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Portugal

View of Lisbon and the Tagus river estuary from Parque Eduardo VII, which is to the north of the Avenida da Liberdade in central Lisbon.
Image: kk nationsonline.org

Location map of Portugal

Flag of Portugal

Portugal in brief

Destination Portugal, a Nations Online country profile of the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa), a sovereign state in western Europe. It comprises of the continental part of Portugal on the Iberian Peninsula and the small archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean.

The most western European state has a shoreline at the Atlantic Ocean, it is bordered to the north and in the east by only one other country, Spain. Portugal shares a maritime border with Morocco.

The country covers an area of 92,090 km², compared, it is slightly smaller than Hungary (93,028 km²), or the US state of Indiana.

Portugal has a population of 10.3 million people (in 2020); the capital and largest city is Lisbon, with about 500,000 inhabitants. The official language is Portuguese.

What is Portugal famous for?
Portugal is famous for Fado and Saudade, the cultural heart of the country. In the 15th century, the seafaring nation invented ocean-going sailing ships like the carracks and galleons and a range of navigational instruments. It was home to several Portuguese explorers, like Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan.
The Portuguese also invented marmalade, the Pastel de nata, and tempura. Of Portuguese origin are Port wine, Madeira wine, Vinho Verde (green wine), and other local wines, two Portuguese wine-producing regions are even protected by the UNESCO as World Heritage. Portugal is also known for Azulejo, the art of painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework and Calçada Portuguesa, the characteristic Portuguese paving, used for many pedestrian areas.

Portuguese Republic | República Portuguesa

Background:
An independent kingdom since 1143, Portugal established its continental frontiers in 1297 and is one of the oldest nations in Europe. The former world power during the 15th and 16th centuries lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, the 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.
Since 1986 Portugal is a member-country of the European Union.

Countries in which Portuguese is the official language: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Brazil, and Timor-Leste.

Country Profile

Official Name:
República Portuguesa
short form: Portugal
int'l short form: Portugal
int'l long form: Portuguese Republic

ISO Country Code: pt, PRT

Time:
Time Zone: WET - Western European Time
Local Time = UTC 0h
Actual Time: Fri-Sept-13 04:35
Daylight Saving Time (DST) March - October (UTC +1)

Country Calling Code: +351

Capital City: Lisbon (Lisbon) (metropolitan area pop. 2.8 million)

Other Cities: Faro, Porto (Oporto, metro. area 1.7 million).

Official Sites of Portugal

São Bento Palace, Portuguese Assembly, Lisbon

São Bento Palace is home to the Portuguese Assembly; it is also a popular location for demonstrations held in Lisbon.
Image: © kk nationsonline.org

Political system
Portugal is a republic with a semi-presidential representative democracy. The Portuguese monarchy was abolished on 5 October 1910, Portugal's constitution forbids changes to its republican way of government.

Chief of state and commander in chief of the armed forces is the president; he is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system.
Head of government is the prime minister; he is appointed by the president.
Portugal has a multi-party system. Members of the Portuguese Assembly are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system.

Official Sites of Portugal

Note: External links will open in a new browser window.

Presidência da República Portuguesa
Official website of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic.

Assembleia da República
The Portuguese Parliament.

Portal do Governo
The Portuguese Government Web Portal.

Portal do Cidadão
Portugal's E-Government and Citizen's Portal - a major Portuguese Government project regarding Information Society and Electronic Government strategies. (in Portuguese).

Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Portugal (in Portuguese).

Diplomatic Missions
Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations
Official site of Portugal's Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
Embassy of Portugal
The Portuguese embassy in Washington D.C.
Missions of Portugal abroad
Address list of Mission of Portugal around the world.
Foreign Missions in Portugal
Address list of Foreign Missions in Portugal. (2020)

Casa Real Portuguesa
Official site of the Royal House of Portugal.

Statistics
Instituto Nacional de Estatística Portugal
The National Institute of Statistics.

Weather
Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera
IPMA is the national organization for meteorology, seismology, marine, and atmospheric research in Portugal.

Maps of Portugal

Map of Portugal (click map to enlarge)
Image: © nationsonline.org

Maps

Map of Portugal
Political Map of Portugal.

Google Earth Portugal
Searchable map/satellite view of Portugal.

Google Earth Lisboa
Searchable map/satellite view of Lisboa.

Map of the Iberian Peninsula
Topographic Map of the Iberian Peninsula.

Map of Europe
Political Map of Europe.

