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A country of southwest Europe on the western Iberian Peninsula. It includes the Madeira Islands and the Azores in the northern Atlantic Ocean. Originally inhabited by the Lusitanians, a Celtiberian people, the mainland area was subjugated by the Romans in the second century B.C. and was later conquered by the Visigoths and Moors. Spain recognized Portugal as an independent kingdom in 1143, and it soon flourished as a maritime and colonial power with holdings stretching from Africa to the Far East and Brazil in the New World. Much of its empire was lost to the British and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the remaining colonies in Africa became independent in the 20th century. Lisbon is the capital and the largest city. Population: 10,500,000.
Country, on the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula, southwestern Europe. Area: 35,580 sq mi (92,152 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 10,513,000. Capital: Lisbon. Most of the people are Portuguese. Language: Portuguese (official). Religion: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic). Currency: euro. Administratively, the Atlantic islands of the Azores and Madeira are part of Portugal. Portugal is divided roughly in half by the Tagus River; the highlands rise mostly north of the Tagus and stretch northeast into Spain. Portugal has an industrialized economy in which both public and private sectors participate. Major industries were nationalized after a military coup in 1974, but many were returned to the private sector beginning in the late 1980s. Although motor vehicle manufacture is significant, light industries predominate; important products include textiles and clothing, paper and wood products, and chemicals. Portugal is a republic with a unicameral legislature; the chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. In the 1st millennium BC, Celtic peoples settled the Iberian Peninsula. They were conquered c. 140 BC by the Romans, who ruled until the 5th century AD, when the area was invaded by Germanic tribes. A Muslim invasion in 711 left only the northern part of Portugal in Christian hands. In 1179 it became the kingdom of Portugal and expanded as it reconquered the Muslim-held sectors. The boundaries of modern continental Portugal were completed under King Afonso III (reigned 1248–79). From 1580 to 1640 Portugal was united with Spain. In the 15th and 16th centuries the monarchy encouraged exploration that took Portuguese navigators to Africa, India, Indonesia, China, the Middle East, and South America. Although Portugal established several colonies, they achieved independence over the years (see Brazil; Goa; Cape Verde; East Timor; Angola; Guinea-Bissau; Mozambique; Macau). António de Oliveira Salazar ruled Portugal as a dictator from 1932 to 1968. The country's dictatorship was overthrown in the April 25, 1974, Revolution of the Carnations. A new constitution was adopted in 1976, and civilian rule resumed. Portugal was a charter member of NATO and is a member of the European Union (EU). In 1999 the government adopted the euro as the country's official monetary unit and returned Macau, its last overseas territory, to Chinese rule.
For more information on Portugal, visit Britannica.com.
Portugal (pôr'chəgəl) , officially Portuguese Republic, republic (2005 est. pop. 10,566,000), 35,553 sq mi (92,082 sq km), SW Europe, on the western side of the Iberian Peninsula and including the Madeira Islands and the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. Portugal is bordered by Spain on the east and north and by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and south. The capital and by far the largest city is Lisbon.
Land and People
The country is crossed by rivers rising in Spain and flowing to the Atlantic; among them are the Douro, the Tagus, the Sado, and the Guadiana. The river valleys support agriculture, and vineyards are maintained in the Douro and Tagus valleys. On the lower hillslopes there are olive groves; grains are grown and livestock are raised on the flatter uplands as well as on the plains near the coast.
There are great variations in terrain and climate among the historic provinces. Trás-os-Montes in the extreme northeast has a rigorous mountain climate, as have parts of Entre-Minho-e-Douro (officially Douro). Beira has the highest mountains of the country, the scenic Serra de Estrela, dotted with resorts. Estremadura, in W Portugal, has broad, alluvial plains, rising to cool and rocky uplands; along the Atlantic coast is a celebrated resort region, reaching to the town of Estoril, near Lisbon. Most of Alentejo has a Mediterranean climate; although much of its soil is poor, together with Estremadura it is the granary of Portugal. The southernmost of the old provinces, Algarve, resembles the northern shores of Africa; mountains curve across the north of the province down to Cape St. Vincent, the southwestern tip of Europe; citrus and almond groves and off-season vegetables thrive in the mild climate.
In addition to the capital, other notable cities are Oporto, Coimbra, Setúbal, Braga, Évora, and Faro. The republic, including the island groups, is divided into 18 administrative districts, although the names of the six historic provinces are still used. Under a 1987 agreement, Portugal's last overseas territory, Macao, reverted to Chinese sovereignty at the end of 1999. The majority of the Portuguese people are Roman Catholic. Portugal has several universities, including ones at Coimbra, Oporto, and Lisbon.
Economy
Portuguese agricultural techniques are less mechanized than those of most of W Europe, and less than 10% of the gross national product can be attributed to agricultural production. Wheat, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, grapes, sugar beets, and olives are the main crops; sheep, cattle, and goats are raised. The country's fishing fleets bring in vital cargoes of sardines and tuna; fishing ports extend all the way from Cape St. Vincent in the south to the mouth of the Minho River on the N Spanish border.
In addition to light industries such as food processing and textile, chemical, and paper and pulp manufacturing, Portugal has a limited variety of heavy industries. Low-grade coal, copper pyrites, iron ore, tungsten, and other minerals are mined. Most of the mines are in the northern mountains and in Beira. Portugal's forests provide a major portion of the world's supply of cork.
The country has enjoyed considerable economic progress since it became a member of the European Community (now the European Union) in 1986. Machinery and motor vehicles, textile fibers, petroleum, and cereals are major imports, and cotton textiles and wine as well as cork, other wood products, and fruit are major exports. European Union countries are the main trading partners.
Government
Portugal is governed under the constitution of 1976, which established a parliamentary republic. The constitution was amended in 1982, 1989, 1992, and 1997. The president, who is the chief of state, is elected by universal suffrage to a five-year term. Appointed by the president and supported by a majority of the assembly of the republic, the premier functions as the head of government, presiding over the council of ministers (the cabinet). In addition, a council of state acts as a consultative body to the president and consists of representatives from the political parties, a military defense board, and a constitutional tribunal. The government's legislative body consists of the 230-seat assembly of the republic, whose members are elected to four-year terms under a system of proportional representation.
History
Early History
There is little direct filiation between the Portuguese of today and the early tribes who inhabited this region, although the Portuguese long considered themselves descendants of the Lusitanians, a Celtic people who came to the area after 1,000 B.C. The Lusitanians had their stronghold in the Serra da Estrela. Under Viriatus (2d cent. B.C.) and under Sertorius (1st cent. B.C.), they stoutly resisted the Romans (see Lusitania). Other tribes, such as the Conii in Algarve, submitted more readily. Julius Caesar and Augustus completed the Roman conquest of the area, and the province of Lusitania thrived. Roman ways were adopted, and it is from Latin that the Portuguese language is derived.
At the beginning of the 5th cent. A.D., the whole Iberian Peninsula was overrun by Germanic invaders; the Visigoths eventually established their rule, but in the north the Suevi established a kingdom that endured until late in the 6th cent., when they were absorbed by the Visigoths. Present-day Algarve was part of the Byzantine Empire during the 6th and 7th cent. In 711 the Visigoths were defeated by the Moors, who conquered the whole peninsula except for Asturias and the Basque Country. Muslim culture and science had a great impact, especially in the south. Religious toleration was practiced, but a large minority converted to Islam.
Growth of the State
It was during the long period of the Christian reconquest that the Portuguese nation was created. The kings of Asturias drove the Moors out of Galicia in the 8th cent. Ferdinand I of Castile entered Beira and took the fortress of Viseu and the city of Coimbra in 1064. Alfonso VI of Castile obtained French aid in his wars against the Moors. Henry of Burgundy married an illegitimate daughter of Alfonso VI and became (1095?) count of Coimbra and later count of Portucalense. Henry's son Alfonso Henriques, wrested power (1128) from his mother and maintained the independence of his lands. After a victory over the Moors in 1139, he began to style himself Alfonso I, king of Portugal. Spain recognized Portugal's independence in 1143 and the Pope did so in 1179. Alfonso's long reign (1128–85) was an important factor in Portugal's attainment of independence.
Alfonso's successors were faced with the tasks of recapturing Alentejo and Algarve from the Moors and of rebuilding the areas devastated by the long wars. There was conflict with other Portuguese claimants and between the kings and powerful nobles, and there was continual strife between the crown and the church over land and power. Until the late 13th cent. the church was victorious, winning inviolability for ecclesiastic law as well as exemption from general taxation. Sancho I (1185–1211) captured the Moorish capital of Silves but could not hold it. Alfonso II (1211–23) summoned the first Cortes (council to advise the king). After Sancho II (1223–48) was deposed, Alfonso III (1248–79) took (1249) Algarve and thus consolidated Portugal. In Alfonso's reign the towns gained representation in the Cortes.
Years of Glory
The reconquest and resettlement aided local liberties, since forais (charters) guaranteeing municipal rights were granted in order to encourage settlement. As former serfs became settlers, serfdom declined (13th cent.), but in practice many servile obligations remained. Alfonso's son Diniz (1279–1325) attempted to improve land conditions. He also established a brilliant court and founded the university that became the Univ. of Coimbra. The reign of his son, Alfonso IV, is remembered chiefly because of the tragic romance of Inés de Castro, the mistress of Alfonso's son, Peter (later Peter I; 1357–67); to avenge her fate, Peter, on his succession, had two of her murderers executed. Ferdinand I (1367–83) indulged in long Castilian wars. Ferdinand's heiress was married to a Castilian prince, John I of Castile; after the death of Ferdinand, John claimed the throne.
The Portuguese, largely due to the efforts of Nun'Álvares Pereira, defeated the Castilians in the battle of Aljubarrota (1385) and established John I, a bastard son of Peter, as king. At this time began the long alliance of Portugal with England. John founded the Aviz dynasty and his reign (1385–1433) commenced the most glorious period of Portuguese history. Portugal entered an era of colonial and maritime expansion. The war against the Moors was extended to Africa, and Ceuta was taken. Under the aegis of Prince Henry the Navigator, Portuguese ships sailed out along the coast of Africa. The Madeira Islands and the Azores were colonized. Duarte (1433–38) failed to take Tangier, but his son Alfonso V (1438–81) succeeded (1471) in doing so.
Alfonso's attempt to gain the Castilian throne ended in defeat. Under his son John II (1481–95) voyages of exploration were resumed. Bartholomew Diaz rounded (1488) the Cape of Good Hope. By the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), Spain and Portugal divided the non-Christian world between them. During the glittering reign of Manuel I (1495–1521), Vasco da Gama sailed (1497–98) to India, Pedro Alvarez Cabral claimed (1500) Brazil, and Afonso de Albuquerque captured Goa (1510), Melaka (1511), and Hormoz (1515). The Portuguese Empire extended across the world, to Asia, Africa, and America. In 1497, as a precondition to his marriage with Ferdinand and Isabella's daughter, Manuel ordered the Jewish population to convert to Christianity or leave the country. Manuel's reign and that of John III (1521–57) marked the climax of Portuguese expansion.
