Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is an unitary republic made up by mainland Portugal and two autonomous regions, with Lisbon as both its capital and largest city. The mainland is bordered by Spain to the north and east, with Madeira and the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. It features the westernmost point in continental Europe.
The western Iberian Peninsula has been inhabited since prehistory, with the earliest signs of settlement dating to 5500 BC. Muslims invaded the Iberia Peninsula in the 8th century, but were gradually expelled during the Reconquista. Portugal was established during this period, initially as a county of the Kingdom of León in, and formally as a kingdom in. It later became one of the main participants of the Age of Discovery, made several seminal advancements in nautical science and was among the first European countries to explore and discover new territories and sea routes, establishing [Portuguese Empire|settlements, colonies, and trading posts]. After it became a republic in, Portugal lived under dictatorship from 1926 until its overthrow in enabling the full establishment of democracy in.
Portugal is a semi-presidential constitutional unitary republic and multi-party representative democracy with four separate : president, government, parliament, and judiciary. It has an unicameral national legislature known as the Assembly of the Republic. Portugal has developed a complex system to manage its territory, even though the mainland continues to remain highly centralized. It is a developed country with an advanced economy list|advanced economy] relying chiefly upon services, industry, and tourism. Shaped by the various civilisations that have crossed its territory, it has developed a specific culture with a vast influence that made Portuguese to become the world's fith-most spoken native language with more than 250 million native speakers. Portugal is a member of the United Nations, European Union, Schengen Area, and Council of Europe, and one of the founding members of NATO, the eurozone, the OECD, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.
Etymology
The word Portugal derives from the combined Roman-Celtic place name Portus Cale. Porto stems from the Latin for port, portus; Cales meaning and origin is unclear. The mainstream explanation is an ethnonym derived from the Callaeci, also known as the Gallaeci peoples, who occupied the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. One theory proposes Cale is a derivation of the Celtic word for 'port'. Another is that Cala was a Celtic goddess. Some French scholars believe it may have come from Portus Gallus, the port of the Gauls.Around 200 BC, the Romans took Iberia from the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War. In the process they conquered Cale, renaming it Portus Cale and incorporating it into the province of Gallaecia. During the Middle Ages, the region around Portus Cale became known by the Suebi and Visigoths as Portucale. The name Portucale changed into Portugale during the 7th and 8th centuries, and by the 9th century, it was used to refer to the region between the rivers Douro and Minho. By the 11th and 12th centuries, Portugale, Portugallia, Portvgallo or Portvgalliae were already referred to as Portugal.
History
Prehistory
The region has been inhabited by humans since circa 400,000 years ago, demonstrated by the finding of a 400,000-year-old Aroeira 3 ''H. Heidelbergensis'' skull discovered in the Cave of Aroeira in 2014. Later Neanderthals roamed the northern Iberian peninsula and a tooth has been found at Nova da Columbeira cave in Estremadura. Homo sapiens sapiens arrived in Portugal around 35,000 years ago and spread rapidly, with the earliest signs of settlement dating to 5500 BC. Pre-Celtic tribes inhabited Portugal. The Cynetes developed a written language, leaving stelae, which are mainly found in the south.Historical overview of Portugal
Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC. The Carthaginians, Rome's opponent in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies. During Julius Caesar's rule, almost the entire peninsula was annexed to Rome.In 409, with the decline of the Roman Empire, the Iberian Peninsula was occupied by Germanic tribes.
Most of the Iberian Peninsula was invaded from the south and became part of al-Andalus between 726 and 1249, following the Umayyad Caliphate conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. Muslim rule in Iberia concluded in 1492.
After defeating the Visigoths in a few months, the Umayyad Caliphate started expanding rapidly in the peninsula. Beginning in 726, the land that is now Portugal became part of the Umayyad Caliphate until its collapse in 750. That year the west of the empire gained its independence under Abd-ar-Rahman I with the establishment of the Emirate of Córdoba, becoming the Caliphate of Córdoba in 929, lasting until its dissolution in 1031, into 23 small kingdoms.
The emirs of those kingdoms established diplomatic relations with the northern Christian kingdoms. Most of present-day Portugal fell into the hands of the Taifa of Badajoz, and in 1022 the Taifa of Seville. Those petty kingdoms were conquered by the Almoravids in 1086, then by the Almohads in 1147.
Invasions from the North also occurred in this period, with Viking incursions raiding the coast between the 9th and 11th centuries, including Lisbon. This resulted in the establishment of small Norse settlements in the coastline between Douro and Minho.
''Reconquista''
The Reconquista was a period when Christians reconquered the Iberian Peninsula from Moorish domination. An Asturian Visigothic noble named Pelagius of Asturias was elected leader in 718 by many of the ousted Visigoth nobles. After defeating the Moors in the Battle of Covadonga in 722, Pelagius was proclaimed king, thus founding the Christian Kingdom of Asturias and starting the war of Christian reconquest.At the end of the 9th century, the region of Portugal between the rivers Minho and Douro was reconquered from the Moors by nobleman and knight Vímara Peres on the orders of King Alfonso III of Asturias. Finding many towns deserted, he decided to repopulate and rebuild them.
