Portuguese-speaking African countries

The PALOP, highlighted in red

The Portuguese-speaking African countries (Portuguese: Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa; PALOP), also known as Lusophone Africa, consist of six African countries in which the Portuguese language is an official language: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and, since 2011, Equatorial Guinea.[1] The six countries are former colonies of the Portuguese Empire. From 1778 until independence, Equatorial Guinea was also a colony of the Spanish Empire.

In 1992, the five Lusophone African countries formed an interstate organisation called PALOP, a colloquial acronym that translates to "African Countries of Portuguese Official Language" (Portuguese: Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa).[2] The PALOP countries have signed official agreements with Portugal,[3] the European Union[2] and the United Nations,[4] and they work together to promote the development of culture, education and the preservation of the Portuguese language.[1]

In 1996, together with Portugal and Brazil, the Portuguese-speaking African countries established the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (Portuguese: Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa, abbreviated to CPLP),[5] which East Timor later joined in 2002 and Equatorial Guinea in 2014.

  1. ^ a b "PALOP". Eurostat. Archived from the original on 2013-10-15. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b "PALOP and Timor Leste: cooperation with Lusophone countries". European External Action Service. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  3. ^ "Projecto Apoio ao Desenvolvimento do Sistema Judiciário PIR PALOP" Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  4. ^ ""Speech of the Ambassador Dulce Maria Pereira, executive secretary to the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries to the General Assembly of the United Nations concerning HIV/AIDS"". United Nations. 25 June 2001. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  5. ^ "Roundup: Portuguese-Speaking African Countries embrace new era". English People Daily.

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