Years of Decline
The slender resources of Portugal itself were steadily weakened by depletion of manpower and the neglect of domestic agriculture and industry. Government policy and popular ambition concentrated on the rapid acquisition of riches through trade with East Asia, but foreign competition and piracy steadily decreased profits from this trade. Lisbon was for a time the center of the European spice trade, but, for geographical considerations and because of limited banking and commercial facilities, the center of the trade gradually shifted to N Europe. The reign (1557–78) of Sebastian proved disastrous. His rash Moroccan campaign was a national catastrophe, and he was killed at Ksar el Kebir (1578); but the lack of certainty over his death led to a legend that he would return, and Sebastianism (a messianic faith) persisted into the 19th cent.
The Aviz dynasty, founded by John I, disappeared with the death of Henry, the cardinal-king, in 1580. Philip II of Spain, nephew of John III, validated his claims to the Portuguese throne (as Philip I) by force of arms, and the long “Spanish captivity” (1580–1640) began. Spain's wars against the English and the Dutch cut off Portuguese trade with these nations; moreover, the Dutch attacked Portugal's overseas territories in order to obtain for themselves direct access to the sources of trade. Eventually the Dutch were driven from Brazil, but most of the Asian empire was permanently lost. Portugal was never again a great power.
Absolutism and Reform
Portugal was compelled to participate in Spain's wars against the Dutch and in the Thirty Years War. Finally in 1640 the Portuguese took advantage of the preoccupation of Philip IV with a rebellion in Catalonia to revolt and throw off the Spanish yoke. John of Braganza was made king as John IV (1640–56). Portugal, however, continued to be threatened by its larger neighbor. Alfonso VI (1656–67), weak in mind and body, signed the crown away to his brother Peter II (1667–1706), who was first regent and then king. The alliance with England was revived by the Treaty of Methuen (1703), which gave mutual trade advantages to Portuguese wines and English woolens, and Portugal reluctantly entered the War of the Spanish Succession against Louis XIV. Gold from Brazil helped to recreate financial stability by 1730, but it also freed John V (1706–50) from dependence on the Cortes (last called in 1677).
Absolutism reached its height under John V and under Joseph (reigned 1750–77), when the marquês de Pombal was the de facto ruler of the land. Pombal attempted to introduce aspects of the Enlightenment in education, to achieve monarchical centralization, and to revitalize agriculture and commerce through the policies of mercantilism. His policies disturbed entrenched interests, and his new wine monopoly led to the Oporto “tippler's rebellion,” which Pombal put down harshly. He also won a long contest with the Jesuits, expelling them from the land. After the terrible earthquake of 1755, Pombal began the rebuilding of Lisbon on well-planned lines. Finances again became disorganized as Brazilian treasure dwindled.
Most of Pombal's reforms were rescinded in the reign of Maria I (1777–1816) and her husband, Peter III. Under the regency of Maria's son (later John VI; 1816–26) Portugal's alliance with Britain led to difficulties with France; in 1807 the forces of Napoleon I marched on Portugal. The royal family fled (1807) to Brazil, and Portugal was rent by the Peninsular War. The French were driven out in 1811, but John VI returned only after a liberal revolution against the regency in 1820. He accepted a liberal constitution in 1822, and forces supporting him put down an absolutist movement under his son Dom Miguel. Brazil declared its independence, with Pedro I (John's elder son) as emperor.
After John's death (1826) Pedro also became king of Portugal but abdicated in favor of his daughter, Maria II (reigned 1826–53), on condition that she accept a new charter limiting royal authority and marry Dom Miguel. Miguel instead seized the throne and defeated the liberals, but Pedro abdicated the Brazilian crown, came (1832) to Portugal and led the liberals in the Miguelist Wars. Maria was restored to the throne. Although her reign was marred by coups and dictatorship, the activities of moderates and liberals laid a groundwork for the reforms—penal laws, a civil code (1867), and commercial regulations—of the reigns of Peter V (1853–61; begun under the regency of Maria's husband Ferdinand II) and of Louis I (1861–89).
Portuguese explorations in Africa strengthened Portugal's hold on Angola and Mozambique; conflicting claims with Britain in E Africa were settled in 1891. To end the inefficiency and corruption of the late 19th-century parliamentary regime, Charles I (1889–1908) established (1906) a dictatorship under the conservative João Franco, but, in 1908, Charles and the heir apparent were assassinated. Manuel II succeeded to the throne, but in 1910 a republican revolution forced his abdication.
The Republic
The republic was established in 1910 with Teófilo Braga as president. The change of rule did not cure Portugal's chronic economic problems. Anticlerical measures aroused the hostility of the Roman Catholic Church. In World War I, Portugal was at first neutral, then joined (1916) the Allies. The economy deteriorated, and insurrections of both the right and the left made conditions worse. In 1926 a military coup overthrew the government, and General Carmona became president. António de Oliveira Salazar, the new finance minister, successfully reorganized the national accounts.
Salazar became premier in 1932; he was largely responsible for the corporative constitution of 1933, which established what was destined to become the longest dictatorship in Western European history. Portugal was neutral in World War II but allowed the Allies to establish naval and air bases. It became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949 but was not admitted to the United Nations until 1955. Under Salazar's “New State,” economic modernization lagged, with the result that Portugal fell increasingly behind the rest of Europe in the 1950s and 60s.
Portugal's colony of Goa was seized by India in 1961. In Africa, armed resistance to Portuguese rule developed in Angola, Mozambique, and Portuguese Guinea in the early 1960s. On the domestic front, the 1958 antigovernment candidate, Gen. Humbert Delgado, contested the previously phony elections and received almost a quarter of the vote; a constitutional amendment the following year changed the method of electing the president. Censorship of the press and of cultural activities grew especially severe in the mid-1960s, as student demonstrations were sternly repressed.
Portugal in the Late Twentieth Century
In 1968, Salazar suffered a stroke and was replaced by Marcello Caetano as premier. Under Caetano repression was eased somewhat and limited economic development programs were started in Portugal and in the overseas territories. The continuing armed conflicts with guerrillas in the African territories, requiring about 40% of Portugal's annual budget to be devoted to military spending, drained the country's resources. By early 1974 dissatisfaction with the seemingly endless wars in Africa, together with political suppression and economic difficulties, resulted in growing unrest within Portugal.
On Apr. 25 an organized group of officers toppled the government in the Captains' Revolution, encountering a minimum of resistance from loyal forces and enthusiastic acceptance from the people. The officers who initiated the revolution constituted the Armed Forces Movement (MFA). Gen. António de Spínola, who did not play an active role in the coup but had publicly criticized the Caetano government, was appointed head of the ruling military junta. The secret police force was abolished; all political prisoners were released; full civil liberties, including freedom of the press and of all political parties, were restored; and overtures were made to the guerrilla groups in the African territories for a peaceful settlement of the conflicts. In September, Spínola was forced to resign and the government became dominated by leftists.
In 1975, Angola, Mozambique, São Tomé and Principe, and Cape Verde were granted independence. East Timor was forcibly taken over by Indonesia and did not achieve independence until 2002. January to November of 1975 was the period of greatest leftist ascendancy domestically—most banks and industries were nationalized, a massive agrarian reform was begun in the Alentejo, and the MFA-dominated government tried to ignore the elections of Apr., 1975, which strongly favored moderate parties, and instead relied on Communist support. Leftist predominance vanished after a failed coup attempt by radical military units in November, but many features of the revolutionary period of 1974–75 were incorporated into the constitution of 1976.
From 1977 to 1980 several moderate, Socialist-dominated governments tried unsuccessfully to stabilize the country politically and economically. In 1980–82, a center-right coalition experienced a similar fate, although it did succeed in instituting a process of constitutional revision, which reduced presidential power, the right of the military to intervene in politics, and the anticapitalist biases of the 1976 constitution. From 1983 to 1985 a coalition government under Socialist leader Mário Soares began to make some headway against the chaos and poverty into which Salazar's long dictatorship, the African wars, and the 1974–75 leftist revolution had thrown Portugal.
In 1986, the centrist Social Democratic party under Aníbal Cavaço Silva won an undisputed majority in parliament, Soares was elected to the presidency, and Portugal was admitted to the European Community (now the European Union). Constitutional revision was furthered in 1989. Political stability and economic reforms created a favorable business climate, especially for renewed foreign investment, and there was strong economic growth. The Socialists returned to power as a minority government after the 1995 parliamentary elections; António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres became premier. Barred from running for a third term, Soares retired as president in 1996; he was succeeded by another Socialist, Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio. Portugal became part of the European Union's single currency plan in 1999; in October, Guterres and the Socialists were returned to power, again as a minority government. Sampaio was reelected in Jan., 2001. Social Democratic victories in the Dec., 2001, local elections led Guterres to resign as premier and party leader in 2001. Early parliamentary elections in Mar., 2002, resulted in a defeat for the Socialists, and Social Democrat José Manuel Durão Barroso became premier, heading a coalition with the smaller Popular party. Barroso resigned in July, 2004, in anticipation of his being named president of the European Commission, and Social Democrat Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes was appointed premier. Parliamentary elections in Feb., 2005, resulted in a victory for the Socialists, who won more than half the seats, and José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa became premier. In 2006 former premier Aníbal Cavaço Silva was elected president, becoming the first center-right candidate to win the office since the 1974 revolution.
Bibliography
An adequate short history of Portugal is that by H. V. Livermore (1966, repr. 1969). See also D. Stanislawski, The Individuality of Portugal (1959, repr. 1969); J. Dos Passos, The Portugal Story (1969); A. H. Marques, Daily Life in Portugal in the Late Middle Ages (tr. 1971) and History of Portugal (2 vol., 1972); C. H. Nowell, Portugal (1973); L. S. Graham and D. L. Wheeler, ed., In Search of Modern Portugal (1983); H. G. Ferreira and M. W. Marshall, Portugal's Revolution: Ten Years On (1986).