After annexing the County of Portugal into one of the counties that made up the Kingdom of Asturias, King Alfonso III of Asturias knighted Vímara Peres, in 868, as the First Count of Portus Cale. The region became known as Portucale, Portugale, and simultaneously Portugália. With the forced abdication of Alfonso III in 910, the Kingdom of Asturias split into three separate kingdoms; they were reunited in 924 under the crown of León.
Independence
At the Battle of São Mamede, in the outskirts of Guimarães, in 1128, Afonso Henriques, Count of Portugal, defeated his mother Countess Teresa and her lover Fernão Peres de Trava, establishing himself as sole leader of the county. His campaigns were successful and in 1139, he obtained a victory in the Battle of Ourique, so was proclaimed King of Portugal by his soldiers. This is traditionally taken as the occasion when the County of Portugal became the independent Kingdom of Portugal and, in 1129, the capital city was transferred from Guimarães to Coimbra. Afonso was recognised as the first king of Portugal in 1143 by King Alfonso VII of León, and in 1179 by Pope Alexander III as Afonso I of Portugal, with the papal bull Manifestis Probatum.Afonso Henriques and his successors, aided by military monastic orders, continued pushing southwards against the Moors. In 1249, the Reconquista ended with the capture of the Algarve, in the aftermath of the Faro (1249)|Siege of Faro], and the last Moorish settlements were expelled. With minor readjustments, Portugal's territorial borders have remained the same, making it one of the oldest established countries in Europe.
In 1348-49 Portugal, as with the rest of Europe, was devastated by the Black Death. In 1373, Portugal, during the reign of Ferdinand I, made an alliance with England, the oldest standing alliance in the world. This alliance was signed during the Fernandine Wars, a series of conflicts between Portugal and Castile over the right to the throne of Castile. This alliance would be reinforced with the signing of the Treaty of Windsor in 1386.
Age of Discoveries
In 1383 John I of Castile and Beatrice of Portugal, the only surviving legitimate child of Ferdinand I of Portugal, claimed the throne of Portugal. John of Aviz, later John I of Portugal, led a revolt against this claim and defeated the Castilians in the Battle of Aljubarrota, with the House of Aviz becoming the ruling house. The new ruling dynasty led Portugal to the limelight of European politics and culture.Portugal spearheaded European exploration of the world and the Age of Discovery under the sponsorship of Prince Henry the Navigator, and made several seminal advancements in nautical science. The Portuguese explored the Indian Ocean, established trade routes in most of southern Asia, and sent the first direct European maritime trade and diplomatic missions to China and Japan. In 1415, Portugal acquired its first colonies by conquering Ceuta, in North Africa. Throughout the 15th century, Portuguese explorers sailed the coast of Africa, establishing trading posts for commodities, ranging from gold to slavery.
The Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494 was intended to resolve a dispute created following the return of Christopher Columbus and divided the newly located lands outside Europe between Portugal and Spain along a line west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa. In 1500, the Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real reached what is now Canada and founded the town of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, one of many Portuguese colonies of the Americas.
In 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral landed on Brazil and claimed it for Portugal. Portuguese sailors set out to reach Eastern Asia, landing in Taiwan, Japan, Timor, Flores, and the Moluccas. Although it was believed the Dutch were the first Europeans to arrive in Australia, there is evidence the Portuguese may have discovered it in 1521.
Between 1519 and 1522 Ferdinand Magellan organised a Spanish expedition to the East Indies which resulted in the first circumnavigation of the globe. The Treaty of Zaragoza, signed in 1529 between Portugal and Spain, divided the Pacific Ocean between Spain and Portugal.
Iberian Union and Restoration
After King Sebastian, followed by his grand-uncle King Henry died without heirs, it resulted in a succession crisis of 1580|succession crisis] in 1580. Philip II of Spain claimed the throne, under the pretext that his mother, Isabella of Portugal, was a Portuguese princess. Philip II of Spain was accepted as Philip I of Portugal. Yet, Portugal did not lose its formal independence. Instead, a union of kingdoms was formed. But the joining of the two crowns deprived Portugal of an independent foreign policy, and led to its involvement in the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Netherlands.From 1595 to 1663 the Dutch Portuguese War primarily involved Dutch companies invading Portuguese colonies and commercial interests in Brazil, Africa, India and the Far East, resulting in the loss of Portugal's Indian sea trade monopoly.
In 1640 John IV of Portugal spearheaded an uprising backed by disgruntled nobles and was proclaimed king, ending 60 years of the Iberian Union under the House of Habsburg and the beginning of the House of Braganza, which reigned until 1910. John V reign saw an influx of gold into the royal treasury, supplied largely by the royal fifth from the colonies of Brazil and Maranhão (colonial)|Maranhão]. Most estimates place the number of Portuguese migrants to Colonial Brazil during the gold rush of the 18th century at 600,000. This represented one of the largest movements of European populations to their colonies, during colonial times.
