Portugal Travel Guide - Facts on Portugal

History		Top of Page
	TPortugal is one of the oldest states in Europe. It traces its modern history to A.D. 1140 when, following a nine-year rebellion against the King of Leon-Castile, Afonso Henriques, the Count of Portugal, became the country's first king, Afonso I. Afonso and his successors expanded their territory southward, capturing Lisbon from the Moors in 1147. The approximate present-day boundaries were secured in 1249 by Afonso III. By 1337, Portuguese explorers had reached the Canary Islands. Inspired by Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), explorers such as Vasco da Gama, Bartolomeu Dias, and Pedro Alvares Cabral made explorations from Brazil to India and Japan. Portugal eventually became a massive colonial empire with vast territories in Africa (Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome) and Latin America (Brazil), and outposts in the Far East (East Timor, Macau, Goa). Dynastic disputes led in 1580 to the succession of Philip II of Spain to the Portuguese throne. A revolt ended Spanish hegemony in 1640, and the House of Braganca was established as Portugal's ruling family, lasting until the establishment of the Portuguese Republic in 1910. During the next 16 years, intense political rivalries and economic instability undermined newly established democratic institutions. Responding to pressing economic problems, a military government, which had taken power in 1926, named a prominent university economist, Dr. Antonio Salazar, as finance minister in 1928 and prime minister in 1932. For the next 42 years, Salazar and his successor, Marcelo Caetano (appointed prime minister in 1968), ruled Portugal as an authoritarian "corporate" state. Unlike most other European countries, Portugal did not play a combatant role in World War II. It was a charter member of NATO, joining in 1949. In the early 1960s, wars against independence movements in Portugal's African territories began to drain labor and wealth from Portugal. Professional dissatisfaction within the military, coupled with a growing sense of the futility of the African conflicts, led to the formation of the clandestine "Armed Forces Movement" in 1973. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.
Geography		Top of Page
Location	Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain
Geographic Coordinates	39 30 N, 8 00 W
Area	Total: 92,391 sq km Land: 91,951 sq km (Note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands ) water: 440 sq km
Area - Comparative	Slightly smaller than Indiana
Land Boundaries	Total: 1,214 km Border countries: Spain 1,214 km
Coastline	1,793 km
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), tungsten, iron ore, uranium ore, marble, arable land, hydropower
Geography Note	Azores and Madeira Islands occupy strategic locations along western sea approaches to Strait of Gibraltar
Natural hazards	Azores subject to severe earthquakes
People		Top of Page
Population	10,605,870 (July 2007 est.)
Age Structure	0-14 years: 16.5% (male 915,604/female 839,004) 15-64 years: 66.3% (male 3,484,545/female 3,544,674) 65 years and over: 17.2% (male 751,899/female 1,070,144) (2006 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 92%, Protestant 4%
Language	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		Top of Page
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 (independent republic proclaimed 5 October 1910)
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		Top of Page
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 2001-05. 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.
Currency	Euro
Currency Code	EUR
Communications		Top of Page
Telephone System	General assessment: undergoing rapid development in recent years, Portugal's telephone system, by the end of 1998, achieved a state-of-the-art network with broadband, high-speed capabilities and a main line telephone density of 53%
Internet Country Code	.pt
Transportation		Top of Page
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 (2005)
Roadways	total: 72,600 km paved: 62,436 km (including 1,700 km of expressways) unpaved: 10,164 km (2002)
Waterways	210 km (on Douro River from Porto) (2003)
Ports and Harbors	Aveiro, Funchal (Madeira Islands), Horta (Azores), Leixoes, Lisbon, Porto, Ponta Delgada (Azores), Praia da Vitoria (Azores), Setubal, Viana do Castelo
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	Portugal Travel Guide: Facts on Portugal
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Portugal Travel Guide:

Facts on Portugal