Portuguese (or língua portuguesa, pronounced [‘liŋua portugu’eza] is a Romance language, whose roots trace back to the Latin spoken by Romanized Celts in the regions of Galicia (Spain) and northern Portugal, over two thousand years ago. The earliest records of this form of the language date as far back as the 9th Century. Portuguese is currently ranked the sixth most spoken language in the world, with a total of 210 million native speakers. Writing system: Latin (Portuguese alphabet) Official language in: Portugal, Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe