Portuguese Africans country in 1974, followed by the rest of the colonies in 1975. Most Portuguese residents, for this reason, returned to Portugal, where they were called "retornados". Some from Angola or Mozambique went to South Africa, Malawi, Namibia, or Zimbabwe, and Brazil or the United States. When the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries was founded in 1996, some Portuguese and a number of Brazilians of Portuguese racial background arrived for economic and educational aid to the Portuguese-speaking African countries. Some of these Portuguese adopted them as their permanent home. Most Portuguese Africans are Portuguese-South Africans, mainly as a result of direct migration
West Africa various ethnic groups. For historical reasons, Western European languages such as French, English and Portuguese predominate in Southern and Coastal subregions, whilst Arabic spreads inland northwards. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), founded by the 1975 Treaty of Lagos, is an organization of West African states which aims to promote the region's economy. The West African Monetary Union (or UEMOA from its name in French, "Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine") is limited to the eight, mostly Francophone countries that employ the CFA franc as their common currency. The Liptako-Gourma Authority of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso seeks to