The Portuguese language is spoken by around 250 million people worldwide, making it the ninth most spoken language in the world. The vast majority of Portuguese speakers live in Brazil (around 200 million), followed by Portugal (10 million), Angola (5 million), Mozambique (4 million), and East Timor (1 million). There are also sizable communities of Portuguese speakers in Macau, Goa, and Madeira.
The Portuguese language is spoken by around 220 million people, making it the ninth most spoken language in the world. Portuguese speakers can be found in countries like Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, and Cape Verde.
In terms of native speakers, Portuguese ranks fourth behind Spanish, English and Mandarin Chinese.
However, when including non-native speakers, Portuguese falls to ninth place. Nonetheless, the number of Portuguese speakers is growing: between 2010 and 2015, the number of people speaking Portuguese increased by 12%.
Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia in northwestern Spain.
It spread to Portugal and then throughout the former colonies of Portugal. In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the language among young people in Brazil and other countries where it is spoken.
What are the 8 Portuguese-Speaking Countries
There are eight Portuguese-speaking countries in the world: Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, and East Timor. These countries are all located on the western coast of Africa or in South America.
Portugal is the oldest of these nations, having been founded in 1139.
It is also the smallest country in terms of land area. Brazil is by far the largest Portuguese-speaking country, both in terms of land area and population. It was a colony of Portugal until 1822 when it gained independence.
Mozambique was a Portuguese colony from 1505 until 1975 when it achieved independence. Angola was also a Portuguese colony from 1575 until 1975 when it too became independent. Both of these countries were plagued by civil wars after independence which only ended relatively recently – in 2002 for Angola and 1992 for Mozambique.
Cape Verde is an island nation off the coast of Senegal which was first colonized by Portugal in 1456. It gained independence in 1975 but remains close to Portugal politically and culturally. Guinea-Bissau was another Portuguese colony on the African mainland which achieved independence in 1974 after a long and bloody war of liberation.
However, since then it has experienced several military coups and periods of instability.
São Tomé and Príncipe is yet another island nation off the coast of Africa which was colonized by Portugal starting in 1493. It too achieved independence peacefully in 1975.
East Timor is the final Portuguese-speaking country and one with a very troubled recent history.
How Many Countries Speak Portuguese
According to Ethnologue, there are 260 million people who speak Portuguese as their first language. This puts Portuguese in sixth place as far as languages spoken worldwide. Interestingly enough, Portuguese is the fastest growing European language.
Portuguese is the official language of nine countries: Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea and Macau. There are also a number of regional dialects spoken in these countries.
In addition to being an official language in these nine countries, Portuguese has co-official status (along with French) in São Tomé and Príncipe and (along with Spanish) in Uruguay.
It is also an official minority language in Paraguay (where it’s known as língua guarani), Namibia (where it’s known as Oshiwambo) and South Africa (where it’s known as Afrikaans).
Portuguese Alphabet
The Portuguese alphabet is very similar to the English alphabet, with a few subtle differences. The most notable difference is that there are nine extra letters: ã, õ, é, ê, í, ó,ô,ú andç. While these may seem like a lot of additional letters, they actually only account for about 2% of the total number of letters in the language.
The other main difference between the two alphabets is the order of the letters. In Portuguese, the letter ‘c’ always comes after ‘k’, regardless of whether it is followed by an ‘e’ or an ‘i’. This can be confusing for English speakers who are used to seeing ‘c’ before ‘e’ and ‘i’.
Other than these two main differences, the Portuguese alphabet is quite straightforward. Once you learn the extra letters and get used to the different order of the letters, you’ll be reading and writing in Portuguese like a pro!
Portuguese Language
Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is the official language of Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe. Portuguese has between 250 million and 280 million speakers worldwide.
The first record of the Portuguese language dates back to 996 AD with the Battle of Valdevez. The Galician-Portuguese song sung during this battle has been preserved in an 11th century codex known as the Cantigas de Santa Maria. This is one of the earliest examples of written Portuguese.
In 1290, King Denis I decreed that all public documents should be written in Portuguese rather than Latin. This was a major step forward for the recognition of Portuguese as a language in its own right.
During the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established a large empire which spread the use of Portuguese throughout Asia, Africa and South America.
As a result, there are now many different varieties of Portuguese spoken around the world.
Brazilian Portuguese is by far the most widely spoken variety with over 200 million speakers. Other significant varieties include European Portuguese (spoken in Portugal), African Portuguese (spoken in Angola, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau) and Asian Portugese (spoken in East Timor).
Credit: beportugal.com
What are the 8 Countries That Speak Portuguese?
The eight countries that speak Portuguese are Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, and East Timor.
Portuguese is a Romance language originating in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It spread worldwide in the 15th and 16th centuries as Portugal established a colonial empire (1415–1999).
By 2015 there were 250 million speakers of Portuguese as a native language, with notable first-language communities in Africa (especially Angola and Mozambique), Asia (especially East Timor), the Americas (notably Brazil) and Oceania (notably East Timor).
What are the 9 Portuguese-Speaking Countries?
There are nine Portuguese-speaking countries in the world: Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea-Bissau, East Timor, and Equatorial Guinea. These countries are all located on the western coast of Africa or in South America.
Portugal is the oldest of these nations, having been founded in the 12th century.
It was the first European power to establish colonies in Africa and Brazil. Angola and Mozambique were both Portuguese colonies until they gained independence in 1975.
Cape Verde is a group of islands off the coast of Senegal.
They were colonized by Portugal in the 15th century and remained under Portuguese rule until 1975. São Tomé and Príncipe are two small island nations located just off the coast of Gabon. They too were colonized by Portugal and only gained independence in 1975.
Guinea-Bissau was a colony of Portugal until 1973 when it declared independence. However, it didn’t gain full recognition as an independent nation until 1974 after a civil war with Portugal. East Timor is a small nation located on the easternmost tip of Indonesia.
It was a colony of Portugal from 1769 to 1975 when it was invaded by Indonesia. In 1999, East Timor finally regained its independence after years of struggle against Indonesian occupation.
Equatorial Guinea is located on the west coast of Africa and includes two main island groups: Bioko Island (formerly Fernando Po) and Annobón Island (formerly Corisco).
It was a Spanish colony from 1778 until 1968 when it declared independence as “Spanish Guinea”. In October 1969, a coup led by Francisco Nguema changed the name to “Equatorial Guinea” After Nguema’s reign ended in 1979 following his death, democracy slowly began to return to Equatorial Guinea culminating in free elections being held for president in 1996 which resulted in Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo coming into power who has remained president ever since then..
Is Portuguese the Most Spoken Language in the World?
No, Portuguese is not the most spoken language in the world. According to Ethnologue, there are 7,106 languages spoken in the world as of 2019. Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language with 1.1 billion speakers followed by Spanish with 480 million speakers.
Portuguese ranks 6th with 260 million speakers.
What Country Speaks Portuguese the Most?
Portugal is the country where Portuguese is spoken the most. It is the official language of Portugal and is also spoken in Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and East Timor. Portuguese has about 240 million speakers worldwide.
Conclusion
Portuguese is the sixth most spoken language in the world with over 250 million speakers. It is the official language of nine countries, including Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Portuguese is also a co-official language of East Timor (with Indonesian) and Macau (with Chinese).