Portugal
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Dialing Code
Directory > Places > Dialing Codes - Countries Portugal
The international dialing code for Portugal is: 351
Wine Lover's Companion
Directory > Food > Wine Lover's Companion Portugal
Although Portugal may be best known internationally for its two fortified wines (port and madeira) and its rosés (such as Lancer's and Mateus), it produces a large amount of red and white table wine. In fact, it ranks as one world's top ten wine-producing nations, even though it only has a population of around 10 million. Most of Portugal's wine is consumed within its borders-it usually ranks in the world's top five for per capita consumption. As a wine-producing country, Portugal's somewhat of an enigma. In one sense it's innovative-it was the first country to implement an appellation system with its região demarcada (rd), now called denominação de origem controlada (doc). It instituted this "demarcated region" system in 1756, almost 180 years before the French adopted their appellation d'origine contrôlée system. Yet Portugal has been so steeped in tradition that, in general, its winemaking techniques are far from progressive by today's standards. Those producers who have kept up with modern methods have done so outside Portugal's appellation system. To do so, they've adopted proprietary brand names and dropped the use
of regional names. This means, of course, that there's no sense of
regional identification as there is with French and Italian wines. Neither do the Portuguese have a labeling procedure to identify their wines by grape varieties, as is popular in some countries like Australia, Chile, and the United States. Portugal began to sharpen its image only after joining the European Economic Community in 1987 (which made European countries more accessible) and realizing that their table wines have tremendous export potential. It reviewed the structure of the Região Demarcada (now DOC) system, adding a few regions to increase the number of DOCs. The areas currently entitled to DOC status are Alenquer, alentejo Arruda,bairrada Bucelas (which produces full-bodied white wines), carcavelos colares dão douro Lagoa, Lagos, lourinha madeira Obidoos, palmela port Portimão, ribatejo setúbal Tavora-Varosa, and vinho verde. Portugal has also established indicação de proveniencia regulamentada (IPR) system to denote regions that are striving to become DOCs. A third tier that addresses regional wines is the vinho regional wines like those from beiras, estremadura and ribatejano. These designations are for wines that either are made outside the DOC or IPR areas or don't satisfy the requirements for these demarcated areas. Some producers in the DOC or IPR areas think that they can produce better wines by avoiding various DOC and IPR restrictions, such as by using prohibited grape varieties. These vintners get around such confines by labeling their wines "vinho regional." A big problem for Portuguese DOC wines is the continued requirement for extensive aging, which causes some of the wines to become dull and lifeless. In addition, cooperatives, many of which often lacked the modern equipment necessary to produce fresh fruity wines, make a majority of the Portuguese wines. However, this has been changing since the 1980s, and many producers are updating their winemaking equipment and methods and are producing good high-quality wines. As Portugal continues to make improvements, its wines continue to gain acceptance, offering international markets new and interesting wines made from the many local varieties. Portuguese white wines are made from a wide variety of grapes including arinto, Assario, bical, boal, Cerceal do Douro (sercial), encruzado, fernão pires, Galego Dourado, loureiro, malvasia, Moscatel (muscat), Rabo de Ovelha, Roupeiro (also called Codega), trebbiano and verdelho. Red wines are made from Alfrocheiro Preto, Azal Tinto, Bastardo (trousseau), Borraçal, Espadeiro, negra mole (also called Tinta Negra Mole) Parreira Matias, periquita, Ramisco, tinta amarela, Tinta Bairrada (baga), Tinta Pinheira, Tinta Roriz (tempranillo), touriga francesa, touriga nacional and Trajadura.
Geography
Directory > Places > Geography Portugal
Republic in southwestern Europe, bordered by Spain to the north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and west. Its capital and largest city is Lisbon.
Portugal has been a member of NATO since 1949.
Famous for its explorers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Portugal followed such exploration closely with colonization. By the middle of the sixteenth century, Portugal controlled a vast overseas empire, including Brazil.
Portugal has been independent since the twelfth century, except for sixty years of Spanish rule in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Stats
Directory > Places > Regional Stats Portugal
Introduction
Background: Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.
Geography
Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain
Geographic coordinates: 39 30 N, 8 00 W
Map references: Europe
Area: total: 92,391 sq km
land: 91,951 sq km
water: 440 sq km
note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Indiana
Land boundaries: total: 1,214 km
border countries: Spain 1,214 km
Coastline: 1,793 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Climate: maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south
Terrain: mountainous north of the Tagus River, rolling plains in south
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Ponta do Pico (Pico or Pico Alto) on Ilha do Pico in the Azores 2,351 m
Natural resources: fish, forests (cork), iron ore, copper, zinc, tin, tungsten, silver, gold, uranium, marble, clay, gypsum, salt, arable land, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 21.75%
permanent crops: 7.81%
other: 70.44% (2001)
Irrigated land: 6,320 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: Azores subject to severe earthquakes
Environment - current issues: soil erosion; air pollution caused by industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution, especially in coastal areas
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Environmental Modification
Geography - note: Azores and Madeira Islands occupy strategic locations along western sea approaches to Strait of Gibraltar
People
Population: 10,566,212 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 16.6% (male 916,234/female 839,935)
15-64 years: 66.3% (male 3,468,844/female 3,538,779)
65 years and over: 17.1% (male 744,787/female 1,057,633) (2005 est.)
Median age: total: 38.2 years
male: 36.06 years
female: 40.33 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.39% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 10.82 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 10.43 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 3.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.09 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 5.05 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 5.53 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.55 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.53 years
male: 74.25 years
female: 81.03 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.47 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.4% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 22,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 1,000 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun: Portuguese (singular and plural)
adjective: Portuguese
Ethnic groups: homogeneous Mediterranean stock; citizens of black African descent who immigrated to mainland during decolonization number less than 100,000; since 1990 East Europeans have entered Portugal
Religions: Roman Catholic 94%, Protestant (1995)
Languages: Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official - but locally used)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 93.3%
male: 95.5%
female: 91.3% (2003 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: Portuguese Republic
conventional short form: Portugal
local long form: Republica Portuguesa
local short form: Portugal
Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Lisbon
Administrative divisions: 18 districts (distritos, singular - distrito) and 2 autonomous regions* (regioes autonomas, singular - regiao autonoma); Aveiro, Acores (Azores)*, Beja, Braga, Braganca, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Evora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisboa, Madeira*, Portalegre, Porto, Santarem, Setubal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Viseu
Independence: 1143 (Kingdom of Portugal recognized); 5 October 1910 (independent republic proclaimed)
National holiday: Portugal Day, 10 June (1580); note - also called Camoes Day, the day that revered national poet Luis de Camoes (1524-80) died
Constitution: 25 April 1976; revised many times
Legal system: civil law system; the Constitutional Tribunal reviews the constitutionality of legislation; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Jorge SAMPAIO (since 9 March 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Jose SOCRATES (since 12 March 2005)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
note: there is also a Council of State that acts as a consultative body to the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 14 January 2001 (next to be held January 2006); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president
election results: Jorge SAMPAIO reelected president; percent of vote - Jorge SAMPAIO (Socialist) 55.8%, Joaquim FERREIRA Do Amaral (Social Democrat) 34.5%, Antonio ABREU (Communist) 5.1%
Legislative branch: unicameral Assembly of the Republic or Assembleia da Republica (230 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20 February 2005 (next to be held February 2009); note - President SAMPAIO called for early elections after dissolving parliament on 10 December 2004 because he lacked confidence in the four-month center-right government
election results: percent of vote by party - PS 45.1%, PSD 28.7%, CDU 7.6%, PP 7.3%, BE 6.4%; seats by party - PS 121, PSD 75, CDU 14, PP 12, BE 8
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de Justica (judges appointed for life by the Conselho Superior da Magistratura)
Political parties and leaders: Green Ecologist Party or PEV [Heloisa APOLONIA]; Popular Party or PP [Jose Ribeiro e CASTRO]; Portuguese Communist Party or PCP [Jeronimo de SOUSA]; Portuguese Socialist Party or PS [Jose SOCRATES Carvalho Pinto de Sousa]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Luis Marques MENDES]; The Left Bloc or BE [Franciso Anacleto LOUCA]; Unitarian Democratic Coalition or UDC [Jeronimo de SOUSA]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMISET, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Pedro Manuel Dos Reis Alves CATARINO
chancery: 2125 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 328-8610
FAX: [1] (202) 462-3726
consulate(s) general: Boston, New York, Newark (New Jersey), and San Francisco
consulate(s): New Bedford (Massachusetts), Providence (Rhode Island)
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Adrienne S. O'NEAL
embassy: Avenida das Forcas Armadas, 1600-081 Lisbon
mailing address: Apartado 4258, 1507 Lisboa Codex; PSC 83, APO AE 09726
telephone: [351] (21) 727-3300
FAX: [351] (21) 726-9109
consulate(s): Ponta Delgada (Azores)
Flag description: two vertical bands of green (hoist side, two-fifths) and red (three-fifths) with the Portuguese coat of arms centered on the dividing line
Economy
Economy - overview: Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community in 1986. Over the past decade, successive governments have privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy, including the financial and telecommunications sectors. The country qualified for the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and began circulating the euro on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other EU member economies. Economic growth had been above the EU average for much of the past decade, but fell back in 2001-04. GDP per capita stands at two-thirds that of the Big Four EU economies. A poor educational system, in particular, has been an obstacle to greater productivity and growth. Portugal has been increasingly overshadowed by lower-cost producers in Central Europe and Asia as a target for foreign direct investment. The government faces tough choices in its attempts to boost Portugal's economic competitiveness while keeping the budget deficit within the eurozone's 3%-of-GDP ceiling.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $188.7 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 1.1% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $17,900 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 5.9%
industry: 30.2%
services: 63.9% (2004 est.)
Labor force: 5.48 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 10%, industry 30%, services 60% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate: 6.5% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 28.4% (1995 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 35.6 (1994-95)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.1% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 22.3% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues: $74.38 billion
expenditures: $79.86 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Public debt: 61.5% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: grain, potatoes, olives, grapes; sheep, cattle, goats, poultry, beef, dairy products
Industries: textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper, and cork; metals and metalworking; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; rubber and plastic products; ceramics; electronics and communications equipment; rail transportation equipment; aerospace equipment; ship construction and refurbishment; wine; tourism
Industrial production growth rate: 1.1% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 43.28 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - consumption: 42.15 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 3.4 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 5.3 billion kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 339,800 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: 28,830 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: 357,300 bbl/day (2001)
Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 2.542 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 2.553 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Current account balance: $-8.12 billion (2004 est.)
Exports: $37.68 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: clothing and footwear, machinery, chemicals, cork and paper products, hides
Exports - partners: Spain 24.8%, France 14%, Germany 13.5%, UK 9.6%, US 6%, Italy 4.3%, Belgium 4.1% (2004)
Imports: $52.1 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum, textiles, agricultural products
Imports - partners: Spain 29.3%, Germany 14.4%, France 9.7%, Italy 6.1%, Netherlands 4.6%, UK 4.5% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $12.3 billion (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $274.7 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $271 million (1995)
Currency (code): euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries
Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 4,278,800 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 9,341,400 (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment: Portugal's telephone system has achieved a state-of-the-art network with broadband, high-speed capabilities and a main line telephone density of 53%
domestic: integrated network of coaxial cables, open-wire, microwave radio relay, and domestic satellite earth stations
international: country code - 351; 6 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to Azores; note - an earth station for Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region) is planned
Radio broadcast stations: AM 47, FM 172 (many are repeaters), shortwave 2 (1998)
Television broadcast stations: 62 (plus 166 repeaters)
note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands (1995)
Internet country code: .pt
Internet hosts: 346,078 (2004)
Internet users: 3.6 million (2002)
Transportation
Railways: total: 2,850 km
broad gauge: 2,576 km 1.668-m gauge (623 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 274 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)
Highways: total: 17,135 km
paved: 14,736 km (including 1,659 km of expressways)
unpaved: 2,399 km (2002)
Waterways: 210 km (on Douro River from Porto) (2003)
Pipelines: gas 1,099 km; oil 8 km; refined products 174 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Aveiro, Funchal (Madeira Islands), Horta (Azores), Leixoes, Lisbon, Porto, Ponta Delgada (Azores), Praia da Vitoria (Azores), Setubal, Viana do Castelo
Merchant marine: total: 114 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 872,557 GRT/1,236,025 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 10, cargo 38, chemical tanker 14, container 7, liquefied gas 9, passenger 8, passenger/cargo 7, petroleum tanker 9, roll on/roll off 4, vehicle carrier 8
foreign-owned: 97 (Australia 1, Belgium 6, Denmark 5, Germany 18, Greece 4, Iceland 1, Italy 11, Japan 8, Lebanon 1, Malta 1, Norway 4, Spain 19, Switzerland 4)
registered in other countries: 28 (2005)
Airports: 65 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 42
over 3,047 m: 5
2,438 to 3,047 m: 9
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 15
under 914 m: 10 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 23
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 22 (2004 est.)
