What African country has Portuguese as its official language?

Answer 1

The discovery of Brazil by Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral, on April 22, 1500, resulted in the country's three century status as a colony of Portugal. Brazil declared independence from the mother country on September 9, 1822. And Portugal finally recognized that claim to independence on August 29, 1825. The national identity of Brazilians has been created from the melting pot of influences from pre-Portuguese cultures; and by immigrants from Africa, Latin and North America, Asia, and Europe. But the historically predominant force always has traced back to Portugal. Perhaps one of the clearest, most telling evidences of that influence is just the very fact of the official language status that Portuguese holds in the country.

Answer 2

Portuguese is neither the official nor the main spoken language in any one of the seven Central American countries. For the official language of Belize is English. And Spanish is the official language of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. There may be Portuguese-speaking communities in Central America. But they don't make up anywhere near a major percentage of the total population. As with South America, Central America largely was settled by Spanish speakers from Spain, and later from other nations of Latin America. And this settlement pattern was regulated by the Treaty of Tordesillas, in 1497. For the treaty defined as the Spanish zone of influence the lands to the west of a certain line, and Portuguese to the east. Consequently, Brazil was the only country for which Portugal was legally eligible to settle.

Answer 3

It might be unexpected to find out that Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, and of Portugal. For Brazil is one of only four South American countries where Spanish isn't the official language. In fact, Brazil, The Co-operative Republic of Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname weren't colonized by explorers and settlers from Spain. Instead, Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese, Guyana by the British, Guiana by the French, and Suriname by the Dutch. In southwestern Europe, Portugal shares the Iberian Peninsula with Spain. Spain takes up much, much more of Iberia than does its much smaller neighbor. And the Portuguese and Spanish languages both trace their origins to the interactions between the Latin language of the ancient Romans and the ancient languages of the Iberian Peninsula. But Spanish is directly descended from that interaction, and Portuguese is indirectly descended by way of Galician and Spanish. Despite the obstacles of geography and history, Brazil and Portugal succeed in maintaining a culture and a language that are at the same time similar and distinct from their Spanish speaking neighbors.

Answer 4

The continent of Africa includes five former Portuguese colonies among its many countries. With independence from Portugal, each of the five countries continues to give official language status to Portuguese. The former colonies include the African countries of Angola, Cape Verde Islands, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe. In addition, Equatorial Guinea lists Spanish, Portuguese, and French as official languages. There are substantial Portuguese-speaking populations in Mauritius and Senegal. And Portuguese is known, spoken or understood in other African countries, such as Morocco and South Africa.

Answer 5

In the South American country of Brazil, Portuguese is recognized as the main language. It has the status of official language in the country. And Portuguese is spoken by almost all Brazilians. Portuguese also is one of the main languages of the nearby South American country of The Co-operative Republic of Guyana. The official language of the former British colony is English. But Portuguese is one of the nine recognized regional languages of importance. And Portuguese also is one of the main languages in the nearby South American countries of Argentina and Uruguay. The official language of each of the two former Spanish colonies is Spanish. But Portuguese is a required subject for schoolchildren. And it's widely known, spoken or understood, because of the constant flow of people back and forth over the countries' respective borders with Brazil.

Answer 6

The African countries where Portuguese has the status of official language are the former Portuguese colonies of Angola, Cape Verde Islands, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe; and Equatorial Guinea.