Portugal

Portuguese Republic República Portuguesa
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: "A Portuguesa" "The Portuguese Anthem" March: God Save the Queen
Location of  Portugal  (dark green) – on the European continent  (green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (green)  —  [Legend]
Capital and largest city	Lisbon
National language	Portuguese
Regional language	Mirandese
Ethnic groups (2007)	96.87% Portuguese and 3.13% other ethnicities (Cape Verdeans, Brazilians, Ukrainians, Goans, Angolans, etc.)
Demonym(s)	Portuguese
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic
• President	Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (PSD)
• Prime Minister	António Costa (PS)
• Assembly President	Ferro Rodrigues (PS)
Formation  Conventional date for Independence is 1139
• Founding	868
• Re-founding	1095
• De facto sovereignty	24 June 1128
• Kingdom	25 July 1139
• Recognized	5 October 1143
• Papal Recognition	23 May 1179
• Restoration of independence	1 December 1640
• Restoration of independence recognized	13 February 1668
• Republic	5 October 1910
• Democracy	25 April 1974
Area
• Total	92,090 km2 (35,560 sq mi) (110th)
• Water (%)	0.5
Population
• 2011 estimate	10,647,763 (77th)
• 2011 census	10,555,853
• Density	115/km2 (297.8/sq mi) (96th)
GDP (PPP)	2010 estimate
• Total	$247.037 billion (48th)
• Per capita	$23,222 (39th)
GDP (nominal)	2010 estimate
• Total	$229.336 billion (37th)
• Per capita	$21,558 (32nd)
Gini (2009)	33.7 medium
HDI (2011)	0.809 very high · 41st
Currency	Euro (€)2 (EUR)
Time zone	UTC+0 (WET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (WEST)
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy, yyyy-mm-dd, yyyy/mm/dd
Driving side	right
Calling code	351
ISO 3166 code	PT
Internet TLD	.pt
Mirandese, spoken in some villages of the municipality of Miranda do Douro, was officially recognized in 1999 (Lei n.° 7/99 de 29 de Janeiro), since then awarding an official right-of-use Mirandese to the linguistic minority it is concerned. The Portuguese Sign Language is also recognized. Before 1999: Portuguese escudo.

Portugal is a country in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe and part of the Mediterranean. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. It has been a member of the European Union since 1986. It was under a dictatorship between 1926 and 1974. It has since prospered but was hit hard by the 2007-2008 recession.

It has a football team and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 meaning it hosts the event for the first time ever in 2018.

It once had an empire and was a powerful maritime nation from 1500s–1800s, the 10th-largest empire with a maximum land area of 10.4 million km² which included Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, East Timoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Portuguese Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and even Macau in China (until 2002).

Three groups of islands in the Atlantic Ocean are also part of Portugal: the Azores (Açores), Madeira and the Savage Isles (Ilhas Selvagens). The Savage Isles are a small group of uninhabited islands, administered by Madeira. Portugal claims that Olivença is also part of its territory, but it is controlled by Spain.

It's a popular holiday destination but, is sometimes overlooked in favour of larger countries like France, Spain and Italy. The Algarve region in the south and capital Lisbon are the most popular.

History

Portugal became its own kingdom in 1139 but was not officially recognized until 1143. Portugal has had links with England since the 1100s via a treaty. The border with Spain has been almost the same since the 13th century. Fishing and trade with other countries are important here.

Portugal was important in world exploration for two reasons. Henry the Navigator, a prince from Portugal, was very interested in exploration. Inventions in navigation led to a bigger knowledge of geography.

This world exploration began the Portuguese Empire. Portugal was a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries. It tried to colonize Canada in the 16th century. However, it lost a lot of money soon after this. Portugal and Spain were in the Iberian Union from 1580 to 1640. The city of Lisbon was destroyed in an earthquake in 1755. The country was occupied during the Napoleonic Wars. It lost its largest colony, Brazil, in 1822.

In 1910, Portugal became a Republic, and in 1926, a military group took control of the country from the Portuguese 1st Republic. This began a time of rule by authoritarian governments. During World War II they were neutral but friendly to Britain. In 1974 a peaceful left-wing army coup, called the Carnation Revolution, happened. The coup changed how the country was run.

The next year, Portugal allowed its colonies in Africa to be on their own: Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe.

East Timor in Asia declared itself independent from Portugal on 28 November 1975, and was invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces nine days later.

Portugal went into the European Union in 1986. Another Asian colony, Macau, became part of China

The main language of Portugal is Portuguese.

Some famous Portuguese people are D. Afonso Henriques, Henry the Navigator, Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Ferdinand Magellan, Luís de Camões, Fernando Pessoa, Amália Rodrigues, Álvaro Siza Vieira, Eduardo Souto de Moura.

Luís de Camões wrote the national poem of Portugal. It is called Os Lusíadas and was written in 1572.

Related pages

• List of rivers of Portugal
• Portugal at the Olympics
• Portugal national football team