Portuguese language in the Americas

Geographic Distribution

With a population of approximately 180 million, almost all of whom are native speakers of portuguese, Brazil is the centre of gravity for the Portuguese language in the Americas.

Uruguay, born out of conflict first between the Spanish and Portuguese empires and later on, Brazil and Argentina has portuguese speakers in it's northern region. The acronym DPU (Dialectos Portugueses del Uruguay) is used to describe the variety of Portuguese spoken in this region. It is not standardized and so Brazilian Portuguese serves as the primary model for Uruguayan speakers of Portuguese, native and non-native speakers alike. Instruction in Portuguese has now been increased in the Uruguayn education system. In the northern departments bordering Brazil education has become bilingual combining Spanish and Portuguese.

Paraguay has been receiving waves of Brazilian immigrants for decades. There are approximately 500,000 brazilian immigrants in Paraguay who are known as Brasiguaios. Unlike in Uruguay, the Brasigaios are a result of more recent immigration and as such are more markedly Brazilian.

There are two groups of portuguese speakers in teh Americas outside of Brazil and Northern Uruguay:

1)Immigrants and their descendants

Immigrants from Portugual Brazil and Lusophone Africa in North America, Latin America and the Caribean.

2)Non native learners of Portuguese

Brzil's growing inernational profile has created a demand for fluency in portuguese. P.l.e. (Português como língua estrangeira) is the acronym used to describe

The Dominance of Brazilian Portuguese

In the Americas, it is Brazilian Portuguese which is the standard for learners and non-native speakers.

The Museum of the Portuguese language(the second language museum in the world) is located in Brazil.

The Brazilian Government has developed a proficientcy test in Portuguese specifically for Brazil and based on the Brazilian norm.

Media and Popular Culture

Portuguese-speaking communities in the the Americas outside of Brazil, from Canada to South America form the primary audience for Brazilian satelite television in their respective countries. Such programming be it football matches, telenovelas or variety shows allow lusophones outside of Brazil to access media and cultural content in Portuguese