BA in Portuguese in Iowa City United States | University of Iowa

With over 230 million speakers globally, Portuguese ranks as the world's sixth most common language. It holds the position of third most spoken language in the Western Hemisphere (following English and Spanish) and dominates as the primary language in the Southern Hemisphere. Approximately 1.3 million Portuguese speakers reside in the United States, while Brazil—where Portuguese serves as the official language—boasts the planet's fifth-largest economy.

Consequently, pursuing a Portuguese major opens doors to diverse career paths in international business, government, tourism, and media—fields where global language proficiency and cultural understanding prove invaluable. At Iowa, Portuguese studies enable students to enhance their language abilities while exploring the rich literary and cultural traditions of Portugal, Brazil, and other Lusophone nations (including Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, and East Timor).

Portuguese majors often continue their academic journey through graduate programs focusing on Luso-Brazilian literature, comparative literature, Latin American studies, or linguistics.