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Portugal is a democratic republic located on the southwestern corner of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. Portugal is bordered by Spain to the north and east and by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south. In addition, Portugal contains several island territories in the Atlantic, including the Azores, Madeira, and Savage. Portugal also claims Olivença or Olivenza, currently under Spanish administration, as part of its national territory.
Portugal's name derives from the Roman name Portus Cale (Port of Cale in English). Cale was the name of an early settlement located at the mouth of the Douro River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the north of what is now Portugal. Around 200 BC, the Romans took the Iberian Peninsula from the Carthaginians, and in the process, conquered Cale and renamed it Portus Cale. During the Middle ages, the region around Cale became known, by the Visigoths as Portucale. Portucale evolved into Portugale during the 7th and 8th centuries, and by the 9th century, the term Portugale was used extensively to refer to the region between the rivers Douro and Minho, the Minho flowing along what would become the northern border between Portugal and Spain.
Some historians believe that the Cale part of Portucale derived from the Greek word for beautiful, Kalles, referring to the beauty of the Douro Valley where ancient Greek pioneers chose to settle and establish the early settlement of Cale. Other historians claim that the earliest settlers in the region were Phoenician and that the name Cale was derived from the Phoenician languages of those who settled along the Portuguese coast in the pre-Roman period.
In any case, the Portu part of the name Portucale would become Porto, the modern name for the city located on the site of the ancient city of Cale at the mouth of the Douro River. And port would become the name of the wine from the Dauro Valley region around Porto. Today, Cale became Gaia (Vila Nova de Gaia), a city on the other side of the river.
A citizen of Portugal is usually identified in English by the noun and adjective Portuguese, but someone born in Portugal can also be referred to as Luso or Lusitano (English "Lusitanian").1
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| National motto: None | ||||
| Official language | Portuguese3 | |||
| Capital | Lisbon | |||
| President | Jorge Sampaio | |||
| Prime Minister | Pedro Santana Lopes | |||
| Area - Total - % water | World ranking: 109th 92,391 km² 0.5 % | |||
| Population - Total (2004) - Density | World ranking: 75th 10,524,145 114/km² | |||
| Independence
| From Kingdom of Leon
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| Currency | Euro (€) (1) | |||
| Time zone | WET (2) (UTC; UTC+1 in summer) | |||
| National anthem | A Portuguesa | |||
| Internet TLD | .PT | |||
| Calling Code | 351 | |||
| (1) Prior to 1999: Portuguese escudo | ||||
| (2) Azores: UTC-1; UTC in summer | ||||
Main article: History of Portugal
Portugal during the past 3,000 years has witnessed a constant ebb and flow of different civilizations. Phoenician, Greek, Celtic, Carthaginian, Roman, Barbarian and Arabic cultures have all made an imprint in Portugal. In the 15th century, Portugal also entered into world history. Remarkable discoveries by its maritime explorers led to the accumulation of an overseas empire.
Early ancient Greek explorers named the region Ophiussa (Greek for Land of Serpents) because the natives worshiped serpents. The Phoenicians had been exploring the area since 1104 BC and they had an important influence on the native culture. In the early first millennium BC, several waves of Celts invaded Portugal from Central Europe and intermarried with local peoples, the Iberians, forming the Celt-Iberians. Two of the new tribes formed by this intermarriage were the Lusitanians, who lived between the Douro and Tagus rivers, and the Calaicians who, lived north of the Douro river with several other tribes. A Phoenician colony was established in southern Portugal, the Conii. The Celtics, a later wave of Celts, settled in Alentejo.
In 238 BC, The Carthaginians occupied the Iberian coasts. In 219 BC, the first Roman troops invaded the Iberian Peninsula. Within 200 years, Roman armies dominated most of the peninsula, driving the Carthaginians out of their colonies in the Punic Wars.
The Roman conquest of Portugal started from the south, where the Romans found friendly natives, the Conii. Over decades, the Romans increased their areas of control. But in 194 BC a rebellion began in the north. The Lusitanians and other native tribes, under the leadership of Viriathus, successfully held off the Romans, took back land, and ransacked Conistorgis, the Conii capital, because of their alliance with Rome. Viriathus drove Roman forces out of all of Portugal. Rome sent numerous legions and its best generals to reinforce the Roman positions. Still the Lusitanians took back land.
Then the Romans changed their strategy: what they could not win by force, they tried to get by guile. They bribed ambassadors sent by Viriathus, and persuaded the traitors to kill their own commander. Viriathus was assassinated, and the resistance was soon over.
At first, Rome installed a colonial regime. But during this period, Lusitania grew in prosperity and many Portuguese cities and towns were founded. In 27 BC, Lusitania gained the status of Roman Province. Later, a northern province of Lusitania was formed, known as Galecia, with capital in Bracara Augusta (today's Braga).
In the 5th century, Germanic tribes, known as Barbarians, invaded the peninsula. One of these, the Suevi, stopped fighting and founded a kingdom whose domains were, approximately, coincident with today's Portugal. They fixed their capital in Bracara Augusta. Later, the Visigoths conquered this kingdom, unifying the Peninsula.
An Islamic invasion took place in 711, destroying the Visigoth Kingdom. Many of the ousted nobles took refuge in the unconquered north Asturian highlands. From there they aimed to reconquer their lands from the Moors. They were eventually successful. In 868, Count Vímara Peres reconquers and governs the region between the Minho and Douro Rivers (including the main city, Portucale - today's city of Porto). Thus the region became known as Portucale (i.e. Portugal).
After the Moors were, for the most part, driven out of power, most of the Iberian peninsula was briefly united under Christian rule. However, it quickly split apart after the death of Ferdinand the Great of Leon and Castile, whose domains were divided by his children.
Portugal gained its first independence (as Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal) in 1065 under the rule of Garcia. Because Garcia was a tyrant and the others wanted the lands of their brothers, Portuguese and Galician nobles rebelled and the country rejoined Leon and Castile.
At the end of the 11th century a knight from Burgundy named Henry became count of Portugal. Henry was a strong supporter of independence. Under his leadership, the County of Portucale and the County of Coimbra merged. Henry declared independence 2 for Portugal while a civil war raged between Leon and Castile.
Henry died without reaching his aims. His son, Afonso Henriques, took control of the county. The city of Braga, the unofficial Catholic centre of the Iberian peninsula, faced new competition from other regions. The lords of the cities of Coimbra and Porto (then Portucale) with the Braga's clergy demanded the independence of the renewed county.
Portugal traces its national origin to 24 June 1128 with the Battle of São Mamede. Afonso proclaimed himself first as Prince of Portugal and in 1139 as the first King of Portugal. In October 5 1143, with the assistance of a representative of the Holy See at the conference of Zamora, Portugal was formally recognized as independent 2. In 1179, Afonso I was declared, by the pope, as King. In 1250, the Portuguese Reconquista came to an end, as the Algarve was finally reconquered from the Moors.
Portugal has always been turned towards the sea; its land-based treaties are notably stable. The border with Spain has remained almost unchanged since the 13th century. A 1373 treaty of alliance between England and Portugal has never been broken to this day. Since early times, fishing and overseas commerce have been the main economic activities. Henry the Navigator's interest in exploration together with some technological developments in navigation made Portugal's expansion possible and led to great advances in geographic knowledge.
During the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal eclipsed most other nations in terms of economic, political, and cultural influence and it had an extensive empire throughout the world.
July 25 1415, marked the beginning of the Portuguese Empire, when the Portuguese Armada along with King John I and his sons Prince Duarte (future king), Prince Pedro, Prince Henry the Navigator and Prince Afonso, also with the mythical Portuguese hero Nuno Álvares Pereira departed to Ceuta in North Africa, a rich Islamic trade centre. On August 21, the city was conquered, and the Portuguese Empire was founded. Further steps were taken which expanded the Empire even more.
In 1418 two of the captains of Prince Henry the Navigator, João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, were driven by a storm to an island which they called Porto Santo, or Holy Port, in gratitude for their rescue from the shipwreck. In 1419, Zarco disembarked on Madeira Island. Between 1427 and 1431 most of the Azorean islands were discovered.
