American Portuguese American Portuguese Portuguese is the largest language of South America. It is the sole official language of Brazil and is a co-official language of several regional organizations, notably Mercosul, UNASUL, ACTO, CELAC, the Rio Group, and ALADI. The main varieties of Portuguese spoken in South America are Brazilian Portuguese (spoken by the vast majority), Uruguayan Portuguese and a mixed variety known as Portunhol. Brazil is the largest country in which Portuguese is spoken in all of the Americas, with a population of approximately 200 million people, almost all of whom are native speakers of Portuguese. The size of this population
Portuguese colonization of the Americas possible voyage of 1473 and several other possible pre-Columbian expeditions to North America in the 15th century, mostly from the Azores in the case of the Portuguese (included in donation royal letters), remain matters of great controversy for scholars. Their existence is based on brief or fragmentary historical documents that are unclear concerning the destinations of voyages. In 1506, King Manuel I of Portugal created taxes for the cod fisheries in Newfoundland waters. João Álvares Fagundes and Pêro de Barcelos established fishing outposts in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia around 1521. These were later abandoned, however, when Portuguese colonizers began to