Portuguese is ranked as the eighth most spoken language in the world, with an estimated 210 million Portuguese-speaking people worldwide. It is the official language of several countries on different continents, and is the third most spoken western European language after English and Spanish. Portuguese is the national language of the following countries:

- Portugal
- Angola
- Brazil
- Cabo Verde
- Guinea-Bissau
- Mozambique
- São Tomé e Príncipe Islands
- East Timor

Portuguese is not considered an easy language to master, but local residents will appreciate any effort you make to learn the basics. Investing in an inexpensive phrase book will go a long way toward breaking the ice when visiting Portugal.

Multi-lingual Portuguese citizens are found throughout the country. All major tourist areas have English, French, German, Spanish and Italian speaking vendors, among others.

Note: Portuguese is not the same as Spanish.

Added 1/12/05 by Elizabete - I'm Portuguese, we are able to understand spoken Spanish as are the Spanish able to understand spoken Portuguese. You will also find that there are several words that are the same either in the written form or in the spoken form. Generally, if you have studied Spanish you will be able to understand, not all, but a lot of spoken Portuguese and vice versa.