Editing Languages of the United States (section)

===Portuguese===
{{further|Portuguese Americans|Brazilian Americans|Cape Verdean Americans}}

The first Portuguese speakers in America were [[Portuguese Jews]] who had fled the [[Portuguese Inquisition]]. They spoke [[Judeo-Portuguese]] and founded the earliest Jewish communities in the [[Thirteen Colonies]], two of which still exist: [[Congregation Shearith Israel]] in New York and [[Congregation Mikveh Israel]] in Philadelphia. However, by the end of the 18th century, their use of Portuguese had been replaced by English.

In the late 19th century, many Portuguese, mainly [[Azorean]]s, [[Madeiran]]s and [[Cape Verdeans]] (who prior to independence in 1975 were Portuguese citizens), immigrated to the United States, settling in cities like [[Providence, Rhode Island]], [[New Bedford, Massachusetts]], and [[Santa Cruz, California]]. There was also substantial [[Portuguese immigration to Hawaii]] to supplement plantation labor.

In the mid-late 20th century there was another wave of Portuguese immigration to the US, mainly the Northeast (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts), and for a time [[History of the Lusophone Americans in Newark, New Jersey|Portuguese became a major language in Newark, New Jersey]]. Many Portuguese Americans may include descendants of Portuguese settlers born in [[Portuguese-speaking African countries|Portuguese Africa]] (known as [[Portuguese Africans]], or, in Portugal, as ''[[retornados]]'') and [[Asia]] (mostly [[Macau]]). There were around 1 million [[Portuguese American]]s in the United States by 2000. Portuguese ([[European Portuguese]]) has been spoken in the United States by small communities of immigrants, mainly in the metropolitan [[New York City]] area, like [[Newark, New Jersey]].

The Portuguese language is also spoken widely by [[Brazilian Americans]], concentrated in [[Miami]], [[New York City]], and [[Boston]].