Military
Military branches: Army, Navy (Marinha Portuguesa; includes Marine Corps), Air Force (Forca Aerea Portuguesa, FAP), National Republican Guard (Guarda Nacional Republicana) (2005)
Military manpower - military age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; compulsory military service was ended in 2004 (January 2005)
Military manpower - availability: males age 18-49: 2,435,042 (2005 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 18-49: 1,952,819 (2005 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 67,189 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $3,497.8 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.3% (2003)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: none
Illicit drugs: gateway country for Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market (especially from Brazil); transshipment point for hashish from North Africa to Europe; consumer of Southwest Asian heroin
National Anthems
Directory > Government > National Anthems National Anthem of: Portugal
Heróis do mar, nobre povo,
Nação valente, imortal
Levantai hoje de novo,
O esplendor de Portugal
Entre as brumas da memória,
Ó pátria sente-se a voz
Dos teus egrégios avós
Que há-de guiar-te à vitória.
Às armas! Às armas!
Sobre a terra e sobre o mar!
Às armas! Às armas!
Pela Pátria lutar!
Contra os canhões marchar, marchar!
Desfralda a invicta bandeira
À luz viva do teu céu
Brade a Europa à terra inteira
Portugal não pereceu!
Beija o solo teu jucundo
O oceano a rujir d'amor
E o teu braço vencedor
Deu mundos novos ao Mundo!
[coro]
Saudai o sol que desponta
Sobre um ridente porvir;
Seja o eco d'uma afronta
O sinal de ressurgir.
Raios d'essa aurora forte
São como beijos de mae
Que nos guardam, nos sustêm,
Contra as injúrias da sorte.
Portugal has one meaning:
Meaning #1: a republic in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula; Portuguese explorers and colonists in the 15th and 16th centuries created a vast overseas empire (including Brazil)
Synonym: Portuguese Republic
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Wikipedia
Directory > Reference > Wikipedia Portugal
República Portuguesa
Portuguese Republic
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: none
Anthem: A Portuguesa
Capital Lisbon (Lisboa)
38°42′N 9°11′W
Largest city Lisbon
Official language(s) Portuguese1
Government Parliamentary democracy
- President Aníbal Cavaco Silva
- Prime Minister José Sócrates
Formation 868
- Independence June 24, 1128
- Recognized October 5, 1143
Accession to EU January 1, 1986
Area
- Total 92,391 km² (110th)
35,672 sq mi
- Water (%) 0.5%
Population
- July 2006 est. 10,605,870 (75th)
- 2001 census 10,148,259
- Density 114/km² (87th)
295/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate
- Total $203.4 billion (41st)
- Per capita $19,335 (37th)
HDI (2003) 0.904 (27th) – high
Currency Euro (€)2 (EUR)
Time zone WET3 (UTC)
- Summer (DST) EST (UTC+1)
Internet TLD .pt
Calling code +351
1Mirandese language is co-official inside its strict regional areas of influence (Law N.º 7/99 of January 29th).
2Prior to 1999: Portuguese escudo
3Azores: UTC-1; UTC in summer
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (in Portuguese, República Portuguesa; pron. IPA [ʁɛ'puβlikɐ puɾtu'ɣezɐ]) is located in southwestern Europe, west parts of the Iberian Peninsula, and is the westernmost country in continental Europe. Portugal is bordered by Spain to the north and east and by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south. In addition, Portugal includes two archipelagos in the Atlantic, Azores (Açores) and Madeira Islands.
Portugal has witnessed a constant flow of different civilizations during the past 3,100 years. Iberian, Tartessian, Celtic, Phoenician and Carthaginian, Greek, Roman, Germanic (Suevi and Visigoth), Semitic (Arabic, Jewish, etc.), Moorish and other cultures have all made an imprint on the country's culture, history, language and ethnic make up. The naming of Portugal itself reveals most of the country's early history, stemming from the Roman name Portus Cale, possibly a Latin name mixed with other influences, meaning "Beautiful Port". During the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal was the major economic, political, and cultural power, its empire stretching from Brazil to the Indies.
History
Main article: History of Portugal
Lusitania
Main article: Lusitanians
In the early first millennium BC, several waves of Celts invaded Portugal from Central Europe and intermarried with local peoples, the Iberians, forming the Celt-Iberians. Early Greek explorers named the region "Ophiussa" (Greek for "land of serpents") because the natives worshipped serpents. In 238 BC, the Carthaginians occupied the Mediterranean coasts of the Peninsula. At this time several small tribes occupied the territory, of which the most important ones were the Lusitanians, who lived between the Douro and Tagus rivers, and the Callaeci who lived north of the Douro river. The Cynetes or Conii, influenced by Tartessos, were long established in Algarve. The Celtici, a later wave of Celts, settled in Alentejo.
In 219 BC, the first Roman troops invaded the Iberian Peninsula, driving the Carthaginians out during the Punic Wars. The Roman conquest of Portugal started from the south, where they found friendly natives, the Conii. Over decades, the Romans increased their sphere of control. But in 194 BC a rebellion began in the north, and the Lusitanians successfully held off the Romans, taking back land and ransacking Conistorgis, the Conii capital, because of their alliance with Rome. Viriathus, born in Lorica, todays Loriga, in Portugal, was the Lusitanian leader. Viriathus waged a successful, protracted war against Rome, which prevailed only by bribing Lusitanian officials to kill their own leader. After the conquest, the process of Romanization began.
The kingdom
Main articles: The Establishment of the Monarchy in Portugal and The Consolidation of the Monarchy in Portugal
The 10th-century Castle of Guimarães, a national symbol, is known as the "Cradle of Portugal". The Battle of São Mamede took place nearby in 1128.In the 5th century, Germanic tribes, most notably the Suevi and the Visigoths, invaded the Iberian peninsula, set up kingdoms, and became assimilated in the Roman culture of the peninsula.
An Islamic invasion took place in 711. Many of the ousted nobles took refuge in the unconquered north Asturian highlands. From there they aimed to reconquer their lands from the Moors. In 868, Count Vímara Peres reconquered and governed the region between the Minho and Douro rivers. The county became known as Portucale (i.e. Portugal), due to its most important city, Portucale (today's Oporto) and founded a town with his name - Vimaranes (today's Guimarães) where he chose to live.
While a dependency of the Kingdom of León, Portugal occasionally gained de facto independence during weaker Leonese government, but it lost its autonomy in 1071 due to one of these attempts, ending the rule of the counts of the House of Vímara Peres. Twenty years later, Count Henry from Burgundy was appointed Count of Portugal as a reward for military services to Alfonso VI of León, and given the task of expanding the territory southwards. The County's territory corresponded to what is now northern Portugal, with its capital in Guimarães.
Henry died in 1112 and his wife, Theresa took control of the county. The city of Braga, one of the most important Catholic centres of the Iberian Peninsula, faced new competition from other regions. The lords of the cities of Coimbra and Porto, along with the clergy of Braga, demanded the independence of the county.
The first Portuguese flag, of D. Afonso HenriquesPortugal traces its emergence as a nation to 24 June 1128, by the hand of Afonso Henriques, son of Henry and Theresa, who emerged victorious from the Battle of São Mamede against his mother's retainers. On 5 October 1143 Alfonso VII, king of León and Castile, recognized Afonso as king of Portugal. Only in 1179 would Pope Alexander III formally award Afonso I the Holy See's recognition, through the Manifestis Probatum bull. Afonso and his immediate successors (Sancho I, Afonso II, Sancho II and Afonso III), aided by several military monastic Orders, such as the Knights Templar, the Order of Santiago and the Knights Hospitaller, pushed southward to wrest more land from the Moors. In 1249 the Portuguese Reconquista ended when it reached the southern coast of the Algarve.
In an era of several wars when Portugal and Castile tried to control one another, King Ferdinand I died with no male heirs. His only child, Beatrice, had married King John I of Castile who would therefore be the King of Portugal after Ferdinand's death. However, the prospect of losing independence to Castile was not acceptable to the majority of the Portuguese, which led to the 1383-1385 Crisis. A faction of petty noblemen and common folk, led by John of Aviz (later John I), with the help of Nuno Álvares Pereira, defeated the Castilians and their Portuguese supporters at Aljubarrota, the most celebrated battle of Portuguese history, on 14 August 1385. John of Aviz, who had been made king at the Coimbra Cortes in April 1385, continued the war, intermittently, until the final peace treaty of Medina del Campo (1431).
In 1386 Portugal had made alliance with England through the Treaty of Windsor 1386, which included the marriage of King John I with Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt. This alliance, which still stands to this day, is probably the longest in History.
The Portuguese discoveries
Main articles: Portugal in the Age of Discovery and Portuguese Empire
"Padrão dos Descobrimentos", Sculpture on the Discoveries Age and Portuguese Navigators in Lisbon, PortugalIn the following decades, conditions arose that would make Portugal spearhead the exploration of the world. The Portuguese bourgeoisie, who had supported and helped the victorious King, had quickly risen up through the social ranks of Portugal, creating a new, dynamic generation which allowed the discoveries to proceed. On 25 July 1415, the Portuguese Empire began when a Portuguese fleet led by King John I departed to besiege and conquer Ceuta in North Africa, a rich Islamic trade centre. On 21 August the city fell.
In 1418 two captains of Prince Henry the Navigator were driven by a storm to an island which they called Porto Santo, or Holy Port, thankful that they had been spared from shipwreck. Also in the early 15th century, Madeira Island and the Azorean islands were discovered. Henry the Navigator's interest in exploration, along with some technological developments in navigation, made Portugal's expansion possible and led to great advances in geographic knowledge.
In 1434, Gil Eanes sailed past Cape Bojador, south of Morocco. The trip marked the beginning of the Portuguese exploration of Africa. At the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th centuries, those who tried to venture there became lost, giving birth to legends of sea monsters. Fourteen years later, on a small island known as Arguim, off the coast of Mauritania a castle was built, functioning as a trading outpost for commerce with inland Africa. Some time later, using caravels, a kind of ship the Portuguese invented to help with the explorations, the Gulf of Guinea was explored, leading to the discovery of several uninhabited islands. The Congo River was reached during one such foray.