Crises of the 19th century
In 1807 Portugal refused Napoleon's demand to accede to the Continental System of embargo against the United Kingdom; a French invasion under General Junot followed, and Lisbon was captured in 1807. British intervention in the Peninsular War helped maintain Portuguese independence; the last French troops were expelled in 1812. During the Napoleonic invasions, the Portuguese royal family transferred the court to Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, making it the capital of the Portuguese empire between 1808 and 1821.In 1820, constitutionalist insurrections took place at Porto and Lisbon, and King John VI and his court were forced to return to mainland Portugal in 1821. Lisbon regained its status as the capital of Portugal when Brazil declared its independence in 1822. The death of King John VI in 1826 led to a crisis of royal succession. His eldest son, Pedro I of Brazil, briefly became Pedro IV of Portugal, but neither the Portuguese nor Brazilians wanted a unified monarchy.
Consequently, Pedro abdicated the Portuguese crown in favour of his 7-year-old daughter, Maria da Glória. Dissatisfaction at Pedro's constitutional reforms led the "absolutist" faction of landowners and the church to proclaim Miguel king in February 1828. This led to the Liberal Wars, in which Pedro forced Miguel to abdicate and go into exile in 1834 and place his daughter on the throne as Queen Maria II of Portugal.
First Republic and
On 1 February 1908, King Carlos I and his son and heir, Luís Filipe, Prince Royal, were assassinated by Republican and Carbonária members. Two years later, on 5 October 1910, a coup d'état replaced the monarchy with a republic. During World War I, Portugal fought for the Allies, however the war hurt its weak economy.Political instability and economic weaknesses created chaos and unrest during the First Republic.
These conditions led to the 28 May 1926 coup d'état and creation of the Ditadura Nacional. This in turn led to the right-wing dictatorship of the Estado Novo, under António de Oliveira Salazar in 1933.
Portugal remained neutral in World War II. From the 1940s to 1960s, Portugal was a founding member of NATO, OECD, the European Free Trade Association and joined the United Nations in 1955. New economic development projects and relocation of mainland Portuguese citizens into the overseas provinces in Africa were initiated, with Angola and Mozambique being the main targets of those initiatives. These actions were used to affirm Portugal's status as a transcontinental countries|transcontinental] nation and not a colonial empire.
Return to democracy
Portugal continued to be governed by several provisional governments until the Portuguese legislative election of 1976. After the transition to democracy, Portugal flipped between socialism and adherence to the neoliberal model. Land reform and nationalisations were enforced; the Portuguese Constitution was rewritten to accommodate socialist and communist principles. Until the revisions of 1982 and 1989, the constitution had references to socialism, the rights of workers, and the desirability of a socialist economy.Geography
Portugal occupies an area on the Iberian Peninsula and two archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean: Madeira and the Azores. It lies between latitudes 30° and 42° N, and longitudes 32° and 6° W.Continental Portugal is split by its main river, the Tagus, that flows from Spain and disgorges in the Tagus Estuary at Lisbon, before discharging into the Atlantic. The northern landscape is mountainous towards the interior with several plateaus indented by river valleys, whereas the south is characterised by rolling plains.
Portugal's highest peak is Mount Pico on Pico Island in the Azores. The archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores are scattered within the Atlantic Ocean: the Azores straddling the Mid-Atlantic Ridge on a tectonic triple junction, and Madeira along a range formed by in-plate hotspot geology. These islands were formed by volcanic and seismic events. The last terrestrial volcanic eruption occurred in 1957–58 and minor earthquakes occur sporadically.
The exclusive economic zone covers an area of being the 3rd largest exclusive economic zone of the European Union and the 20th largest in the world.
Climate
Portugal is mainly characterised by a Mediterranean climate, temperate maritime climate in high altitude zones of the Azorean islands; a semi-arid climate in parts of the Beja District far south and in Porto Santo Island, a hot desert climate in the Selvagens Islands and a humid subtropical climate in the western Azores, according to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification. It is one of the warmest countries in Europe: the average temperature in mainland Portugal varies from in the mountainous interior north to in the south and on the Guadiana river basin. There are variations from the highlands to the lowlands. The Algarve, separated from the Alentejo region by mountains reaching up to in Alto da Fóia, has a climate similar to that of the southern coastal areas of Spain or Southwest Australia.Climate change in Portugal is causing rising temperatures and longer-lasting heat waves, decreases in average rainfall and increases in the number of extremely rainy days, and rising sea levels which will threaten the country's many coastal populations. Wildfires are quite common and a major issue in Portugal, being the country with the highest percentage of burned area, on average, in the entire European Union.
Biodiversity
Portugal is located on the Mediterranean Basin, the 3rd most diverse hotspot of flora in the world. It is home to 6 terrestrial ecoregions. Over 22% of its land area is included in the Natura 2000 network. Eucalyptus, cork oak and maritime pine together make up 71% of the total forested area of continental Portugal.Geographical and climatic conditions facilitate the introduction of exotic species that later turn to be invasive and destructive to the native habitats. Around 20% of the total number of extant species in continental Portugal are exotic. Portugal is the 2nd country in Europe with the highest number of threatened animal and plant species. Portugal as a whole is an important stopover for migratory bird species.
