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-speaking African countries into the CPLP despite its limited historical and cultural commonalities with the other countries. Equatorial Guinea was traditionally not considered part of the PALOP and it was not a founding member of FORPALOP in June 2014, the recently created institution that includes the PALOP, a forum for political-diplomatic cooperation to deepen historical friendship ties and solidarity between these African states. It should however be noted that Portuguese is sparsely used throughout the country. It was admitted into the CPLP in 2014 and, subsequently, it became FORPALOP's sixth member. These five African countries are former colonies of the Portuguese Empire, which