News of Portugal

Portuguese newspaper cover

Portugal News

Even if Portugal's journalists are poorly paid and job insecurity is growing, the reporting environment is relatively calm. However, some problems continue. Insult and defamation are still criminalized despite repeated European Court of Human Rights rulings that Portugal is violating free speech. ^[1]

Online News from Portugal

Agencia de Noticias Lusa
Portuguese News Agency (in Portuguese).

Correio da Manhã
Online newspaper with national and international news (in Portuguese).
Diario de Noticias
Daily newspaper Lisbon (in Portuguese).
Jornal Expresso
Weekly news, Portugals influential newspaper for political and national news (in Portuguese).
Jornal de Notícias
One of the largest newspapers in Portugal.
The Portugal News
Portugal's National Weekend Newspaper in English.
Publico
Portuguese newspaper (in Portuguese)
Sapo
Portuguese magazine portal.

TV
RTP
RTP is the Portuguese public broadcasting corporation. RTP1 is the main television channel of Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. RTP operates two domestic channels and external services RTP Africa and RTP Internacional.

SIC
Sociedade Independente de Comunicação is a commercial channel that includes the cable news station SIC Noticias.

TVI
Televisão Independente is Portugal's fourth terrestrial TV channel.

Radio
RTP
RTP Radio operates three national networks with regional and external services.
Radio Comercial
National, commercial radio station.
TSF
National, commercial.
Radio Renascenca
Catholic church-run radio.

Arts & Culture of Portugal

Jerónimos Monastery in Belém houses Portugal's Maritime Museum and the National Archaeological Museum

Hieronymites Monastery, the former monastery of the Order of Saint Jerome in Belém, now houses Portugal's Maritime Museum and the National Archaeological Museum. Since 1983, the Monastery of the Hieronymites has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with nearby Belém Tower.
Image: Bengt Nyman

Arts & Culture

Cultural Institutions of Portugal

Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal
Portugal's National Library. (in Portuguese)

Centro Nacional de Cultura
Dedicated to the preservation of Portugal's cultural heritage. Historically, the National Culture Center (CNC) is a cultural association with the mission to promote a free Portuguese culture.

Contemporary Portuguese Culture
Portuguese institution dedicated to the worldwide promotion of the Portuguese language and Portuguese culture.

Serralves
Serralves is a cultural institution located in the city of Porto; it includes a renowned Contemporary Art Museum, a Park, and an Art Deco Villa.

Art Museums
Chiado Museum
The National Museum of Contemporary Art in the historic center of Lisbon.

Berardo Collection Museum
The Museu Coleção Berardo is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Lisbon and houses the art collection of José Berardo.

Gulbenkian Museum
The museum houses the Gulbenkian collection as well as a collection of modern Portuguese and European art.

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga
NMAA is the country's national museum of ancient art.

Music
Fado
The sound of Portugal.

Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa
The Portuguese Philharmonic Orchestra

Museums
Museu Nacional do Teatro e da Dança
Portugal's National Theater and Dance Museum in Lisbon.

Museu Nacional Machado de Castro
The National Museum Machado de Castro is an art museum in Coimbra; it houses a vast collection of sculptures.

Museu de Marinha
The Navy Museum in Lisbon shows Portugal's maritime history.

Museu Nacional do Azulejo
The National Tile Museum is dedicated to Azulejo, the traditional tilework of Portugal.

Museu de Cera de Fatima
Thirty scenes of the apparitions of Fatima at this Fatima Wax Museum.

Sports
Jogo do Pau
Stick combat martial art, stick fencing the Portuguese way.
Liga Portugal
Official website of Portuguese football league (soccer).

Calçada Portuguesa in Funchal, Madeira

The picture shows the Calçada Portuguesa, the characteristic Portuguese pavement used in the square in front of Funchal City Hall, Madeira.
Image: kk nationsonline.org

Business & Economy of Portugal

Lisbon Expo with the Pavilion of Portugal and Torres São Rafael and São Gabriel, Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon Expo on the banks of the Tagus Estuary was the site of Portugal's 1998 Lisbon World Exposition. View of the Pavilion of Portugal with its "concrete veil" and the two residential towers Torres São Rafael and São Gabriel, which flank the Centro Comercial Vasco da Gama shopping center in the Parque das Nações (Park of the Nations).
Image: Luis Ascenso

Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the EU in 1986. Over the following two decades, successive governments privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy, including the financial and telecommunications sectors.
The economy contracted in 2009, and fell again from 2011 to 2013, as the government implemented spending cuts and tax increases to comply with conditions of an EU-IMF financial rescue package. Austerity measures also have contributed to record unemployment and a wave of emigration.

Banco de Portugal
Portugal's Central Bank.

