List of countries and territories where Portuguese is an official language

The following is a list of countries where Portuguese is an official language, plus several countries where Portuguese or any language closely related to it, is an important or significant language.

Global spread of Portuguese:

  Native language and official

  Official and administrative language

Official or national language

Portuguese is the official language (either by law or de facto) in 9 sovereign states (including Equatorial Guinea, where it is official but not a native language), and one dependent territory, and one partially recognized state, totaling around 300 million people.

Primary or only official language

In these countries and territories, Portuguese is the main or mostly used language of communication of the vast majority of the population; official documents are written chiefly or solely in that language; and it is taught in schools and utilized as the primary medium of instruction as part of the official curriculum.

Sovereign states

Sovereign state	Status	Population (2024)[1]	Regulatory body	More information
Brazil	De facto[2]	217,637,297	Academia Brasileira de Letras	Brazilian Portuguese
Mozambique	De facto[3]	21,669,278	Academia Brasileira de Letras	Mozambican Portuguese
Angola	De facto[4]	18,498,000	Academia Brasileira de Letras	Angolan Portuguese
Equatorial Guinea	De facto[5]	1,795,834	Academia Brasileira de Letras	Brazilian Portuguese
Portugal	De facto[6]	10,318,000	Academia Brasileira de Letras	European Portuguese
East Timor	De facto[7]	1,245,000	Academia Brasileira de Letras	East Timorese Portuguese
Guinea-Bissau	De facto[8]	1,110,000	Academia Brasileira de Letras	Guinean Portuguese
Cape Verde	De facto[9]	499,000	Academia Brasileira de Letras	Cape Verdean Portuguese
Sao Tome and Principe	De facto[10]	212,679	Academia Brasileira de Letras	Sao Tomean Portuguese
Total		271,000,000	Association of Academies of the Portuguese Language

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Territory

Territory	Status	Population (2021)[11]	Regulatory body	More information
Macau	De facto[12]	641,000	Academia Brasileira de Letras	Macanese Portuguese

See also

• Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP)
• Geographical distribution of Portuguese speakers
• List of international organisations which have Portuguese as an official language
• Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP)
• Portuguese-based creole languages
• Latin America
• Latin Europe
• World Portuguese Language Day

References

1. "The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
2. Brazil does not have an official language at the federal level however, Portuguese is spoken by the majority.
3. Mozambique does not have an official language at the federal level however, Portuguese is spoken by the majority.
4. Angola does not have an official language at the federal level however, Portuguese is spoken by the majority.
5. (co-official with Spanish and French)
6. The main language of Portuguese Communitities.
7. co-official with Tetum; 51,800 L1 speakers as of 2007)
8. Guines-Bissau does not have an official language at the federal level however, Portuguese is spoken by the majority.
9. Cape Verde does not have an official language at the federal level however, Portuguese is spoken by the majority.
10. Sao Tome and Principe does not have an official language at the federal level however, Portuguese is spoken by the majority.
11. "The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
12. Co-offical with Cantonese.