The large mammalian species of Portugal were once widespread throughout the country, but intense hunting, habitat degradation and growing pressure from agriculture and livestock reduced population on a large scale in the 19th and early 20th century, others, such as the Portuguese ibex were even led to extinction. Today, these animals are re-expanding their native range.
The Portuguese west coast is part of the four major Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems of the ocean. This makes Portugal one of the largest per capita fish-consumers in the world. 73% of the freshwater fish occurring in the Iberian Peninsula are endemic, the largest out of any region in Europe. Some protected areas of Portugal include: the Serras de Aire e Candeeiros, the Southwest [Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park], and the Montesinho Natural Park which hosts some of the only populations of Iberian wolf and Iberian brown bear.
Government and politics
Portugal has been a semi-presidential representative democratic republic since the ratification of the Constitution of 1976, with Lisbon as its capital. The Constitution grants the division or separation of powers among four sovereignty bodies: the president, the Assembly of the Republic, the government and the courts.The head of state is the president, elected to a five-year term by direct, universal suffrage, the incumbent is Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Although largely a ceremonial post, Presidential powers include the appointment of the prime minister and other members of the government, dismissing the prime minister, dissolving the parliament, vetoing legislation and declaring war. The president has also supervisory and reserve powers and is the ex officio Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The President is advised on issues of importance by the Council of State.
According to International IDEA’s Global State of Democracy Indices and Democracy Tracker, Portugal performs in the mid-high range on overall democratic measures, with particular strengths in political representation, including elected government and inclusive suffrage.
Government
The Assembly of the Republic is an unicameral parliament composed of a maximum of 230 deputies elected for a four-year term. The government is headed by the prime minister and includes ministers and secretaries of state, that have full executive powers; the current prime minister is Luís Montenegro. The Council of Ministers – under the prime minister and the ministers – acts as the cabinet. The courts are organised into several levels, among the judicial, administrative and fiscal branches. The supreme courts are institutions of last appeal. The Constitutional Court oversees the constitutionality of the laws.Portugal operates a multi-party system of competitive legislatures/local administrative governments at the national, regional and local levels. The Assembly of the Republic is dominated by three political parties, the Social Democratic Party, Chega and the Socialist Party, while the PSD and PS continue to be the dominant parties in the regional parliaments and at the local level.
Foreign relations
A member state of the United Nations since 1955, Portugal is a founding member of NATO, the OECD and EFTA ; it left the last in 1986 to join the European Economic Community, which became the European Union in 1993. In 1996, Portugal co-founded the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, an international organisation and political association of Lusophone nations where Portuguese is an official language.Portugal has hosted several international summits and events like the first EU–Brazil summit in July 2007, the second EU–African Union summit in December 2007, the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon also in December 2007, and the NATO summit in November 2010. Portugal was a full member of the Latin Union and the Organisation of Ibero-American States. It has a friendship alliance and dual citizenship treaty with its former colony, Brazil. Portugal and the United Kingdom share the world's oldest active military accord through their Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, signed in 1386.
Territorial disputes
Savage Islands: A small group of mostly uninhabited islets which fall under Portuguese Madeira's regional autonomous jurisdiction. Found in 1364 by Italian mariners under the service of Prince Henry The Navigator, it was first noted by Portuguese navigator Diogo Gomes de Sintra in 1438. Historically, the islands have belonged to private Portuguese owners from the 16th century on, until 1971 when the government purchased them and established a natural reserve area covering the whole archipelago. The islands have been claimed by Spain since 1911, and the dispute has caused some periods of political tension between the two countries. The main problem for Spain's attempts to claim these small islands, has been not so much their intrinsic value, but the fact that they expand Portugal's exclusive economic zone considerably to the south, in detriment of Spain. The Selvagens Islands have been tentatively added to UNESCO's world heritage list in 2017.Military
The Portuguese Armed Forces have three branches commanded by the Portuguese Armed Forces General Staff – Navy, Army and Air Force. They serve primarily as a self-defence force whose mission is to protect the territorial integrity of the country but can also be used in offensive missions in foreign territories. In recent years, the Portuguese military have carried out several NATO and European Union missions in various territories. As of 2024, the three branches numbered 23,678 military personnel. Portuguese military budget in 2023 was more than $4 billion, representing 1.48% of GDP.The Army of 10,969 personnel comprises 3 brigades and other small units. An infantry brigade, a mechanized brigade and a rapid reaction brigade. The Navy, the world's oldest naval force, has 5 frigates, 2 corvettes, 2 submarines, and 20 oceanic patrol vessels. The Air Force has the Lockheed F-16M Fighting Falcon as the main combat aircraft.
In addition to the three branches of the armed forces, there is the National Republican Guard, a gendarmerie force comprising 23,287 personnel by 2023, under the authority of both the Defence and the Interior Ministry. It has provided detachments for participation in international operations in Iraq and East Timor. The United States maintains a military presence with 770 troops in the Lajes Air Base at Terceira Island, in the Azores.
