Portuguese people
Portuguese: Portugueses, Portuguesas | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| Portugal: c. 10.6 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Brazil | c. 5,000,000 (includes Portuguese nationals and their descendants down to the third generation; excludes more distant ancestry) |
| France | 2,577,000 (Portuguese born & ancestry) |
| United States | 1,400,000 (Portuguese ancestry) |
| Venezuela | 400,000 – 1,300,000 (ancestry) (49,104 citizens) |
| Canada | 400,000 – 471,810 (Portuguese ancestry) |
| Switzerland | 203 696 – 265,272 |
| Angola | 200,000 (114,768 citizens) |
| Mozambique | 200,000 (42,008 citizens) |
| Chile | 200,000 |
| Spain | 184,774 |
| United Kingdom | 170,000 |
| Macau | 152,616 |
| Luxembourg | 151,028 |
| Germany | 115 165 – 244,217 |
| Myanmar | 100,000 (Bayingyi) |
| India | 80,654 |
| Belgium | 80,000 |
| Australia | 73,903 |
| Argentina | 42,000 |
| Sri Lanka | 40,000 (Burgher) |
| Malaysia | 40,000 (Kristang) |
| Netherlands | 35,633 |
| Cape Verde | 22,318 (ancestry) |
| Timor-Leste | 20,853 |
| Hong Kong | 20,700 |
| Malawi | 19,000 |
| Zimbabwe | 18,000 |
| Singapore | 17,000 |
| Andorra | 16,308 |
| Bermuda | 16,000 (ancestry) (1,643 Portuguese born) |
| Jersey | 15,000 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 10,400 |
| Ireland | 9,542 |
| Norway | 9,000 |
| Italy | 8,288 |
| Saudi Arabia | 7,971 |
| Austria | 7,245 |
| DR Congo | 6,400 |
| Zambia | 5,700 |
| Jamaica | 5,700 |
| Russia | 4,945 |
| Languages | |
| Portuguese | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Roman Catholic | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Romance-speaking peoples Especially Galicians, Spaniards, and other Lusophones | |
^a Total number of ethnic Portuguese varies wildly based on the definition. | |
The Portuguese people (Portuguese: Portugueses – masculine – or Portuguesas) are a Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation indigenous to Portugal, a country that occupies the west side of the Iberian Peninsula in south-west Europe, who share culture, ancestry and language.
The Portuguese state began with the founding of the County of Portugal in 868. Following the Battle of São Mamede (1128), Portugal gained international recognition as a kingdom through the Treaty of Zamora and the papal bull Manifestis Probatum. This Portuguese state paved the way for the Portuguese people to unite as a nation.
The Portuguese explored distant lands previously unknown to Europeans—in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania (southwest Pacific Ocean). In 1415, with the conquest of Ceuta, the Portuguese took a significant role in the Age of Discovery, which culminated in a colonial empire. It was one of the first global empires and one of the world's major economic, political and military powers in the 15th and 16th centuries, with territories that became part numerous countries. Portugal helped to launch the spread of Western civilization to other geographies.
During and after the period of the Portuguese Empire, the Portuguese diaspora spread across the world.