,398	Portuguese in Guinea-Bissau
East Timor	1,201,542	Portuguese in East Timor
Equatorial Guinea	722,254	Portuguese in Equatorial Guinea
Macau	587,914	Portuguese in Macau
Cape Verde	538,535	Portuguese in Cape Verde
São Tomé and Príncipe	190,428	Portuguese in São Tomé and Príncipe
Total	270,963,252

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, 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.

Rest of Europe

The Galician language spoken natively in Galicia, Spain is the closest related language to Portuguese and is co-official with Spanish in the 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.

The 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.^[3] 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^[4] 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%.^[5] It is followed by various German dialects, such as Riograndenser Hunsrückisch, at a distant 1.94% (co-official status).^[6][7]
[8]

The form of Portuguese spoken in Brazil is a little different from that spoken in Europe, with differences in vocabulary and grammar that can be compared to the differences between American and British English,^[9] but with the phonology and prosody more distinct to each other (on a slightly larger scale than that of the Metropolitan and Québécois varieties of French); 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), ^[10] 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 trading 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 (or obligatory) second language course at most schools in Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Venezuela and Bolivia.

In Venezuela and Guyana, there are communities of Portuguese immigrants (mostly Madeirans) and their descendants who speak Portuguese as their native language.^[11]

North America

There are than 1.5 million Portuguese Americans and only about 300,000 Brazilian Americans living in the United States,^[12][13] and Portuguese is spoken by over 730,000 people at home in the country.^[14] 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. Also a primary language along with English in the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. ^[15]

Africa

Angola

Portuguese is the sole official language of Angola, and 90% of the population professes fluency in the language.^[16] Additionally, 75% of Angolan households speak Portuguese as their primary language. For all intents and purposes, Portuguese has become the quasi national language of Angola. Native Bantu languages have been significantly influenced by Portuguese through loanwords.^[16]

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 40% of the population are native speakers of Portuguese, while 70% professes fluency.^[17] 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.^[18] However, a Portuguese-based creole called Guinea-Bissau Creole (Kriol) is spoken by the 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.^{[lower-alpha 1]} 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.^[19] 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 numbers of Portuguese speakers in this country. News, sports, and entertainment media in Portuguese will undoubtedly also facilitate increased comprehension.^[20] The majority of the population (~90%) still speaks Spanish as its primary language, and Spanish is still the administrative language and that of education, while French is the second official language.^[21]

Rest of Africa

Large Portuguese-speaking communities are found in Senegal, Namibia, South Africa and Zambia due to large immigration from the Lusophone African countries. Portuguese is also being taught as a second language in the schools of these countries as part of the curriculum.

Asia & Oceania

East Timor

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. The local Tetum language has been heavily influenced by Portuguese through loanwords, and code-switching between the two languages is common.^[22]

Macau

A sign in Macau translated in both official languages, Portuguese and Chinese

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 and 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 Portuguese rule was still occurring. Ironically, it was only after Portuguese rule ended when the Portuguese language in Macau began to see an increase in speakers due to China's increased trading relations with Lusophone countries. Portuguese is being taught as a second language in many big cities in China, especially in the territory of Macau. 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.^[23] Today, about 3% of Macau's population speaks Portuguese as a first language and 7% of the population professes fluency.^[24] 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 enclave 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 possibilities of reintroducing Portuguese as a co-official language of Goa have been made in recent years.^[25]

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 were also in the area of Vasai (present), 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 are words in 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.^[26] Portuguese loanwords are also present in the Japanese language due to trading relations between Japan and the Portuguese Empire in the 16th century.

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

Notes

References