Portuguese is the official language of Brazil, the largest country in South America.
Brazil is the only country in the Americas where Portuguese is the nationwide official language. The language arrived during Portuguese colonization, which began after Pedro Álvares Cabral’s expedition reached the Brazilian coast in 1500. Portuguese gradually became dominant through settlement, administration, missionary activity, and the expansion of colonial territory.
Brazilian Portuguese is closely related to the Portuguese spoken in Portugal, but centuries of separate development produced differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and everyday usage. Indigenous languages and African languages contributed many words and cultural influences, especially in regional speech. Tupi-derived place names are common across Brazil, while African influence is particularly visible in Brazilian music, food, religion, and vocabulary.
Spanish is spoken in most neighboring South American countries, which sometimes causes confusion about Brazil. However, Brazil’s colonial history was Portuguese rather than Spanish. Portuguese is also one of the world’s major languages and is official in several countries, including Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde.