May 5 is “World Portuguese Language Day”

May 5 is World Portuguese Language Day – a moment to reflect on just how many people share the Portuguese mother tongue. Huge swathes of the world would be forgiven for not knowing that Portuguese is actually the fourth most spoken native language on the globe. More than 260 million people over five continents speak Portuguese as their first language. According to statistics, by 2100, that number will have increased to 500 million. To be fair, no one can tell where the world will be by 2100, so, for today, we should just bask in the knowledge that even though Portugal is losing the demographic battle, its language is up there with the leaders of the world.