After the Portuguese reached India, in 1498, they made many discoveries, leading to economic prosperity. However, the Portuguese population in the entire kingdom numbered only about one million. Hence, new territory was being both charted and acquired, but there were not enough people to settle the colonies. So, to protect them and the trade routes, Portugal kept a high level of secrecy. This policy has proven frustrating for historians, as some areas may have been discovered before the commonly held dates. It has even been alleged that the Portuguese may have known of the Americas before the voyage of Columbus. Some experts claim that Colombus was in fact Portuguese, while others forward the hypothesis that he was not only Portuguese but a "double agent" trying to keep the Spanish out of the Indian trade routes.
A remarkable achievement was the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope by Bartolomeu Dias in 1487. By then the spices of India were nearby, hence the name of the cape. In the last decade of the 15th century, Pêro de Barcelos and João Fernandes Lavrador explored North America , Pêro da Covilhã reached Ethiopia, searching for the mythical kingdom of Prester John, and Vasco da Gama reached India in 1498. In 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral landed on the Brazilian coast. Ten years later, Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Goa, in India, Ormuz in the Persian Straight, and Malacca in modern day Malaysia as to ensure Portuguese dominion of the commerce in the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese kings eventually adopted the title of Rei de Portugal e dos Algarves d'Aquém e d'Além-mar em África, Senhor da Guiné, e da Conquista, Navegação e Comércio da Etiópia, Arábia, Pérsia e Índia - King of Portugal and of the Algarves, on this side and overseas in Africa, Lord of Guinea, and of the Conquest, Navigation and Commerce of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and of India.
In 1578, the young King Sebastian decided to enlarge Portuguese possessions in northern Africa and, despite having no son and heir to the throne, decided to go into battle personally, where he is said to have been slain. Because Philip II of Spain was the son of a Portuguese princess, he became Philip I of Portugal in 1580. Portugal formally maintained its independent law, currency, colonies, and government, under a personal union between Portugal and Spain. New empires had emerged and started to harass the Portuguese Empire. The third Habsburg king, Philip III tried to further enforce integration, openly attacking the Portuguese nobility that was not in his favour. In 1 December 1640, the Duke of Bragança, of the Portuguese Royal Family, John IV, was hailed as king after a rebellious uprising backed by disgruntled Portuguese nobles, and a Restoration War was fought for 28 years in Europe, Brazil and Africa.
Bragança Dynasty
Main articles: Portugal from the Restoration to the 1755 Earthquake, Portugal from the Napoleonic Invasions to the Civil War, and Portugal in the 19th Century
Pena Palace in Sintra, over big mountain-top rocks, it is a mixture of the neo-gothic, neo-manueline, neo-islamic, and neo-renaissance styles. (courtesy IPPAR)The 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than a third of capital's population and devastated the Algarve as well, had a profound effect on domestic politics and on European philosophical thought. In 1807, the Portuguese Court fled to Brazil, while the country was occupied during the Napoleonic Wars. Shortly after, Brazil proclaimed its independence, under the rule of the Portuguese King Pedro IV (Emperor Pedro I of Brazil), who abdicated from the Portuguese Crown and left his daughter D. Maria II as Queen in a liberal regime.
The Portuguese 19th Century is marked by Liberalism. The divisions between king Pedro IV - liberal - and his brother, King Miguel, a conservative who overthrew Queen Maria II, led to the civil war between 1832 and 1834 and the signing of the new constitution in 1838. The political and social evolution of the late 19th century was marked by instability.
The republics
Main articles: Portuguese First Republic, Estado Novo (Portugal), and History of Portugal#The Third Republic
In 1910 a republican revolution deposed the Portuguese monarchy, starting the First Republic. Political chaos, strikes, a deteriorated relationship with the Catholic Church, and considerable economic problems aggravated by a disastrous military intervention in the First World War led to a military coup d'état on May 28 of 1926, later, the military administration gave way to the New State in 1933, led by António de Oliveira Salazar. This New State was a right-wing, Catholic dictatorship. The regime dominated the country during the following decades, helped by a strong political police, the PIDE. In the early 1960s, independence movements became active in the colonies of Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea, starting the colonial wars.
The burden of the many colonial overseas wars and the lack of political and civil liberties led to the end of the regime after the Carnation Revolution in April 25 of 1974, a bloodless left-wing military coup that instated a democratic regime. In 1975, Portugal had its first free elections since 1926 and granted independence to its colonies in Africa. During the post-revolutionary period, the left-wing promoted several changes, such as the nationalisation of the key sectors of the economy and the creation of a social welfare network. In 1976, a democratic Constitution, still in force today, was approved.
Immediately after the revolution, membership in the EEC became an objective of the new government. This was achieved in 1986; since then Portugal has been engaged in a process of economic convergence. However, the country remains one of the least developed in the EU.
In 1999 the Asian dependency of Macau was returned to Chinese sovereignty, a process considered a success by China and Portugal, signalling the end of the Portuguese colonial rule.
Government and politics
More information on politics and government of Portugal can be found at the Politics and government of Portugal series.
Portugal is a democratic republic. The four main organs of Portuguese politics are the President of the Republic, the Assembly of the Republic, the Government, and the Courts. The Constitution grants the complete separation between these powers.
The President of the Republic, elected to a 5-year term by universal suffrage is also commander in chief of the armed forces. Presidential powers include appointing the Prime Minister, as advised by the Parliament which elects the Prime Minister, and the Council of Ministers, named by the Prime Minister. Some other major powers include dismissing the Government, dissolving the Parliament, and declaring war or peace. These have several constitutional restrictions, namely the need to consult the presidential advisory body. This is the Council of State, composed of six senior civilian officers, all former presidents elected since 1976, and ten citizens, five chosen by the President and the other five by the Parliament. The most commonly used power is that of approving or vetoing any legislation.
The Parliament, or Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República in Portuguese) is a unicameral body composed of 230 deputies. It is elected by universal suffrage, and the seats are allocated using the d'Hondt method in 22 constituencies that elect a number of deputies proportional to the respective population, 18 for each District, 1 for Madeira, 1 for Azores and 2 for the diaspora, on Europe and outside Europe. Deputies serve terms of office of 4 years.
The Assembly of the Republic, along with the government, holds the legislative power and the government support lies upon it. The General Budget and the Programme of the Government must be approved by a majority of the deputies, otherwise the government falls. The Assembly may also let the government fall by approving a motion of no confidence. The President of Parliament substitutes for the President of the Republic in the event of his absence.
The Government is headed by the Prime Minister, who names the Council of Ministers.
The Courts have several categories, including judicial, administrative and fiscal. The national Supreme Court is the court of last appeal. A nine-member Constitutional Court reviews the constitutionality of legislation.
The national and regional governments are dominated by two political parties, the PS, a Social Democratic party, that resembles the British Labour or the German SPD, and the PSD, a conservative party, member of the European People's Party, both with similar base politics: pro-European, and focusing on market economy. Other parties with seats in the parliament are the Portuguese Communist Party, the People's Party, the Leftwing Bloc and the Green Party. The Communists and the Greens are in coalition as the Unitarian Democratic Coalition. As of 2005, José Sócrates is the prime minister for the Socialists, and the party also has an absolute majority in the parliament with 121 MPs, the Social Democratic Party holds 75 MPs, the Communist Party 12 MPs, the People's Party 12 MPs, the Leftwing Bloc 8 MPs and the Green party 2 MPs.
Portuguese public opinion and media tend to be Europhile. In the EuroBarometer's 2004 Spring survey, 60% of the Portuguese said they trusted the European Union.
Abortion law is restrictive, allowing for legal abortion under some circumstances, such as rape or a life-threatening situation for the mother or the fetus. In a referendum held in 1998 proposing almost free abortion until 12 weeks of gestation, the results were 51% against, 49% in favour. However, the turnout of this election was a scant 31% of the population. A new referendum is promised to be held soon. In July 2006, four women were condemned to six month in jail under the abortion law. Possessing small doses of drugs for personal use is not a crime in Portugal, but it can be seen as a cause for civil disorder. Handing out or producing drugs is considered a crime. Gay rights are also upcoming as the sexual orientation is now protected by the Portuguese Constitution following EU's directives, and gay couples can form civil unions.
Foreign relations and military
Main articles: Foreign relations of Portugal and Military of Portugal
Foreign relations are essential to Portugal. The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, an alliance dating from 1373, has been retained throughout its history, making it the oldest alliance still in force in the world. This English–Portuguese alliance was renewed in 1386 with the Treaty of Windsor. The treaty established a pact of mutual support between the countries. This alliance was used in the successive expulsion of the Spanish kings and broke England's isolation from continental Europe during Napoleon's era. The alliance is kept through NATO, a military organization in which both countries are founders along with 10 other countries including the United States of America. Beyond the EU, the country has established a community with its former colonies, the CPLP, and today has very close and prosperous relations with all of them, including close relations with Cape Verde and East Timor. It has a friendship alliance and a dual citizenship treaty with Brazil. The new government has also prioritized relations with neighbouring Spain. It also has very good relations with China, due to Macau, a meeting-point of both nations, and century-old diplomatic ties with Morocco.
Portugal considers Olivença (Olivenza in Spanish, administrated by Spain) Portuguese territory de jure, based on agreements of both nations in the Vienna Treaty of 1815 , but there are not strong diplomatic actions to take it back. Yet, this issue has been discussed at the Portuguese Parliament as recently as 2004.
The Portuguese Armed Forces are divided into three branches: Army, Navy, and Air Force. In the 20th century, Portugal engaged in two major military interventions, namely the 1st World War and the colonial wars between 1961 and 1974. This colonial war was harsh and led to even more dislike of the Estado Novo, in fact, the discontent with this war can be traced as one of the major causes of the regime´s fall in 1974 with the Carnation Revolution, initiated by the military. Portugal has participated in several peacekeeping missions abroad, namely in East Timor, Bosnia, and Kosovo. During the Durão Barroso government the Armed Forces were fully professionalized and obligatory military service was abolished in 2003. There were and still are small elite units of Portuguese armed forces involved in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts. Involvement in the war in Iraq is not seen positively by many Portuguese.
Administrative divisions
Main article: Political divisions of Portugal
Map showing mainland Portugal and the two autonomous regions (NUTS I) and the seven regions of Portugal (NUTS II)
Map of the Portuguese islandsPortugal has an administrative structure based on 308 municipalities (concelho - singular, concelhos - plural), which are subdivided into more than 4,000 parishes (freguesias, singular - freguesia). Municipalities are grouped for administrative purposes into superior units, the most significant being the classification since 1976, into either mainland (Portugal continental) or insular (Portugal insular) territory. The later enjoy a specific administrative and fiscal framework as Autonomous Regions (regiões autónomas, singular - região autónoma), the Azores and Madeira Islands.
