After
the conquest, in 1415, of the Arab stronghold of Ceuta in Morocco, the Portuguese were the
first European, to explore the African coast, and in 1460s. they built the first fort in
Arguin (Mauritania) later, in 1482, was the time of Sao Jorge de la Mina Castle in the
Gold Coast (Ghana). The Portuguese explorer, in 1487, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and in
1497circumnavigated the African continent and arrived in India (1498).
The Portuguese, pratically, ruled undisputed on the African coast during the 15th. and
16th. centuries.
The Portuguese settlements in Africa were used, by the Portuguese ships, as supplying
stations on the route to India, but they were also trading stations, where the Portuguese
traded in gold, slaves and spices with the Africans and the Portuguese language was used
as Lingua Franca along the African shores.
Portuguese
speaking communities in Africa today.
Now Portuguese is speak in several nations of Africa, mainly in the ex-Portuguese
colonies:
It's the official language in Mozambique, Angola, Sao Tomè, Guinea Bissau and Cabo Verde
Islands; a creole kind of Portuguese is used in Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Cabo Verde
Islands, Sao Tomé and Ecuatorial Guinea; a large community of Portuguese (from Portugal,
Angola and Mozambique) reside in South Africa.
The Portuguese language has also influenced several African languages. Many Portuguese
words were permanently lent to various kinds of African languages such as the Swahili and
Afrikaans. WEST AFRICA COAST and CAPE VERDE ISLANDS.
In the 16th century, along the coast of Senegal, Gambia and Guinea, the settlement of
several groups of Portuguese merchants and Lançados (mixed-race) contributed to the
spread of the Portuguese language in those areas. Today a Portuguese Creole is still speak
in Casamance (Ziguinchor Creole in Senegal and Gambia) and Guinea Bissau (Bissau - Bolama
Creole, Batafa Creole and Cacheu Creole), its local name is Kriol (Crioulo). This language
is the first creole language which emerged from the contact between Europeans and the
African peoples. In Guinea Bissau, Kriol is the national language and Portuguese is the
official language.
The Cabo Verde Islands, was a Portuguese colony till 1975, and so, Portuguese is today the
official language of the archipelago, the Cabo Verde Creole (Kriol or Crioulo) is speak by
the whole population and it's similar to that of Guinea Bissau and Casamance, Portuguese
is the second language for many peoples.
Cabo Verde: 350.000 Cabo Verde Creole first
language speakers (1990), Portuguese is the second language for the majority.
Guinea Bissau: 150.000 Creole first language speakers (1996)
and 600.000 second language users; 20.000 Portuguese first language speakers (1991).
Senegal and Gambia: 55.000 Ziguinchor Creole first
language speakers (1990). The Senegal dialect is a little different from that in Guinea
Bissau, with some Pidgin French vocabulary. GULF OF GUINEA.
A kind of Portuguese language (Creole), developed along the coast of Ghana (Gold Coast)
and was spoken, by native traders in their dealings with the others Europeans (Dutch,
English, Danish, Brandenburghers, French, Swedish), during the 16th -17th -18th centuries,
even several years after the Portuguese abandonment of the Gold Coast.
Till 1961, Portugal had a fort in Benin, its name is Sao Joao Baptista de Ajuda (Ouidah),
here Portuguese was used, in the past centuries, by a community of mixed Portuguese
descendants, Portuguese was also used in the Kingdom of Dahomey as language for the
external relations with the others Europeans.
In several islands of the Gulf of Guinea, the Portuguese Creole is still speak today,
these islands are: Sao Tomé and Principe islands (Sao Tomé & Principe), Annobon
island (Equatorial Guinea).
São Tomense (Forro) and Angolar (Moncò) are spoken on São Tomé Island, Principense on
Principe Island. These Creoles are quite distinct from the Creoles of Cape Verde, Guinea
Bissau, Senegal, and Gambia.
Portuguese is the official language of Sao Tomé and Principe and it's spoken as second
language by the majority of the inhabitants; in 1993, only 2.580 people used it as first
language.
In the Island of Annobon (Pagalu, Guinea Equatorial), the population speak a particular
sort of Portuguese Creole, called Annobonese or Fa d'Ambo, a rare mixture of Angolan Bantu
dialects and old Portuguese, which is similar to that of Sao Tomé.
Sao Tomé and Principe: 85.000 São Tomense first language speakers (Sao
Tomé Island), 9.000 Angolar first language speakers (Sao Tomé Island), and 4.000
Principense first language speakers (Principe Island) (1989); 2.580 Portuguese first
language speakers (1993) and a large part of the inhabitants speak Portuguese as second
language.
Guinea Equatorial: 8.950 Annobonese first language speakers
(Annobon Island) (1993) SOUTHERN AFRICA: Congo, Angola, South Africa and Mozambique.
During the 16th century, in the Kingdon of Congo, many are the peoples, in the ruling
class, that spoke Portuguese fluently, this language was also the vehicle for the spread
of the Christianity. An evidence of an European traveler in 1610, testify that, in the
Soyo, all the children learn Portuguese. There are proof of the existence, in the Congo
Kingdom, of Portuguese schools managed by the missionaries during the 17th. and 18th
centuries.
In the 16th., 17th. and 18th. centuries, the influence and the use of the Portuguese as
trading language, spread along the coast of Congo and Angola from Loango to Benguela.
In Angola, a Portuguese colony till 1975, Portuguese is the official language and it's
spoken by many people, most mestiços (in 1995 were about 1,5 % of the Angolan population
that is 170.000) speak Portuguese as household language and they tended to identify with
Portuguese culture.
In Mozambique, a Portuguese colony till 1975, Portuguese is the official language and it's
spoken by many people, principally as second language.
In South Africa, Portuguese is spoken by people of Portuguese descendents and by the
immigrants from Angola, Brazil and Mozambique (600.000).
Angola: 57.600 Portuguese first language speakers (1993) and
a large part of the inhabitants speak Portuguese as second language.
Mozambique: 30.000 Portuguese first language speakers (1993)
and 4.000.000 second language users, about 30% of the population (1991).
South Africa: various Portuguese speakers. EAST AFRICA: Kenya and Tanzania.
Portuguese was used as Lingua Franca in the 17th and 18th century, this was due to the
Portuguese domination on the East Coast of Africa till the end of the 17th. century.
Mombasa was held till 1698, and a brief re-occupation was attempted in 1728-1729. There is
the evidence narred by an English lieutenant that in 1831, a confused Portuguese was spoke
by a man in Mombasa.
The contact between the Portuguese and Africans influenced also the Swahili language,
that, today, is used along the whole East African coast.
In Swahili language there are more than 120 words of Portuguese origin.
