pronunciation which is further away from the pronunciation of the other islands. Other relevant phonetic features found in the Azores show phenomena that also occur in many regions where Portuguese is spoken. Some of these traits are practiced in Brazil, such as opening vowels pretonic, the fluctuation between the velar and the alveolar R, the umlaut of the base vowel of stressed diphthongs, the deletion of the final R of oxytone words Geographic variation European Portuguese is divided into Northern and Southern varieties. The prestige norms are based on two varieties: that of Coimbra and that of Lisbon. Phonetically, differences emerge within Continental Portuguese. For example, in northern Portugal, the phonemes and are less differentiated than in the rest of the Portuguese speaking world (similar to the other languages of the Iberian peninsula). Also, the original alveolar trill remains common in many northern dialects (especially in rural areas), like Transmontano, Portuense, Minhoto, and much of Beirão. Another regionalism can be found in the south and the islands with the use of the gerund in the present progressive tense rather than the infinitive. Portuguese is spoken by a significant minority in Andorra and Luxembourg. The Principality of Andorra has shown interest in membership in the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP). There are also immigrant communities in France and Germany. Galician The Galician language, spoken in the Autonomous Community of Galicia in Spain, is very closely related to Portuguese. There is, as yet, no consensus among writers and linguists on whether Galician and Portuguese are still the same language (in fact they were for many centuries, Galician-Portuguese having developed in the region of the former Roman province of Gallaecia, from the Vulgar Latin that had been introduced by Roman soldiers, colonists and magistrates during the time of the Roman Empire) or distinct yet closely related languages. Galicia has expressed interest in joining the CPLP as an associate observer pending permission from the Spanish government. Prominence The Instituto Camões is a Portuguese international institution dedicated to the worldwide promotion of the Portuguese language, Portuguese culture, and international aid, on behalf of the Government of Portugal. RTP is the Portuguese public television network and also serves as a vehicle for European-Portuguese-providing media content throughout the world. There is a branch of RTP Internacional named RTP África, which serves Lusophone Africa. In estimating the size of the speech community for European Portuguese, one must