Portugal
Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational IssuesCountry name - conventional long form : Portuguese Republic
Country name - conventional short form : Portugal
Country name - local long form : Republica Portuguesa
Country name - local short form : Portugal
Government type : republic; parliamentary democracy
Capital - name : Lisbon
Capital - time difference : UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
National holiday : Portugal Day (Day of Portugal), 10 June (1580); note - also called Camoes Day, the day that revered national poet Luis de Camoes (1524-80) died
Population : 10,676,910 (July 2008 est.)
Nationality - noun : Portuguese (singular and plural)
Nationality - adjective : Portuguese
Languages : Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official - but locally used)
Currency (code) : euro (EUR)
Currency code : EUR
Portugal is located Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain. The climate is maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south. The terrain is mountainous north of the Tagus River, rolling plains in south.
Background
This entry usually highlights major historic events and current issues and may include a statement about one or two key future trends.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.
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