Brazil is the world's largest country with Portuguese as its official language.
Covering about 8.5 million square kilometres, Brazil occupies almost half of South America. It is the continent's largest country and extends from the Atlantic coast westward to borders with ten South American countries and territories.
Portuguese became dominant because Brazil was colonized by Portugal beginning in the sixteenth century. Brazil later developed a distinct variety of Portuguese, influenced by Indigenous languages, African languages, and immigrant communities.
Brazil is much larger than Portugal, the European country where the language originated. It is also larger than every other Portuguese-speaking country, including Angola and Mozambique. The Amazon Basin, the Brazilian Highlands, and the extensive Atlantic coastline are major geographic features within its borders.