There are five regions (regiões, singular - região) in mainland Portugal, and 28 subregions (subregiões, singular - subregião). These are the modern official territorial units in accordance with the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), in use today by the Instituto Nacional de Estatística and Eurostat, and officially recognised by the European Union. The regions are:
Alentejo
Algarve
Centro
Lisboa, Region
Norte
The districts (distritos, singular - distrito), are obsolescent administrative subdivisions that however remain in use for very many purposes, from electoral circles to public education and health care, welfare and even league sports.
A referendum held in 1997 to institute higher-level regional administrative units failed to achieve the needed majority. Notwithstanding, larger territorial units have been created by the initiative of groups of municipalities to answer the need for supra-municipal coordination especially in heavily urbanised areas.
There are three types of Urban areas:
Grandes Áreas Metropolitanas - Greater Metropolitan Areas (more than 350,000 inhabitants)
Lisbon - 2,547,665
Porto - 1,509,958
Braga, Minho - 754,830
Aveiro - 460,157
Coimbra - 430,845
Faro, Algarve - 391,819
Viseu - 354,162
Comunidades Urbanas - Urban Communities (more than 150,000 inhabitants)
Oeste, Vale do Sousa, Leiria, Lezíria do Tejo, Baixo Alentejo, Trás-os-Montes, Centro Alentejo, Baixo Tâmega, Douro, Médio Tejo, Beiras, Beira Interior Sul, and Alto Alentejo;
Comunidades Intermunicipais - Intermunicipal Communities (less than 150,000 inhabitants)
Pinhal and Vale do Minho.
Ad hoc geographic amalgamations also exist to answer the needs of specific economic sectors (e.g. tourist regions) or branches of the state (e.g. judicial areas), while historical or cultural subdivisions continue to be informally referenced such as the provinces (províncias, singular - província): Alentejo, Algarve, Beira, Douro Litoral, Estremadura, Minho, Ribatejo, and Trás-os-Montes.
Geography and climate
Main article: Geography of Portugal
Continental Portugal is split in two by its main river, the Tagus (Tejo). Northern landscape is mountainous in the interior areas with plateaus, cut by four breaking lines that allow the development of relevant agricultural areas. The South area between the Tejo and the Algarve (the Alentejo) features mostly rolling plains with a climate somewhat warmer and drier than the cooler and rainier north. The Algarve, separated from the Alentejo by mountains, enjoys a Mediterranean climate comparable with Morocco or Southern Spain, and is the southwesternmost tip of Europe (Sagres). Other major rivers include the Douro, the Minho and the Guadiana, similar to the Tagus in that all originate in Spain. Another important river, the Mondego, originates in the Serra da Estrela (the highest mountains in mainland Portugal - 1,993 m / 6,532 ft).
Mount Pico in Pico Island as viewed from Faial IslandThe islands of the Azores and Madeira are located in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Some of these islands have had recent volcanic activity. Originally two islands, São Miguel Island was joined by a volcanic eruption in 1563. The last volcano to erupt was the Vulcão dos Capelinhos (Capelinhos Volcano) in 1957, in the Western part of Faial Island, increasing the size of that island. Dom João de Castro Bank is a large submarine volcano that lies midway between the islands of Terceira and São Miguel and rises to 14 metres (46 ft) under the sea surface. It last erupted in 1720 and formed an island that remained over the water for several years. A new island may be formed in a not so distant future. Portugal's highest point is Mount Pico in Pico Island, an ancient volcano, at 2,351 metres (7,713 ft).
The Portuguese coast is extensive, it has 943 kilometres (586 mi) for continental Portugal, 667 kilometres (414 mi) for the Azores, 250 kilometres (155 mi) for Madeira and the Savage Islands . The coast has fine beaches, the Algarve ones being world famous. In Porto Santo Island, a dune formation appeals to many tourists. An important feature on its coast is the Ria de Aveiro (near Aveiro), a delta 45 kilometres (28 mi) in length and a maximum of 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) in width, rich in fish and sea birds. There are four main channels, between them several islands and islets, and it is where four rivers meet the ocean. A sort of narrow headlands formed a lagoon, seen as one of the most remarkable hydrographic features of the Portuguese coast. Portugal possesses one of the largest exclusive economic zones (EEZ) in Europe, covering 1,727,408 square kilometres (666,956 sq mi).
Portugal is one of the warmest European countries. In mainland Portugal, yearly temperature averages are about 15ºC (55°F) in the north and 18ºC (64°F) in the south. Madeira and Azores have a narrower temperature range as expected given their insularity, with the former having low precipitation in most of the archipelago and the latter being wet and rainy. Spring and Summer months are usually sunny and temperature maximum are very high during July and August, with maximums averaging between 35°C and 40°C (86°F - 95°F) in the interior of the country, 30ºC and 35ºC in the north, and occasionally reaching 45°C (113°F) in the south. Autumn and Winter are typically rainy and windy, yet sunny days are not rare either. Temperatures rarely fall below 5°C (41°F) nearer to the sea, averaging 10°C (50°F), but can reach several degrees below 0°C (32°F) further inland. Snow is common in the mountainous areas of the north, especially in Serra da Estrela. Portugal's climate can be classified as Mediterranean (particularly the Algarve and Alentejo, though technically on Atlantic shore).
Flora and fauna
Main article: Conservation areas of Portugal
Typical landscape of AlentejoHuman activity, diversity of climate, and geographical diversity have shaped the Portuguese flora. There are almost 2,800 autochthonous species. For economic reasons, pine trees (especially the Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea species), the chestnut tree and the eucalyptus are very widespread.
The Peneda-Gerês National Park (mostly known as Gerês) is located in the extreme north-west of Portugal. The park has a wide variety of oaken and mixed forests, groves, peat bogs, and diverse bushes, including autochthonous and rare species. It is one of the last Iberian harbours of wolves, garranos, golden eagles, vultures and honey buzzards amongst many others. The iberian lynx, a once-common indigenous species, is almost extinct in Portuguese terrority, and only few survive in Spain. Boars are common in Alentejo and Trás-os-Montes. The Natural parks of Serra da Estrela, with its broad valleys and turf soils, and the Arrábida, with its Mediterranean character and the sand varieties of its beaches, unveil the ecological variety of Portugal.
The Serra da Estrela mountain range is situated in central-east Portugal and a large part of the mountain lies within the limits of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park. The Park covers around 100,000 ha and is administered by six municipalities: Seia, Gouveia, Celorico da Beira, Guarda, Manteigas and Covilhã. These are included in two districts: in the north the Guarda district and in the south the Castelo Branco district.
The Tapada Nacional de Mafra is conspicuous, due to its rich flora and fauna. The Tapada was created in the reign of King John V for royal delight, in an area of 8 square kilometres with deer, wild boars, foxes, birds of prey and several other species. Today, the Tapada is classified as an area of national hunting (Zona de Caça Nacional).
A large part of Portugal is covered by forest. In the last years, during the hot and dry Summer months, large areas of forest were destroyed by fires, many of which (an estimated 40% in 2004) caused by arson. In 2005 this problem was aggravated by a severe drought affecting Mainland Portugal. In the year to September 2005, three quarters of Mainland Portugal saw less than half the normal rainfall, and the remaining quarter less than 60%.
Mixing of cold and warm ocean streams has attracted a wide variety of fish, also allowing development of a great number of seaweeds. These were a focus of famous research by French phycologist Françoise Ardré.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Portugal
Since 1985, the country started its modernization in a very stable environment (1985 - to the present day) and it joined the European Economic Community in 1986. Successive governments have implemented various reforms and privatised many state-controlled firms and liberalised key areas of the economy, including the financial and telecommunications sectors. Portugal developed an increasingly service-based economy and it was one of the eleven founding countries of the € in 1999 and began circulating the new currency on January 1, 2002 along with eleven other EU members.
Modern Parque das Nações, where Expo'98 took place.The major industries are the textile, footwear, leather, furniture, ceramics, and cork. Modern industries have developed significantly, including: oil refineries, petrochemistry, cement production, automotive and ship industries, electrical and electronics industries, machinery and paper industries. Portugal has an ambitious and well-planned complex of petrochemical industries in Sines where the biggest oil refinery of the Iberian peninsula will be built. Automotive and other mechanical industries are located in Setúbal, Porto, Aveiro, Braga, and Santarém.
A considerable part of continental Portugal is dedicated to agriculture, although it does not represent most of the economy. The south has developed an extensive monoculture of cereals and olive trees and the Douro Valley in vineyards. Olive trees (4,000 km²; 1,545 sq mi), vineyards (3,750 km²; 1,450 sq mi), wheat (3,000 km²; 1,160 sq mi) and maize (2,680 km²; 1,035 sq mi) are produced in vast areas. Portuguese wine and olive oil are especially praised by nationals for their quality, thus external competition (even at much lower prices) has had little effect on consumer demand. Portugal is a traditional wine grower, and has exported its wines since the dawn of western civilization; Port Wine and Green Wine are the leading exporters. Portugal is also a quality producer of fruits, namely the Algarve oranges and Oeste region's Pera Rocha (a type of pear). Other exports are horticulture, floriculture, beet sugar, sunflower oil, and tobacco.
Natural resources such as copses cover about 34% of the country, namely pine trees (13,500 km²; 5,200 sq mi), cork oak (6,800 km²; 2,625 sq mi), holm oak (5,340 km²; 2,060 sq mi), and eucalyptus (2,430 km²; 940 sq mi). The large-scale growing of eucalyptus for the paper and woodchip industries has been controversial, as eucalyptus trees have very deep roots, and lead to a lowering of the water table. This has been a contributory factor in the high rate of arson, as failing farmers vent their frustrations. Cork is a major export, Portugal produces half of the world's cork. Significant mining resources are tungsten, tin, and uranium.
Portugal's balance of trade is negative. It buys mostly in the European Union from: Spain, Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. It also sells most of its products within the union to: Germany, Spain, and France mostly.
Portugal is trying to develop a cultural and rustic tourism, rather than only beach tourism, in order to attract more affluent tourists often concerned in getting to know the real Portugal. The interior of the nation has a decreasing population, but exceptional touristic potential. The Algarve, with its different beaches has been the primary attraction for decades, but it has suffered from mass tourism, and the authorities have been working to recover the 1960's Algarve, namely recovering the coast. Mass tourism has caused some ecological damage in the Algarve, for example water shortages. The Lisbon area has recently become a very popular destination, mostly due to the city of Lisbon urban historical attractions, but also due to Sintra's fabled palaces and castles located in very romantic scenery. The island territories of Madeira and the Azores also have a growing potential.
Energy, transportation and communications
Main articles: Transportation in Portugal and Communications in Portugal
Vasco da Gama bridgeAs of 2006, 55% of Portuguese energy production is made by coal and fuel powerplants. The other 40% is produced by hydroelectrics and 5% by wind energy (an increasing focus over the last few years). Portugal is still highly dependent on oil production and it´s inconstant prices. Debate on nuclear energy use has recently been brought to the public but has brought little enthusiasm. Although, like other EU countries Portugal is involved in the Joint European Torus project. Recently, the construction of a new high-capacity oil refinery has also been announced.