Câmara de Comércio
The Portugal Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a private business association promoting the national and international development of its members.

aicep Portugal Global
AICEP is a government agency promoting Portugal's image internationally as a tourist destination and producer of high-quality goods and services.

Portuguese Brands

Casa Batalha
Casa Batalha is a traditional jewelry company, founded in 1635; today it produces bling jewelry.

Esmaltina
Portuguese bicycles.

Foreva
Portuguese shoe manufacturer.

Revigrés
Portuguese ceramics.

Port & Wine
Port Wine is a strong, mostly sweet, typically dark red fortified wine, originally from Porto.

Fonseca Guimaraens
Fonseca is one of the largest Port wine houses in Portugal.

Kopke
The oldest port wine house.

Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman
Another old port wine house.

José Maria da Fonseca
One of the oldest Portuguese table wine company.

Sandeman
Well known Port and Sherry brand.

Transportation

Airlines
TAP Air Portugal
Transportes Aéreos Portugueses - Portugal's flag carrier airline.

Airports
Portela Airport Lisbon
Lisbon Airport (IATA: LIS)
Faro Airport
Portugal's second-largest airport.

Rail
Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses
The Portuguese Railways.

Tourism in Portugal

View over Lisbon and Tagus river with the National Pantheon in the background

View over Lisbon and Tagus river with the National Pantheon (Santa Engrácia) in the background left.
Image: kk nationsonline.org

Destination Portugal - Travel and Tour Guides

Discover Portugal: Algarve, Alentejo, Azores, Beiras, Faro, Lisbon, Madeira, Oporto,
Hotel, accommodation, attractions, festivals, events, tourist boards, nature, tours, and much more.

Visit Portugal
Portugal's Official Tourism website.

Portugal Travel Guide
Comprehensive tourist guide to Portugal.

Portugal Info
Who what where and when in Portugal.

PortugalVirtual
Portugal information.

Wikivoyage Portugal
The non-commercial travel guide about Portugal.

City-Guides
Câmara Municipal de Lisboa
The Official Web Site of the City of Lisbon.
Turismo de Lisboa
The official guide to Lisbon Portugal's capital.
Visit Porto
The Municipality of Porto, the official tourist guide to Portugal's second-largest city.

Azores
Visitazores
The official Azores tourism site.

Madeira Island
Visit Madeira
Madeira Island Information.
Madeira-Infos.de
Madeira-Infos in German.

Port of Funchal, Madeira island, Portugal

Port of Funchal, Madeira island, Portugal

Old and new in the port of Funchal, Madeira, on the left is a replica of the Christopher Columbus flagship Santa Maria, on the right is the bow of the cruise ship Azura.
Image: kk nationsonline.org

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The Ribeira area of Porto (Oporto) along the Douro river. The Historic Centre of Oporto is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Image: Mohd. Nabil Murshed

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Portugal

Portugal is home to 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 16 cultural, and one natural. (see UNESCO's World Heritage Site list for Portugal)

Cultural Landscape of Sintra
In the 19th century, Sintra became the first center of European Romantic architecture. Ferdinand II of Portugal turned a ruined monastery into a castle where this new sensitivity was displayed in the use of Gothic, Egyptian, Moorish, and Renaissance elements.

Historic Centre of Évora
Due to its well-preserved old town center, which is still partially enclosed by medieval walls, and its many monuments from different historical periods, including a Roman temple, Évora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Historic Centre of Oporto
The city of Oporto, also known as Porto, built along the hillsides overlooking the mouth of the Douro river, is an outstanding urban landscape with a 2,000-year history.

Alto Douro Wine Region
The Alto Douro wine region in the province of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro is situated in the north-eastern corner of the country. It is one of two Portuguese wine-growing areas that are a World Heritage Site, the other being the Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture in the Azores.

The "Initiation Well" at Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra

The "Initiation Well" at Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra

The "Initiation Well," also known as the inverted tower, at Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra. The well was part of a mysterious initiation ritual within the Knights of Templar tradition. ^[2]
Image: Andrew Mcmillan

Education in Portugal

Quinta da Torrinha in the university district of Lisbon.

The Quinta da Torrinha building, currently part of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon.
Image: Fulviusbsas

Major Universities of Portugal

Universidade Catolica Portuguesa (UCP)
UCP is ranked among Portugal's best universities; it operates four centers, at Lisbon (headquarters), Porto, Braga, and Viseu.
Universidade de Coimbra
The university of Coimbra is among the oldest universities in continuous operation in the world and the oldest university in Portugal, founded in 1290.
Universidade de Lisboa
ULisboa is a public research university, and Portugal's largest university.
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
The public university in the Portuguese capital was founded in 1973.

