Angolan Portuguese - History

History

Portuguese explorers started to explore Angola in the late 15th century. Portuguese, although spoken earlier, has largely entered Angola during the 19th century, after the division of Africa between the former colonial powers (Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, and Great Britain). For the Africans to be considered Portuguese, they had to be Roman Catholics and speak Portuguese. These conditions made a rush between Africans to speak proper Portuguese, thus a local variant did not arise, and a competition between the rival tribes had arisen to provide their children with the best education along with speaking the best Portuguese, which is still common today. The local languages came to be viewed as inferior by both colonizers and locals. In the late 20th century, Portuguese became an instrument for independence, as it was perfectly spoken by the African native and political elite, becoming a symbol of national identity unifying the various rival tribes for the same goal—independence. Portuguese is still seen as something that unifies Angola. The government relies on it because it is a widely spoken, unifying element, as well as being a widely spoken international language.