The Lusophone world celebrates 5 May as the International Day of the Portuguese language and culture. The language is spoken by over 250 million people in nine countries and is the third most widely spoken European language, after English and Spanish.
World Portuguese Language Day highlights the important role this language plays in preserving human civilization and culture. Around the world, Portuguese is one of the world’s most spoken and widespread language and is the most widely-spoken language in the Southern hemisphere.
Portuguese speakers also account for the first wave of globalization. Because of this, the Portuguese language influenced other languages. You will find the origins of many English words in the Portuguese language including banana, macaw, monsoon, molasses, mango, samba and zebra. Mosquito is also a Portuguese word, which means little fly.
Someone who speaks Portuguese is called a Lusophone, with the majority of Lusophones living in Brazil. Besides Brazil, eight other countries name Portuguese as their official language:
- Angola
- Cabo Verde
- Equatorial Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Mozambique
- Portugal
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Timor-Leste
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