Portuguese colonization of the Americas the State of Maranhão and Piauí; and the State of Grão-Pará and Rio Negro) were united into a singular colony, under the State of Brazil. This arrangement would last until the end of Colonial Brazil. As a result, Brazil did not split into several countries, as happened to its Spanish-speaking neighbors. The "Early Navigators" practically have been to the entire Caribbean, from The Bahamas to Jamaica. Papiamento, one of the languages spoken in the islands, is a mixture of Portuguese , Spanish and African languages. Portuguese merchants have been trading in the West Indies. To such an extent, that, for
Portuguese in the United Kingdom Northern Ireland recorded 1,908 and 1,996 Portuguese-born residents respectively. Other sources estimate the Portuguese community to be larger, with the editor of a Portuguese-language newspaper putting the number of Portuguese passport holders in London alone at 350,000. According to academics José Carlos Pina Almeida and David Corkill, writing in 2010, estimates of the Portuguese population of the UK range from 80,000 to 700,000. Almeida and Corkill report that the Portuguese-speaking groups in the UK are characterised by diversity of country of origin. Research published in 2007 found that approximately 30 per cent of Portuguese nationals registered with the consulate in