Centre for Lusophone and European Literatures and Cultures Centre for Lusophone and European Literatures and Cultures The Centre for Lusophone and European Literatures and Cultures of the Faculty of Letters, University of Lisbon (CLEPUL) is a research unit of the University of Lisbon based on the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon. CLEPUL was founded by Jacinto do Prado Coelho after the Carnation Revolution, at the time with the designation of Centre for Portuguese Literatures of the Universities of Lisbon. Its main purpose is the promotion and research on literatures and cultures of the Lusophone countries. Today, CLEPUL is one of the largest research centres in
Portuguese language third-most spoken European language in the world in terms of native speakers, and the most spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also the most spoken language in South America and the second-most spoken in Latin America after Spanish, one of the 10 most spoken languages in Africa and is an official language of the European Union, Mercosur, OAS, ECOWAS and the African Union. When the Romans arrived at the Iberian Peninsula in 216 B.C., they brought the Latin language with them, from which all Romance languages descend. The language was spread by Roman soldiers, settlers, and merchants, who