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[Odler]

Though Portuguese may sound like a common language to you, in reality,

it is spoken only by a chosen few.

In 1996, seven countries entered in an agreement to constitute the

Commonwealth of Portuguese-Speaking Countries: Portugal, Brazil, Cape

Verde, Sao Tome & Principe, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Angola.

Beyond this group, Portuguese is spoken by the people of Madeira and

Azores, autonomous territories owned by Portugal.

Curiously enough, Portuguese is spoken on the Chinese island of Macau.

Why? That is because the island belonged to Portugal until 1999, when

it was giving back to the People Republic of China, thereby ending

the last European colonization presence in Asia.

Today, Macau holds the same political status as Hong Kong; it is a

Chinese SAR (Special Autonomous Region), guaranteed of 50 years of

Self-rule.

East Timor, a newsmaker of late, is another curious case of Portuguese-speaking land. The territory first gained independence from Portugal in 1974; it was occupied by Indonesia in 1976. Last year, the Timorese voted to become independent again.

However, if they have a land, the Timorese have no country, no infrastructure, no institutions, nothing. The international community poured in billions of dollars and hundreds of experts to built a nation from scratch, like a ready-to-use country (just need a microwave for re-warming?).

The experts leave in a few months. They will deliver, upon signature,

the country to those for whom it was ordered. Will East Timor stay

afloat? That is the question. An interesting experience of nation building to follow?

The Portuguese language sounds like Spanish, but make no mistake, it

is different, so different that many Spanish-speaking people don't

understand it.

Fhala Portuguese?

(The Traveller, Saturday, February 9, 2002)