Polish has joined the official languages of the Municipality of Aurea in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, alongside Portuguese, the official language of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
According to Brazil’s Polish Community Association, this is an unquestionable recognition of the contribution of Polish compatriots to the social and cultural development of Brazil, especially in places with a large number of descendants of Polish emigrants.
The idea to promote the Polish language in this way was supported by the BRASPOL organization, representing the Brazilian-Polish community in Brazil, the Polish Community Association, and the Polish Linguistic Institute.
The project is currently being developed further to encompass other Brazilian municipalities, where a significant proportion of residents are descendants of Polish emigrants. According to the the project is part of a larger initiative aiming to acknowledge the Polish language as Brazil’s intangible cultural heritage, and consequently to include it on the national list of intangible cultural heritage.
This would result, in addition to formal recognition, in a legal commitment by Brazil to preserve the Polish language as a living testimony to the social and cultural development of the country.
