Welcome to the page of the Meeting with the Portuguese Communities

Portugal has at this time a great number of its nationals or descendants spread over the four corners of the World. Although precise figures are difficult to obtain, it is estimated that approximately five million Portuguese or Portuguese descendants live outside our geographical borders.

Portugal cannot but avail itself of this enormous potential, providing a deserved visibility to these Portuguese Communities, and recruiting them to support the effort of modernizing and developing the Country, and to accentuate the role of Portuguese expatriates as veritable ambassadors of Portugal and prime sponsors of the defence and assertion of its culture beyond our borders.

A policy of assertion of Portugal in the World, in connection with its Communities, must be based upon the dissemination of our language and of our historical values, by the strengthening of civic and political participation of the Portuguese who took part in this Diaspora, by accompanying their social integration, by the valuation of their success stories in all their instances, and by the improvement in the tools of political and administrative connections with our Communities.

Portuguese descendants – significance and potential

The citizens of Portuguese origin born in other countries, usually known as Portuguese descendants, are one of the most dynamic nuclei of the Portuguese Communities abroad.

There are in these days many personages of Portuguese origin who occupy relevant positions in the political, cultural, academic, entrepreneurial and social instances, providing our Communities with an entirely different dimension, and decisively contributing to their full integration in the various social environments where they are located.

Equally, it is obvious that Portuguese foreign policy must avail itself of all the potential existing within the Portuguese descendants, as an easy and frequent support relevant to the various external promotional affairs of our Country.

Portuguese descendants must thus be considered by Portugal as being an integral part of itself, and as active and available partners, in order to strengthen our role in the international political scenery.