Law and justice
The Portuguese legal system is part of the civil law legal system. The main laws include the Constitution, the Portuguese Civil Code and the Penal Code of Portugal, as amended. Other relevant laws are the Commercial Code and the Civil Procedure Code. Portuguese laws were applied in the former colonies and territories and continue to be influences for those countries. The supreme national courts are the Supreme Court of Justice and the Constitutional Court. The Public Ministry, headed by the Attorney General of the Republic, constitutes the independent body of public prosecutors.Drug decriminalisation was declared in 2001, making Portugal the first country to do so for personal possession of all common drugs.
Human rights
In 2003, Portugal added an anti-discrimination employment law on the basis of sexual orientation. In 2004, sexual orientation was added to the Constitution as part of the protected from discrimination characteristics. In 2010, Portugal became the sixth country in Europe and eighth in the world to legalise same-sex marriage at the national level.LGBT adoption has been allowed since 2016 as has female same-sex couple access to medically assisted reproduction. In 2017 the Law of Gender Identity, simplified the legal process of gender and name change for transgender people, making it easier for minors to change their sex marker in legal documents. In 2018, the right to gender identity and gender expression self-determination became protected, intersex minors became protected by law from unnecessary medical procedures "until the minor gender identity manifests" and the right of protection from discrimination on the basis of sex characteristics became protected by the same law.
Law enforcement
Portugal's main police organisations are the Guarda Nacional Republicana – GNR, a gendarmerie; the Polícia de Segurança Pública – PSP, a civilian police force who work in urban areas; and the Polícia Judiciária – PJ, a highly specialised criminal investigation police that is overseen by the Public Ministry.Portugal has 49 correctional facilities in total run by the Ministry of Justice. They include seventeen central prisons, four special prisons, twenty-seven regional prisons, and one 'Cadeia de Apoio'., the prison population stood at 12,193 inmates, which comes to about 0.11% of the country's entire population. The incarceration rate had a strong increase after 2010, with the prison population surpassing 14,000 inmates by 2013, but after that same year the incarceration rate began to steadily decline, a trend that has continued in recent years.
Subdivisions
Provinces
The term provinces has been used throughout history to identify regions of continental Portugal. Current legal subdivisions of Portugal do not coincide with the provinces, but several provinces, in their 19th- and 20th-century versions, still correspond to culturally relevant, strongly self-identifying categories. They include:The islands of Azores and Madeira were not called "provinces".
Districts, regions and municipalities
Continental Portugal is agglomerated into 18 districts, while the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are governed as autonomous regions; the largest units, established since 1976, are either mainland Portugal and the autonomous regions of Portugal. Administratively, Portugal is divided into 308 municipalities. Operationally, the municipalities, along with the national government, are the only legally local administrative units identified by the government of Portugal. [Image:PortugalNumbered.png|right|200px|Districts of Portugal]Within the European Union NUTS system, Portugal is divided into nine regions: the Azores, Alentejo, Algarve, Centro, Lisboa, Madeira, Norte, Oeste e Vale do Tejo and Península de Setúbal, and with the exception of the Azores and Madeira, NUTS areas are subdivided into 24 subregions.
Economy
Portugal is a member of the eurozone with a GDP per capita of 82% of the EU27 average in 2024, and a HDI of 0.874 in 2022. It holds the 14th largest gold reserve in the world at its national central bank, with the highest gold share of forex reserves in the world, has the 8th largest reserves of lithium, and total exports representing 46.6% of its GDP in 2024.Portugal's national currency is the euro, which started transitioning from the Portuguese Escudo in 2000 and consolidated in 2002. Most industries, businesses and financial institutions are concentrated in the Lisbon and Porto metropolitan areas, plus the areas around these two metro areas.
Since the 1990s, Portugal's economic model has been based on public consumption and economic development focused on exports, private investment and the development of its high-tech sector. Consequently, business services have overtaken more traditional industries such as textiles, clothing, footwear and cork, wood products and beverages.In 2001, the gross agricultural product accounted for 4% of the economy; in 2022 it was 2%. According to FAO, Portugal is the top producer of cork and carob in the world, accounting for about 50% and 30% of world production, respectively. It is the third largest exporter of chestnuts and third largest European producer of pulp. Portugal is among the world's top ten largest olive oil producers and fourth largest exporter.
Portugal hosts the Euronext Lisbon stock exchange which includes EDP, Galp, Jerónimo Martins, Mota-Engil, Novabase, Semapa, Portucel Soporcel, Portugal Telecom and Sonae.
Science and Technology
The European Innovation Scoreboard 2011, placed Portugal-based innovation 15th, with increase in innovation expenditure and output. Portugal was ranked 31st in the Global Innovation Index in 2025.Tourism
Portugal is among the top 20 most-visited countries in the world, receiving nearly 29 million foreign tourists by 2024. In 2014, Portugal was elected The Best European Country by USA Today. In 2017, Portugal was elected both Europe's Leading Destination and in 2018 and 2019, World's Leading DestinationTravel and tourism is an important part of Portugal's economy. As of 2024, the tourism sector contributed 11.9% to GDP, worth €34 billion, with tourism contributing 0.3% to an annual GDP growth of 1.9%.