Universidade do Porto
U.Porto is the second-largest university in the country in terms of student numbers; it was founded in 1911.
Porto School of Architecture
The Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto is among the most prestigious architecture schools in Europe.
Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto
FEUP is one of the oldest and most prestigious educational institution in engineering in Portugal.

Azores
Universidade dos Açores
The University of the Azores is the only university in the Azores and Europe's westernmost university.

Environment & Nature

Serra da Estrela landscape, Portugal

Serra da Estrela landscape; it is the highest mountain range in Continental Portugal.
Image: Sara Bento

Portuguese Natural parks and reserves
A visitors guide to Portugal's natural parks and reserves.

Major environmental organizations of Portugal

Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente
APA is a public institute under the Portuguese Ministry of the Environment.

Almargem
The association for the protection of the cultural and environmental heritage of the Algarve is based in Loulé (Faro).

GEOTA
GEOTA is a national non-profit association for environmental protection, active since 1981.

Instituto da Conservação da Natureza
The Portuguese Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests in Lisbon (in Portuguese).

Liga para a Protecção da Natureza
League for the Protection of Nature, a Portuguese NGO, the oldest environmental association on the Iberian Peninsula.

Quercus
National Association for Nature Conservation is an environmental organization based in Lisbon.

Sociedade de Ética Ambiental
The Portuguese Society of Environmental Ethics is committed to promoting environmental awareness and ecological education.

Sociedade Portuguesa de Espeleologia
The Portuguese Speleological Society (SPE) is the pioneer of organized Speleology (cave research).

List of Portuguese Non Governmental environmental and similar organizations
The National Register of Portuguese Non-Governmental Environmental Organisations.

Covão dos Conchos lake in the Serra da Estrela mountains.

Covão dos Conchos lake in the Serra da Estrela mountains.

Covão dos Conchos, an artificial lake in the Serra da Estrela mountains, famous for its Bell-mouth spillway.
Image: im me

Portugal History

Portuguese world map showing Portuguese geographical discoveries

Portuguese world map (Cantino planisphere) from the early 16th century showing Portuguese geographical discoveries in the east and west, including a fragmentary record of the Brazilian coast.
Painting: Unknown author

The Portuguese were a seafaring nation for centuries. They were at the heart of the Age of Discovery, the period in European history when the exploration of overseas routes became a critical factor in the European power play. Portuguese explorers discovered many territories previously unknown to Europeans during this period. Unfortunately or not, most of these regions were already inhabited. It was the beginning of colonialism and mercantilism as national policies in Europe. It was also the beginning of globalization. The Portuguese began systematically exploring the Atlantic coast of Africa from 1418. Some years later, in 1488, they reached the Indian Ocean by this route. Meanwhile, the Spanish sent Christopher Columbus to find a way to India; instead, he discovered America. To prevent conflicts between Portugal and the Spanish, both countries signed a treaty, the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese and Spanish empires.

History of Portugal (1415–1578)
The Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves in the 15th century was the first European power to begin building a colonial empire.

Portuguese discoveries
Article about the numerous territories and maritime routes discovered by the Portuguese during the 15th and 16th centuries.

Cronologia dos Reis de Portugal
Chronology of the Portuguese Kings by the Royal House website.

Timeline of Portuguese history
An extensive timeline of Portugal's history.

History of Portugal
Comprehensive Wikipedia article about Portugal's eventful history.

French print from the 18th century, shows an imaginative view of the port of Lisbon

French print from the 18th century, shows an imaginative view of the port of Lisbon

A French intaglio print from the 18th century, hand-colored, shows an imaginative and imaginary view of the port of Lisbon.
Painting: Unknown author

Additional Information

Selected country profiles of Portugal published by international organizations.

Amnesty International: Portugal
Amnesty International is a non-governmental organization focused on human rights.

BBC Country Profile: Portugal
Country profiles by the British public service broadcaster.

EU member countries: Portugal
EU member countries in brief, Portugal.

GlobalEDGE: Portugal
Portugal page by the Global business knowledge portal.

The Heritage Foundation: Portugal
Index of Economic Freedom by The Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think tank.

Human Rights Watch: Portugal
HRW conducts research and advocacy on human rights.

OEC: Portugal
The Observatory of Economic Complexity provides the latest trade data.

Reporters Without Borders: Portugal
RSF (Reporters sans frontières) is an international NGO that defends and promotes media freedom.

Wikipedia: Portugal
Wikipedia's Portugal page in many languages.

The CIA World Factbook -- Portugal
The CIA World Factbook's Portugal Page.

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