Transportation was seen as a priority in the 1990s, pushed by the growing use of automobiles and industrialization. The country has a 68,732 kilometres (42,708 mi) network of highways. Almost 2,000 kilometres (1,240 mi) is the total length of 44 freeways that connect most of the country.
Seaports are important due to Portugal's large coastline, and its strategic position in Europe and in the Atlantic ocean. The main seaports are Lisbon in the centre, Leixões (Porto) in the North, Setúbal and Sines in the south, Funchal and Ponta Delgada in the Atlantic. The most important airports are those of Lisbon, Faro and Porto, these last two had extensive development recently. There are also important airports in the islands, such as the intercontinental airport of Madeira (Funchal, Madeira Island), Porto Santo (Porto Santo Island), and Ponta Delgada (Azores).
The two principal metropolitan areas have subway systems: Lisbon Metro and Porto Metro, both with more than 35 kilometres (22 mi) of commercial lines. Both systems are linked by sharing stations with High-speed Pendolino trains, known as Alfa Pendular, that link both cities. The South Tagus Metro system is in construction and will connect the urban areas south of Lisbon. Another metro system for Coimbra is intended.
The Pendolino lines (Alfa pendular) of Comboios de Portugal (CP) links Braga, Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon and Faro, linking the country in a vertical way. Intercity and regional trains link these cities with many other cities throughout the country. Construction of a high-speed TGV line connecting Porto and Lisbon, and Lisbon with Madrid will begin in 2008. The line between Porto and Lisbon will have five stations (Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Leiria, Ota New Airport and Lisbon), but the trains in rarely stop in the intermediary stations. The New Airport for Lisbon will be built at the same time in Ota.
In the technology area, Portugal has one of the highest mobile phone possession rates in the world. There have been more mobile phone subscribers than main line subscribers for several years now. Nowadays, there are more than 11 million mobile subscribers. Third generation mobile phones, UMTS, have been largely commercialized by operators since early 2004. The main telecom company is Portugal Telecom (PT), a telecommunications multinational, it dominates some markets, among them the national one. In the mobile section, the market is split between three operators: TMN (PT group), Vodafone, and Optimus (SONAE group).
As of March 2006, about 30% of the Portuguese homes had high-speed internet services, a service that can be used at every town of the nation as it is one of the few European country totally covered by high-speed internet services. In the first quarter of 2004, 78% of companies with more than 10 employees had Internet access. Competition of the major broadband Internet providers, sapoadsl and Netcabo (Portugal Telecom group) with Clix/Novis (SONAE group), has caused large increases in the bandwidth provided to home users in 2005 (from 512Kbit/s and 1Mbit/s to 2 and 4Mbit/s). As of june 2006, average consumer speed is 4Mbit/s, and can go up to 20Mbit/s in Novis' infrastructure. PT group is the leader of the market. Main television broadcasters are the state-run RTP1 and "a 2:" (meaning "the 2:" in port) and the privately owned SIC and TVI. Most Portuguese see television through cable (by June 2004: 73.6% of households), where the major broadcasters have thematic channels. The main cable company TV Cabo (PT group) is trying to shift all of its customer's services to digital after an unsuccessful experience with Interactive TV.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Portugal
Pre-Roman tribes in Portugal and their main migrations: Turduli in red, Celtic in brown and Lusitanian in blue. Names are in Latin.Portugal is a fairly homogeneous country linguistically and religiously. Ethnically, the Portuguese people are a combination of several ethnicities: pre-Roman Iberian and Celtic tribes with Romans and Germanic tribes. Moors became a reduced influence, as essentially they were expelled during the Reconquista. Jews comprised 10% of the population in the 16th Century until they were forced to move abroad or convert to Catholicism.
Between 1960 and 1970, more than one million Portuguese emigrated, mostly to other European countries, resulting in a negative population growth. Previously, Brazil had been the destination of many, especially since the 18th century. Since mid 1970s major changes started to influence the country's demographics, the life expectancy went up, the infant mortality rate and the fertility rate broadly declined and, with the decolonisation, many Portuguese returned from Africa.
In the 2001 Census, Portugal had 10,356,117 inhabitants (51.7% female). Currently, there are almost 10.6 million inhabitants. By the end of 2003, legal immigrants represented 4.2% of the population, and the largest communities were: Ukrainians (15%), Brazilians (14.8%), Cape Verdeans (14.4%), and Angolans (7.9%). There are also a significant number of illegal immigrants, the treatment of those being now becoming increasingly problematic. Portugal still has 5 million emigrants abroad.
The great majority of the Portuguese population adheres to the Roman Catholic Church. Religious minorities include a little over 300,000 Protestants. There are also about 50,000 Muslims and 10,000 Hindus (most of whom came from Goa, a former Portuguese colony). There are also about 1,000 Jews. There are upwards of 34,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Atheists and agnostics are increasing in number.
Portugal's biggest metropolitan cities are Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Coimbra and Aveiro. The country is characterized by municipal cultural differentiation and there is little to no regional differentiation, unlike what happens in other European countries, resulting from the Roman municipalism, but mainly from the concelho de vizinhos created possibly during the Moorish rule as the lands were freed from the Visigothic nobles, leading the people of a land to organize itself in concelhos. Portuguese is spoken throughout the country, some of Terra de Miranda's Mirandese speaking villages being the only linguistic minority.
Education
Main article: Education in Portugal
The tower of the University of CoimbraPortugal's education system is divided into Pré-Escolar (children less than 6 years old), Ensino Básico (three phases in a total of 9 years), Ensino Secundário (secondary education - three years, several areas) and Ensino Superior (higher education - Universities and Polytechnical Institutes). Education is free and compulsory for 9 years of study. A newly undertaken scheme will make education compulsory until the student becomes an adult (18 years old). The country still has a 6.7% illiteracy rate, almost exclusively among the elderly.
The first Portuguese university – The Estudo Geral (General studies, today's University of Coimbra) - was created on March 1st, 1290 in Lisbon with the document Scientiae thesaurus mirabilis by King Denis. The university was transferred to Coimbra in 1308, though the university moved several times between the two cities until 1537. In 1559, the University of Évora was founded in Portugal by Cardinal Henry, future king of Portugal and Pope Paul IV and it was delivered to the Society of Jesus. In the 18th century Sebastião de Melo, Marquis of Pombal, closed the University of Évora, because he wanted to eliminate the Jesuit power in Portugal and in its empire. He also reformed the University of Coimbra. In 1837 two new higher learning schools were founded, the Escola Politécnica (Polytechnic School) in Lisbon and the Academia Politécnica in Porto. In the 19th century the industrialization created the need for new education institutions in the country, the "industrial studies". The prime-minister of the Kingdom, Fontes Pereira de Melo, founded in 1852 the Instituto Industrial de Lisboa (Institute of Industry, today's IST and ISEL) in Lisbon and the Escola Industral (School of Industry, today's ISEP) in Porto. In 1825, the Lisbon Royal School of Surgery and Porto Royal School of Surgery had also opened.
With the advent of the republic, the polytechnic and surgery schools were incorporated as faculties into the newly created University of Lisbon and the University of Porto, that were both founded in 1911. The Lisbon Institute of Industry led to the creation of IST which was grouped with other existing institutions to constitute the Technical University of Lisbon in the 1930s. In the 1960s the first non-governmental institution opened, the Portuguese Catholic University.
The 1970s marked a new era in Portugal's higher education with many universities and polytechnics opening in many cities, such as the University of Aveiro and the University of Minho in the university subsector, and the Polytechnical Institute of Lisbon and Polytechnical Institute of Porto in the polytechnic subsector. Subsequently, several private institutions opened across the country.
The Bologna process is being adopted to become effective before 2011.
Law
Main article: Portuguese legal system
The Portuguese legal system is part of the civil law or continental family of legal systems. Up to the end of the 19th century French law was the main influence, but since then the major influence has been German law. The main laws include the Constitution (1976, as amended) the Civil Code (1966, as amended) and the Penal Code (1982, as amended). Portuguese law applied in the former colonies and territories and continues to be the major influence. This includes for example the legal system of Macau.
Culture
Main article: Culture of Portugal
Manueline interior of the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon.Portugal is an ancient nation and through more than 1000 years it has developed a specific culture while being influenced by the various civilizations that crossed the Mediterranean world. Thus, it has absorbed traditions from early civilizations and from regions discovered throughout the world during the 500 year long Portuguese empire.
An explicit instance of this absorption and adaptation of previous culture is seen in the countless festivals to pagan local and Roman deities which were transformed into festivals to Christian saints; only some pagan festivals have changed little over 2,000 years, due the religious passion of the Middle Ages and the inquisition.
Portuguese music has a wide variety of genres. The most renowned Portuguese music is Fado, a melancholic urban music. Fado is usually associated to the Portuguese guitar and to saudade, a feeling that occurs when one is in love with someone or something yet apart from him, her, or it. The style conveys a distinct mixture of sadness, pain, nostalgia, happiness and love. Though dilettanti claim that Fado origins are a mixture of African slave rhythms, traditional music of Portuguese sailors and Arabic influence, the early written records about fado connect it to Brazilian modinha in the 19th century. Some of its most internationally notable performers are Amália Rodrigues, Mariza, Ana Moura, Mísia, Dulce Pontes, Madredeus, and Cristina Branco.
Currently, mainstream music in Portugal is in a rural and urban duality where the Portuguese pop-rock and Portuguese hip hop are popular with the younger and urban population, while pimba (an informal and rather unflattering word for a simple and cheery variety of pop music) and folklore are more popular in the rural areas and among the important emigrant community.
Portuguese literature is one of the earliest Western literatures, and it developed as the 13th century arrived, through texts and songs. Until 1350, the Portuguese-Galician troubadours spread their literary influence to most of the Iberian Peninsula . King Dinis favoured Occitan-inspired cantigas. Gil Vicente was the author to some transition theatrical pieces known as autos and is considered as one of the main founders of both Portuguese and Spanish dramatic traditions. Bernardim Ribeiro and Sá de Miranda rank among the most eminent Renaissance writers.
Adventurer and poet Luís de Camões (c.1524 - 1580) wrote the epic poem The Lusiads, a work that he developed during his journeys in Africa and Asia and that has Virgil's Aeneid as main model. According to his own account, he was shipwrecked in Cambodia, and saved himself and his work by floating on a board. Modern Portuguese poetry, since the 19th century, is essentially rooted in a handful of relevant poets, ranging from neo-classicism to contemporary styles. One such famous poet is Fernando Pessoa (1888 – 1935), who wrote poetry in the voice, style and manner of many fictional poets under a large number of heteronyms. Modern literature also became internationally known, mostly through the works of Almeida Garrett, Alexandre Herculano, Camilo Castelo Branco, Manuel Maria Barbosa de Bocage, Eça de Queirós, Fernando Pessoa, Ferreira de Castro, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Herberto Helder, António Lobo Antunes, Alexandre O'Neill and the 1998 Nobel Prize for literature winner, José Saramago.
