page_title: Community of Portuguese Language Countries
section_title: Structure
hierarchical_section_title: Community of Portuguese Language Countries / Structure
caption_attribution_description: English: Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister António Costa, in a Community of Portuguese Language Countries conference in 2016. Português: O Presidente de Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo Sousa, e o Primeiro-Ministro, António Costa, no encerramento de uma conferência da CPLP em 2016.
context_page_description: The Community of Portuguese Language Countries, also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, is an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portuguese is an official language. The CPLP operates as a privileged, multilateral forum for the mutual cooperation of the governments, economies, non-governmental organizations, and peoples of the Lusofonia. The CPLP consists of 9 member states and 19 associate observers, located in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa.
  The history of the CPLP began when it was founded in 1996, in Lisbon, by Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe, nearly two decades after the beginning of the decolonization of the Portuguese Empire. Following the independence of Timor-Leste in 2002 and the application by Equatorial Guinea in 2014, both of those countries became members of the CPLP. Macau, Galicia, and Uruguay are formally interested in full membership and another 17 countries across the world are formally interested in associate observer status.
context_section_description: The CPLP's guidelines and priorities are established by a biannual Conference of Heads of State and Government (known as the CPLP Summits) and the Organization's plan of action is approved by the Council of Foreign Ministers, which meets every year. Special summits can requested at any time by 2/3 of the member states, usually for the purpose of pressing matters or incidents at the moment. There are also monthly meetings of the Permanent Steering Committee that follow specific initiatives and projects.
  The headquarters of the CPLP is in Penafiel Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, but the organization maintains dedicated bureaus in all of the foreign ministries of the CPLP member states.
  The CPLP is financed by its member states.
caption: President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of Portugal speaking at the 11th CPLP Summit.
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