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SEE ALSO: BRAZIL, its economy and its regions in this site (detailed English version)
Portuguese
is the official language of 8 independent countries: Portugal,
Brazil, Angola, Mozambique,
Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe
Islands, Guinea-Bissau and East
Timor (Timor Lorosae), this last one an independent
country since may 20th 2002.
Including immigrants that live in other countries, it's spoken by
some 220 million people. Brazil represents almost 80% of this
total. (170 million inhabitants, according to year 2000 Census).
Brazil, Portugal and the five Portuguese-speaker countries of
Africa formed in 1996 the Community of the Portuguese Speaking
Countries (Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa,
known as CPLP), and admitted East Timor as an observer.
In Galicia (or, in Portuguese, "Galiza"), an autonomous
territory of Spain, it's spoken the Galician
("Galego"), very close to the Portuguese language. In
fact, during the 12th century, it was only one language, the
former "Galician-Portuguese". In 1139 A.D. the Kingdom
of Portugal, southwards the Minho River, was proclaimed, under
the rule of Afonso I, while the northern margin of Minho River
continued to be ruled by the Kingdom of León (afterwards
incorporated by Castilla). After that, the language spoken in
Portugal started taking an independent route, originating the
modern Portuguese language. At the same time, the
"Galician" language suffered influences under the
Spanish (Castillan) domination. But still today, Galician
(Galego) and Portuguese are mutually understandable. They're even
considered by some specialists as variations or dialects of the
same language.
Portuguese-speaking countries, and portuguese-speaker communities, spread throughout the world:
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| The map
shows the 8 Portuguese-Speaking Countries,
which form the CPLP - Comunidade dos Países de
Língua Portuguesa (Community of The
Portuguese-Speaking Countries): 1 - Portugal;
2 - Cabo Verde Islands; 3 - Guinea-Bissau; 4 -
Sao Tome e Principe Islands; 5 - Angola; 6 - Mozambique;
7 - Brazil; 8 - East Timor. The
letters "A" and "M"
are the Azores and Madeira islands (Portugal's
territories, which have administrative autonomy). The
letter "G" is Galiza,
in Spain. Goa, in India, and Macao,
in China (both former Portuguese territories) are also
signed in this map. The groups of two letters preceeded by an "x" represent the Lusophone (Portuguese-Speaker) communities in other countries: United States (xEU); Canada (xCN); European countries except Portugal - xEU; South Africa (xAS); Venezuela (xVE); in Argentina (xAG) and in Japan (xJP). Portugueses, Brazilians and/or Cape Verdeans are important lusophone communities in these countries. |
SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE PORTUGUESE-SPEAKING COUNTRIES last modified May 11, 2005.
 PORTUGALArea: 92,446 sq.km. Population: 10,318,084 (2001 Census). Capital: Lisbon (631,000). Currency: EURO € SOME LINKS ABOUT THE COUNTRY (in English, except when mentioned):
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 ANGOLAArea: 1,246,700 sq.km; Population: 13.9 million (2002 estimative) - both including the exclave of Cabinda. Capital: Luanda (2.08 million; 1988 estimative). Currency: KWANZA. SOME LINKS ABOUT THE COUNTRY:
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 BRAZILArea: 8,511,965 sq.km. Population: 182 million (2004 estimative by IBGE). Capital: Brasilia (2,498,150 inhabitants, according to 2000 Census). Currency: REAL. (R$) SOME LINKS ABOUT THE COUNTRY:
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 CAPE VERDE ISLANDSArea: 4,033 sq. km. Population:417,000 inhabitants. Capital: city of Praia (61,000 inhabitants). Formed by 10 main islands and 5 islets. Currency: CAPE VERDEAN ESCUDO. (CVE) SOME LINKS ABOUT THE COUNTRY:
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 EAST TIMOR (TIMOR LOROSAE)Area: 15,007 sq.km. Population: 800,000 (2004 estimative). Capital: Dili (44,000). Formed by the Eastern portion of Timor Island, plus the enclave of Oecussi-Ambeno (in West Timor) and the islets of Atauro and Jaco. Currency: US DOLLAR (US$). Official languages: Tetun (a Malay-Polinesian language with many Portuguese words) and Portuguese. Other 30 languages are spoken, including Bahasa Indonesian and English. SOME LINKS ABOUT THE COUNTRY
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 GUINEA-BISSAUArea: 36,125 sq km. Population: 1,100,000 (1998). Capital: Bissau: 233,000 (1996). Currency: African Franc (CFA) SOME LINKS ABOUT THE COUNTRY:
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 MOZAMBIQUEArea: 799,380 sq.km. Population: 16,099,246 inhabitants, according to 1997's Census. Capital: city of Maputo (966,837). Currency: METICAL (MT) SOME LINKS ABOUT THE COUNTRY:
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 SAO
TOME AND PRINCIPE ISLANDSArea: 964 sq.km Population: 137,000 Capital:Sao Tome city (44,000 inhabitants), in Sao Tome island. Sao Tome and Principe is an archipelago formed by the islands of Sao Tome (834 sq. km), Principe (134 sq.km) and small islets. Currency: DOBRA. SOME LINKS ABOUT THE COUNTRY:
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GALICIAPolitical condition: Autonomous region of Spain. Area: 29,575 sq.km Population: 2.8 million. Capital city: Santiago de Compostela. Administrative division: four provinces (Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra). Currency: EURO €. SOME LINKS ABOUT THE REGION:
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OTHER LINKS TO THE PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
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