Popular tourism destinations include: Lisbon, Cascais, Algarve, Madeira, Nazaré, Fátima, Óbidos, Porto, Braga, Guimarães and Coimbra. Lisbon is the 9th most visited city in Europe, and with 6,7 million tourists occupying the city's hotels by 2024, of which 5,5 million were foreign.
Transport
Portugal has a road network, of which are part of system of 48 motorways, making it the 8th largest motorway system among 42 European countries.Continental Portugal's territory is serviced by four international airports located near the principal cities of Lisbon, Porto, Faro and Beja.
A national railway system that extends throughout the country and into Spain, is supported and administered by Comboios de Portugal. Rail transport of passengers and goods is derived using the of railway lines currently in service, of which are electrified. a
File:Metro do Porto - MP 100.jpg|thumb|Metro do Porto Bombardier Flexity Swift train in Maia
The major seaports are located in Sines, Leixões, Lisbon, Setúbal, Aveiro, Figueira da Foz, and Faro. The two largest metropolitan areas have subway and tram systems.
Energy
As of 2023, oil made up 44% of Portugal's total energy supply. However the country phased out coal-fired generation in 2021 and has been developing renewable energies such as hydopower and wind power and investing in public transport and electric vehicles.Portugal has considerable wind and hydropower resources. In 2006, the world's then largest solar power plant, the Moura Photovoltaic Power Station, began operating, while the world's first commercial wave power farm, the Aguçadoura Wave Farm, opened in the Norte region. In 2008, renewable energy resources were producing 43% of the nation's electricity. As of 2010, electricity exports had outnumbered imports and 70% of energy came from renewable sources.
Demographics
As of 31 December 2024, Portugal had a population 10,749,635, of which 52.2% was female and 47.8% male, according to Statistics Portugal. In 2025, the median life expectancy reached 82.95 years, with United Nations projecting a rise of up to 90 years or more by 2100. The population historically has been relatively homogeneous, with most people adhering to Catholicism and speaking Portuguese.Portugal has had a fertility rate well below the replacement rate of 2.1 since the 1980s. The total fertility rate as of 2024 was estimated at 1.36 children born per woman, one of the lowest in the world, and considerably below the high of 5.0 in 1911. Consequently, Portugal's population has been steadily ageing and was the 11th oldest in the world in 2024, with a median age of 46.4 years and the fourth highest number of citizens over 65 years, at 21.8% of the total population. According to projections by the national statistics office, the population will fall to 7.7 million by 2080 and the population will continue to age. As of 2022, 60.2% of births were to unmarried women, and 24.5% of births were to foreign born women.
Portuguese society displays relatively high rates of socioeconomic equality, with the country ranking 24th within the 41 countries of the EU and OECD in the 2019 Social Justice Index. In 2018, Portugal's parliament approved a budget plan for 2019 that included tax breaks for returning emigrants in a bid to attract back those who left during the 2008 financial crisis.
According to a Statistics Portugal study conducted between 2022 and 2023, around 6.4 million people aged between 18 and 74 years old identified themselves as White, more than 262,000 as Mixed-race, nearly 170,000 as Black, 57,000 as Asian, and 47,500 as Romani
Immigration
Historically a country of emigration, Portugal has been a net recipient of immigrants since the early 21st century. As of 2024, legal resident foreigners number 1,543,697, or approximately 14% of the population; these figures do not include more than 340,000 resident foreigners who acquired Portuguese citizenship between 2008 and 2022—and thus constitute around 3.27% of the country's population in 2022. That year, almost 21,000 foreign residents acquired Portuguese citizenship, of which 11,170 were female and 9,674 were male.Urbanisation
Based on commuting patterns, OECD and Eurostat define eight metropolitan areas of Portugal. Only two have populations over 1 million, and since the 2013 local government reform, these are the only two which also have administrative legal status of metropolitan areas: Lisbon and Porto, Several smaller metropolitan areas also held this status from 2003 to 2008, when they were converted into intermunicipal communities, whose territories are roughly based on the NUTS III statistical regions.Religion
Portugal is a secular state with no official religion. The Catholic Church, which has a long history in the country, [Separation of church and state|was formally separated from government] during the First Portuguese Republic; this was reiterated in the 1976 Portuguese Constitution. Religious freedom was also reaffirmed by the 1940 Concordata between Portugal and the Holy See and the 2001 Religious Freedom Act.According to the 2021 Census, 80.2% of the Portuguese population was Catholic. The country has small Protestant, The [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Latter-day Saint], Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Eastern Orthodox Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, Baháʼí, Buddhist, Jewish and Spiritist communities. Influences from African Traditional Religion and Chinese Traditional Religion are also felt among many people, particularly in fields related with Traditional Chinese Medicine and Traditional African Herbal Medicine. Some 14.1% of the population declared themselves nonreligious.
Many Portuguese holidays, festivals and traditions have a Christian origin or connotation.
