Portuguese is a Romance language spoken by 240 million people. The international expansion of this language took place during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries with the Portuguese Empire, whose borders stretched from Brazil to Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, East Timor, Cabinda, Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Zambia, Ethiopia and Somalia.
These days, in the Americas, quantities of documentation in Portuguese and translated to Portuguese have gone up with the creation of the Mercosur (Southern Cone Common Market), the regional integration treaty between Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Later, the Four Plus One treaty was signed to include the United States. With this international treaty, the aim is to coordinate the regional economies so as to promote and facilitate joint development.
Various differences have arisen between Portuguese from Portugal and that from Brazil, such as in the areas of vocabulary, pronunciation and syntax, especially in spoken language. After 500 years and with an ocean between the two countries, Brazilian Portuguese experienced variations, though surely intelligible ones, and incorporated linguistic loans from indigenous and African languages, as well as from French, Spanish, Italian and English.
On the other hand, the Portuguese language is associated with fun, due to the international fame that Brazil’s carnivals have acquired, and because a lot of tourists in search of a carefree vacation choose this country as their destination given the grace of its dances.