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Reductions were colonies settled by the Jesuits in the Tupi-Guarani areas of Brazil and Spanish America in order to civilise and cathequise the Indians. They came to be considered as virtually independent states; this, combined with their resistance to enslavement and the absolute dominion of Crown representatives led to their ultimate repression and the expulsion of Jesuits from the Portuguese Empire.
In Reductions, the Tupi-Guarani languages were spoken, leading to the Língua Geral which was a single consolidated dialect of Tupi-Guarani with Latin and Portuguese influence that was once the sole language of the Portuguese settlements outside of the centers of Crown power, and is still spoken in isolated communities in the North.
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