Languages
Portuguese is the official language of Portugal. Mirandese is also recognised as a co-official regional language in some municipalities of North-Eastern Portugal. It is part of the Astur-Leonese group of languages. An estimate of between 6,000 and 7,000 Mirandese speakers has been documented for Portugal. Furthermore, a particular dialect known as Barranquenho, spoken in Barrancos, is also officially recognised and protected in Portugal since 2021. Minderico, a sociolect of the Portuguese language, is spoken by around 500 people in the town of Minde.According to the International English Proficiency Index, Portugal has a high proficiency level in English, higher than those of other Romance-speaking European countries like France, Italy or Spain.
Education
The educational system is divided into preschool, basic education, secondary education, and higher education. Universities are usually organised into faculties. Institutes and schools are also common designations for autonomous subdivisions of Portuguese higher education institutions.Image:Coimbra BW 2018-10-06 10-11-56.jpg|thumb|University of Coimbra, the first university in Portugal founded in 1290 by King DenisPortuguese universities have existed since 1290. The oldest Portuguese university was first established in Lisbon before moving to Coimbra. Historically, within the scope of the Portuguese Empire, the Portuguese founded the oldest engineering school of the Americas in 1792, as well as the oldest medical college in Asia in 1842. Presently, the largest university in Portugal is the University of Lisbon.
The Bologna process has been adopted by Portuguese universities and poly-technical institutes in 2006. Higher education in state-run educational establishments is provided on a competitive basis, a system of numerus clausus is enforced through a national database on student admissions. However, every higher education institution offers also a number of additional vacant places through other admission processes for sportsmen, mature applicants, international students, foreign students from the Lusosphere, degree owners from other institutions, students from other institutions, former students, and course change, which are subject to specific standards and regulations set by each institution or course department.
Health
In 2025, Portugal ranked as 23rd best healthcare system in the world. The health system is characterised by three coexisting systems: the National Health Service, special social health insurance schemes for certain professions and voluntary private health insurance. The SNS provides universal coverage. In addition, about 55% of the population is covered by the health subsystems, 43% by private insurance schemes and another 12% by mutual funds.Similarly to other 'Eur-A countries',, most Portuguese die from noncommunicable diseases. Portugal's infant mortality rate stood at 2,25 deaths per 1,000 live births as of 2024. A Eurostat opinion-poll in 2023 found that 55.4% of adults rated their health as good or very good, the third lowest rate collected in the European Union. The largest university hospital in the country is Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisbon.
Despite good economic development, the average Portuguese, along with Italians, have been among the shortest in Europe since around 1890 and still are. A driving factor was modest real wage growth, given late industrialisation and economic growth compared to the European core. Another determinant was delayed human capital formation.
Culture
Portugal has developed a specific culture while being influenced by various civilisations that have crossed the European continent and Mediterranean, or were introduced when it played an active role during the Age of Discovery. In the 1990s and 2000s, Portugal modernised its public cultural facilities, in addition to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation established in 1956 in Lisbon.These include the Belém Cultural Centre in Lisbon, Serralves Foundation and the Casa da Música, both in Porto, as well as new public cultural facilities like municipal libraries and concert halls that were built or renovated in many municipalities across the country. Portugal is home to List of [World Heritage Sites in Portugal|17] UNESCO World Heritage Sites, ranking it 9th in Europe and 18th in the world.
Architecture
Traditional architecture is distinctive and include the Manueline, also known as Portuguese late Gothic a sumptuous, composite Portuguese style of architectural ornamentation of the first decades of the 16th century, followed by Pombaline style of the 18th century.A 20th-century interpretation of traditional architecture, Soft Portuguese style, appears extensively in major cities, especially Lisbon. Modern Portugal has given the world renowned architects like Eduardo Souto de Moura, Álvaro Siza Vieira and Gonçalo Byrne. In Portugal Tomás Taveira is also noteworthy, particularly for stadium design. The azulejo is a mainstream, typical element among Portugal's traditional building materials and construction techniques.
Cuisine
Portuguese cuisine is diverse, part of the Atlantic diet. A significant ingredient in the Portuguese diet is dry cod. They say that the Portuguese have mastered 365 different ways to prepare codfish, meaning a cod dish for each day of the year, to name a few recipes: bacalhau à Brás, bacalhau à Gomes de Sá, bacalhau com natas, bacalhau à Minhota, bacalhau espiritual, bacalhau à Lagareiro, bacalhau assado, bacalhau à Zé do Pipo, pastéis de bacalhau. Other fish recipes include grilled sardines, mackerel, sea bream, and caldeirada, a tomato-based stew that can be made from several types of fish or shellfish, with a mix of onion, garlic, bay leaf, potatoes, peppers, parsley.Typical Portuguese meat recipes made out of the customary beef, pork, chicken, goat, lamb or duck meat, include cozido à portuguesa, feijoada, frango de churrasco, leitão, chanfana and carne de porco à alentejana. Typical fast food dishes include the Francesinha from Porto and bifanas or prego sandwiches. An egg custard tart pastry, the pastel de nata, typical and popular among the Portuguese, became popular abroad and among foreign tourists visiting the country as well.
