Several hundred years ago the Portuguese Empire stretched from South America all the way to parts of Asia. As a result many countries in the world today incorporate Portuguese into their official national language. Cape Verde, Angola, and Brazil all speak a dialect of Portuguese that is closely related to Portuguese from Portugal, even after several hundred years of separation. There even exist cities in China and India where the locals speak Portuguese because of the influence of Portuguese colonists centuries ago! Of course, the largest and most populous of these countries, and the one most frequently visited by backpackers, is Brazil. Thus, this short book on useful Portuguese phrases for backpackers will focus mainly on Brazilian Portuguese.