Portuguese traditional architecture is distinct precisely due to the variety of influences it features, with several examples throughout the world, some of which are classified as world heritage sites. Modern Portugal has one of the best architecture schools in the world, known as "Escola do Porto" or School of Porto, renowned by the names of Souto Moura and Alvaro Siza.
Prominent figures in visual arts, known internationally are the painters Vieira da Silva and Paula Rego.
Since the 90´s Portugal increased the number of cultural facitilies where art and culture can be apreciatted by a wider public. These include the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB) in Lisbon, Fundação Serralves (Serralves Foundation) and Casa da Música (House of Music) both in Porto. Recently the announcement that Portuguese state will take care and exhibit permanently one of the greatest modern and contemporary art collections in Europe owned by José Berardo, a tycoon natural from Madeira, was received with enthusiasm by artists and cultural agents.
Cuisine
Main articles: Portuguese cuisine and Portuguese wines
Cozido à portuguesa
Pastéis de nata (cream custards)Portuguese cuisine is particularly diverse; various recipes of rice, potatoes, bread, meat, sea-food, and fish are the staple foods in the country. The Portuguese have a reputation for loving cod dishes (bacalhau in Portuguese), for which it is said that there are 365 ways (one for each day of the year) of cooking it: Pastéis de Bacalhau, Bacalhau à Brás and Bacalhau à Gomes de Sá are some of the most popular ones. Other fish recipes are popular like the grilled sardines and Caldeirada. The art of pastry, having its origins in old and rich conventual pastry recipes, is very popular across the entire country. Desserts and cakes, such as Lisbon's Pastéis de Nata (best eaten with a strong coffee), Aveiro's Ovos-Moles, and many other, are very appreciated. Portugal has its own adaptation of fast-food; one of the most popular is Porto's Francesinha. Other recipes include the Feijoada, made with pieces of meat, sausages and beans served with white and dry rice, the Cozido à Portuguesa, made with various kinds of meat, rice, potatoes and other vegetables, all boiled, and the Espetadas.
Portuguese wines have been exported since Roman times. The Romans associated Portugal with Bacchus, their god of Winery and Feast. Today the country is known by wine lovers, and its wines had won several international prizes. Many famous Portuguese wines are known as some of the world's best: Vinho Verde, Vinho Alvarinho, Vinho do Douro, Vinho do Alentejo, Vinho do Dão, Vinho da Bairrada and the sweet: Port Wine, Madeira wine and the Moscatels of Setúbal and Favaios (Douro). Porto Wine is widely exported, followed by Vinho Verde. Exports of Vinho Verde are increasing rapidly, in response to the growing international demand.
Sports and games
Football is the most popular and practised sport in Portugal. As of May 2006, the Portuguese national team was ranked 7th out of 205 countries by FIFA. The legendary Eusébio is still a symbol of Portuguese football. Luís Figo was voted 2001 Player of the Year by FIFA, after finishing 2nd in 2000. Rui Costa and Cristiano Ronaldo are also noteworthy and Vítor Baía is the player in history with most titles won, including all European club cups. Moreover, José Mourinho is regarded as one of the most successful and well-paid football managers in football's history. The main domestic football competition is the Superliga where the dominating teams are SL Benfica, FC Porto and Sporting CP. Portugal hosted and nearly won EURO 2004, getting defeated in the final by surprise winner Greece. The Portuguese national team also reached the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup twice, in 1966, when Eusebio was the top scorer, with 9 goals, and 2006. Many other professional and well organized sport competitions take place every season in Portugal, including basketball, futsal, rink hockey, team handball, volleyball, and rugby championships. Cycling, with Volta a Portugal being the most important race, and athletics competitions are also popular. In rink hockey Portugal is the country with most world titles: 15 World Championships and 20 European Championships, and in rugby sevens the Portuguese team has won many international trophies, having as of July 2006 five European Championship titles. Golf is also worth mentioning, since its greatest players play in the sunny region of the Algarve during the "Algarve Open". The Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva in the Estoril, near Lisbon, is the main Portuguese race track where many motorsport competitions are held, including the World Motorcycling Championship and A1 Grand Prix. Rallying (with the Rally of Portugal and Rally Madeira) and off-road (with the Baja Portugal 1000 and recently Lisboa-Dakar) events also have international recognition.
The country has an ancient martial art known as "Jogo do Pau" (Portuguese Stick Fencing), used for self-protection and for duels between young men in disputes over young women. Having its origin in the Middle Ages, Jogo do Pau uses wooden staves as a combat weapon. Other sports are the "Jogos Populares", a wide variety of traditional sports played for fun.
Festivals and holidays
Festivals play a major role in Portugal's summers. Every city and town has its own festivals. The June Festivities are very popular. These festivities are dedicated to three saints known as Santos Populares (popular saints) and take place all over Portugal. Why the populace associated the saints with these pagan festivities is not known. The practice is possibly related to Roman or local deities before Christianity spread into the region. The three saints are Saint Anthony, Saint John and Saint Peter. A common denominator in these festivities are the wine and água-pé (a watered kind of wine), traditional bread along with sardines, marriages, traditional street dances, fire, fireworks and celebration.
Saint Anthony is celebrated on the 13th, mainly in Lisbon and Saint John on the 24th, especially in Porto and Braga, where the sardines, Caldo Verde (traditional soup in entire Portugal) and plastic hammers to hammer on other peoples' heads for luck are indispensable. The final saint is Saint Peter, celebrated on the nights of 28th and 29th, especially in Póvoa de Varzim and Barcelos, festivities are similar to the others, but mostly dedicated to the sea and extensive use of fire (fogueiras). In Póvoa de Varzim, there is the Rusgas in the night, another sort of street carnival. Each festivity is a municipal holiday in the cities and towns where it occurs.
Carnival is also widely celebrated in Portugal, some traditional carnivals date back several centuries. Loulé, Alcobaça, Mealhada and above all Ovar hold several days of festivities, with parades where social and political criticism abound, music, dancing in an environment of euphorya. On January 6, Epiphany is celebrated by some families, especially in the North, where the family gathers to eat "Bolo-Rei" (literally, King Cake, a cake made with crystalized fruits); this is also the time for the traditional street songs - "As Janeiras" (The January ones). Saint Martin Day, is celebrated on November 11. This day is the peak of three days, often with very good weather, it is known as Verão de São Martinho ("Saint Martin summer"), the Portuguese celebrate it with jerupiga (a sweet liqueur wine) and roasted Portuguese chestnuts (castanhas assadas), and it is called Magusto.
National Holidays
Date Name Remarks
January 1 Ano Novo New Year's Day. Beginning of the year, marks the traditional end of "holiday season".
Tuesday, date varies Carnaval Carnival. (Also called Mardi Gras). Not an official holiday, but declared by the government as a non-working day. Very ancient festival celebrating the end of the winter. It gained Christian connotations, and now marks the first day of a period of 40 days before Easter Week (Semana Santa, Holy Week), thus also known as Entrudo.
Friday, date varies Sexta-Feira Santa Good Friday.
Sunday, date varies Páscoa Easter. Used for family gathering to eat Pão-de-Ló (an Easter cake) and Easter eggs. In the North, a sort of church members processions (compasso) visits and blesses every home with an open door, thus meaning they are Catholics. Traditionally, this is the second visit of children and non-married youngsters to their godparents, receiving an Easter gift. The first visit is on Palm Sunday, 7 days before, where children give flowers and palms to their godparents.
April 25 Dia da Liberdade Literally, "Freedom Day". Celebrates the Carnation Revolution, marking the end of the dictatorial regime. Event of 1974.
May 1 Dia do Trabalhador Labour Day.
Thursday, date varies Corpo de Deus Corpus Christi. Christian feast celebrating the Eucharist.
June 10 Dia de Portugal Portugal Day. Marks the date of Camões death. Camões wrote The Lusiad, Portugal's national epic. Event of 1580
August 15 Assunção Assumption of Mary.
October 5 Implantação da República Implantation of the Republic, or Republic Day. Event of 1910.
November 1 Todos os Santos All Saints Day. Day used for visiting deceased relatives.
December 1 Restauração da Independência Restoration of Independence. Event of 1640.
December 8 Imaculada Conceição Immaculate Conception. Patron Saint of Portugal since 1646.
December 25 Natal Christmas Day. Celebrated in the 24th to the 25th as a family gathering to eat codfish with potatoes and cabbage, roasted kid and turkey; seasonal sweets and dry fruits; drink Port wine; and share gifts.
See also
Notes and references
^ Portuguese has been the official language of Portugal since 1296, replacing Classical Latin, the official language since independence. Portuguese descends from Vulgar Latin. In Portugal, the local Vulgar Latin was known as Vulgar Language before it was renamed Portuguese. Mirandese, a related Romance language, is officially recognized in the municipality of Miranda do Douro, and spoken in the villages of the municipality.
References
Prose contains specific citations in source text which may be viewed in edit mode.
Público, "Médico e quatro mulheres condenados no tribunal de Aveiro pelo crime de aborto", July 2006
Ribeiro, Ângelo & Saraiva, José Hermano História de Portugal I - A Formação do Território QuidNovi, 2004 (ISBN 9895541066)
Ribeiro, Ângelo & Saraiva, José Hermano História de Portugal II - A Afirmação do País QuidNovi, 2004 (ISBN 9895541074)
de Macedo, Newton & Saraiva, José Hermano História de Portugal III - A Epopeia dos Descobrimentos QuidNovi, 2004 (ISBN 9895541082)
de Macedo, Newton & Saraiva, José Hermano História de Portugal IV - Glória e Declínio do Império QuidNovi, 2004 (ISBN 9895541090)
Ribeiro, Ângelo & Saraiva, José Hermano História de Portugal V - A Restauração da Indepêndencia QuidNovi, 2004 (ISBN 9895541104)
Saraiva, José Hermano História de Portugal X - A Terceira República QuidNovi, 2004 (ISBN 9895541155)
Loução, Paulo Alexandre: Portugal, Terra de Mistérios Ésquilo, 2000 (third edition; ISBN 9728605048)
Muñoz, Mauricio Pasto: Viriato, A Luta pela Liberdade Ésquilo, 2003 (third edition; ISBN 9728605234)
Grande Enciclopédia Universal Durclub, 2004
Constituição da República Portuguesa, VI Revisão Constitucional, 2004
Programa do Movimento das Forças Armadas, 1974[1]
External links
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Countries acceding on January 1, 2007 (or 2008): Bulgaria • Romania
Candidate countries in accession negotiations: Croatia • Turkey
Candidate countries: Republic of Macedonia
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Geographical notes: (1) Partly in Asia; (2) Entirely in Asia but having sociopolitical connections with Europe; (3) Turkey is the only country that recognises Northern Cyprus. See: Cyprus dispute
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WIKIPEDIA TRANSLATION FOR Português (Portuguese)
n. - Portugal
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n. - Portugal
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The Heart Of Portugal by Jorge Costa Pinto
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