Portuguese wines have enjoyed recognition since the Romans, who associated Portugal with their god Bacchus, due to its climate. Some of the most well known Portuguese wines are Vinho Verde, Alvarinho, Vinho do Douro, Vinho do Alentejo, Vinho do Dão, Vinho da Bairrada, Port Wine, Madeira Wine, Moscatel from Setúbal and Favaios.
Visual art
Portugal has a rich history in painting. The first well-known painters dating back to the 15th century – like Nuno Gonçalves and Vasco Fernandes – were part of the late Gothic painting period. During the Renaissance, Portuguese painting was highly influenced by Northern European painting. In the Baroque period Josefa de Óbidos and Vieira Lusitano were the most prolific painters.José Malhoa, known for his work Fado, and Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro were both references in naturalist painting.
The 20th century saw the arrival of Modernism, and along with it came Portuguese painters such as Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, who was heavily influenced by French painters, particularly the Delaunays. Among his best-known works is Canção Popular – a Russa e o Fígaro. Other modernist painters/writers include Carlos Botelho and Almada Negreiros, friend to the poet Fernando Pessoa, who painted Pessoa's portrait. He was deeply influenced by both Cubist and Futurist trends.
Other international figures in visual arts today include painters Vieira da Silva, Júlio Pomar, Joana Vasconcelos, Julião Sarmento and Paula Rego.
Literature
Portuguese literature, one of the earliest Western literatures, developed through text as well as song. Until 1350, the Portuguese-Galician troubadours spread their literary influence to most of the Iberian Peninsula, like King D. Dinis who became famous for his poetry. Other kings would write and sponsor works of literature across Portuguese history, like D. Fernando who supported Pêro Menino in writing o Livro da Falcoaria.Adventurer and poet Luís de Camões wrote the epic poem Os Lusíadas, with Virgil's Aeneid as his main influence. Modern Portuguese poetry is rooted in neoclassic and contemporary styles, as exemplified by Bocage, Antero de Quental and Fernando Pessoa. Modern Portuguese literature is represented by authors such as Almeida Garrett, Camilo Castelo Branco, Eça de Queirós, Fernando Pessoa, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, António Lobo Antunes, Miguel Torga and Agustina Bessa-Luís. Particularly popular and distinguished is José Saramago, recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Music
The Music of Portugal encompasses a wide variety of genres. The traditional one is the Portuguese folk music which has deep roots in local customs, utilising instruments such as bagpipes, drums, flutes, tambourines, accordions and ukuleles. Within Portuguese folk music is the renowned genre of Fado, a melancholic urban music that originated in Lisbon in the 19th century, probably inside bohemian environments, and is usually associated with the Portuguese guitar and saudade, or longing. Coimbra fado, a unique type of "troubadour serenading" fado, is also noteworthy. Internationally notable performers include Amália Rodrigues, Carlos Paredes, José Afonso, Mariza, Carlos do Carmo, António Chainho, Mísia, Dulce Pontes and Madredeus.Portugal has several summer music festivals, such as Festival Sudoeste in Zambujeira do Mar, Festival de Paredes de Coura in Paredes de Coura, Festival Vilar de Mouros near Caminha, Boom Festival in Idanha-a-Nova municipality, NOS Alive, Sumol Summer Fest in Ericeira, Rock in Rio Lisboa and Super Bock Super Rock in Greater Lisbon, plus Primavera Sound Porto and MEO Marés Vivas in the Greater Porto area.
Portuguese classical music constitutes an important chapter of Western music. Over the centuries, names of composers and performers have stood out, such as the troubadours Martim Codax and King Denis I, the polyphonists Duarte Lobo, Filipe de Magalhães, Manuel Cardoso and Pedro de Cristo, the organist Manuel Rodrigues Coelho, the composer and harpsichordist Carlos Seixas, the singer Luísa Todi, symphonist and pianist João Domingos Bomtempo or composer and musicologist Fernando Lopes Graça.
Sport
is the most popular sport in Portugal. There are several football competitions ranging from local amateur to world-class professional level. All-time greats Eusébio, Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo are major symbols of Portuguese football history. The Portugal national football team has won one UEFA European Championship title: the UEFA Euro 2016, with a 1–0 victory in the final over France, the tournament hosts. In addition, Portugal finished first in the 2018–19 and 2024–25 UEFA Nations League, second in the Euro 2004, third in the 1966 FIFA World Cup and fourth in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.Road cycling, with Volta a Portugal, is a popular sports event. In motorsport, Portugal is noted for the Rally of Portugal, and the Estoril and Algarve Circuits as well as the revived Porto Street Circuit which held a stage of the WTCC for two years.
In water, Portugal has three major sports: swimming, water polo and surfing. Annually, the country hosts one of the stages of the World Surf League men's and women's Championship Tour, the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal at the Supertubos in Peniche. Northern Portugal has its own original martial art, Jogo do Pau, in which fighters use staffs to confront one or several opponents.