Portuguese-speaking African countries

See also: Luso-Africans, Afro-Portuguese, and African Portuguese
The PALOP, highlighted in red

The Portuguese-speaking African countries (Portuguese: Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa; PALOP), also known as Lusophone Africa, consist of six African countries in which the Portuguese language is an official language: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and, since 2011, Equatorial Guinea.[1] The six countries are former colonies of the Portuguese Empire. From 1778 until independence, Equatorial Guinea was also a colony of the Spanish Empire.

In 1992, the five Lusophone African countries formed an interstate organisation called PALOP, a colloquial acronym that translates to "African Countries of Portuguese Official Language" (Portuguese: Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa).[2] The PALOP countries have signed official agreements with Portugal,[3] the European Union[2] and the United Nations,[4] and they work together to promote the development of culture, education and the preservation of the Portuguese language.[1]

English: Map of Angola – native speakers as a majority in each province

In 1996, together with Portugal and Brazil, the Portuguese-speaking African countries established the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (Portuguese: Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa, abbreviated to CPLP),[5] which East Timor later joined in 2002 and Equatorial Guinea in 2014.

In 2016, it was projected that by the end of the 21st century, Africa would be home to the majority of Portuguese speakers worldwide.[6]

  1. ^ a b "PALOP". Eurostat. Archived from the original on 2013-10-15. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b "PALOP and Timor Leste: cooperation with Lusophone countries". European External Action Service. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  3. ^ "Projecto Apoio ao Desenvolvimento do Sistema Judiciário PIR PALOP" Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  4. ^ ""Speech of the Ambassador Dulce Maria Pereira, executive secretary to the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries to the General Assembly of the United Nations concerning HIV/AIDS"". United Nations. 25 June 2001. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  5. ^ "Roundup: Portuguese-Speaking African Countries embrace new era". English People Daily.
  6. ^ Queirós, Luís Miguel (2016-11-15). "Em 2100, a maioria dos falantes de português será africana". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-09-17.