In 1434, Gil Eanes rounded the Cape Bojador, South of Morocco. The trip marked the beginning of the Portuguese exploration of Africa. Before this voyage very little information was known in Europe about what lay beyond it. At the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th centuries, those who tried to venture there became lost, giving birth to legends of sea monsters.
In 1448, on a small island known as Arguim off the coast of Mauritania an important castle was built, working as a feitoria (a trading post) for commerce with inland Africa thus circumventing the Arabic caravans that crossed the Sahara. Some time later, the caravels explored the Gulf of Guinea leading to the discovery of several uninhabited islands: Cape Verde, Fernão Poo, São Tomé and Príncipe and Annobón. Eventually, in 1471, the Portuguese captured Tangier, after several years of trying. Eleven years later, the fortress of São Jorge da Mina in the Gulf was built. In 1483, Diogo Cão reached the Congo River.
A remarkable achievement was the rounding of Cape of Good Hope by Bartholomew Diaz (Bartolomeu Dias) in 1487. By then the welthy India was nearby, hence the name of the cape. In 1489, the King of Bemobi gave his realms to the Portuguese King and converted to Christianity. Between 1491 and 1494, Pêro de Barcelos and João Fernandes Lavrador explored North America. At the same time, Pêro da Covilhã reached Ethiopia. Vasco da Gama sailed to India, and arrived at Calicut (now Kozhikode) on May 20 1498, returning in triumph to Portugal the next year. The Monastery of Jerónimos was built, and dedicated to the discovery of the sea route to India. In 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral landed on the Brazilian coast. Ten years later, Afonso de Alburquerque conquered Goa, in India.
The two million Portuguese people now ruled a vast empire with millions of inhabitants stretching from Brazil to Africa, from Ormuz in the Persian Gulf to Goa to Malacca By 1514, the Portuguese had reached China and Japan.
In 1578, a very young King Sebastian died in battle, leaving no heir, which lead to a dynastic crisis. The Cardinal Henry became ruler, but died two years later. Because Philip II of Spain was the son of a Portuguese princess, Spain invaded Portugal and the Spanish ruler became Philip I of Portugal in 1580. Some men claimed to be King Sebastian in 1584, 1585, 1595 and 1598. Sebastianism, a myth that the young king would return on a foggy day has prevailed until modern times, and many people believed in it even at the end of the 19th century.
Portugal gradually saw its richness decreasing. Portuguese colonies started to be attacked by Spain's opponents. Still, Portugal maintained an independent law, currency and government. The third Spanish king, Philip III tried to make Portugal a Spanish province. Because of this, in December 1 1640, a native king, John IV, was acclaimed, and a Restoration War against Spain was fought. Other new empires had emerged and started to assault all the Portuguese Empire; Portugal regained some, but much was lost, especially in Asia.
Immigration to Brazil took place on a massive scale, and in 1709, King John V prohibited emigration, since Portugal had lost a very sizable amount of its population. Lisbon was destroyed in 1755 earthquake. From 1801, the country was occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, and lost Olivença (part of the national territory) to Spain (ally of France). Shortly after, the Kingdom of Brazil proclaimed its independence in 1822.
A 1910 revolution deposed the Portuguese monarchy starting the First Republic. It was marked by chaos, and came to an end in 1926 when a nationalist military coup d'etat gave birth to the Second Republic, a period of almost fifty years of repressive rule. For most of this period, Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar ruled as a dictator, from 1932 to 1968. Although a stable period financially and economically, it saw the beginning of the end of the Portuguese Empire. India annexed Portuguese India, including Goa, in 1961. Portugal called the annexation an invasion and demanded the return of its Indian territories at the United Nations, but with no success. Independence movements also became active in Angola, Mozambique, and Portuguese Guinea, and an increasingly costly series of colonial wars failed to defeat the guerrillas. Despite the Salazar's incapacitation in 1968 (followed by his death in 1970), and Marcelo Caetano's marcelist spring, discontent about the war was one of the factors leading to the 1974 Revolution.
In 1974 the Carnation Revolution, an effectively bloodless left-wing military coup, installed the Third Republic. broad democratic reforms were implemented. In 1975, Portugal granted independence to its Overseas Provinces (Províncias Ultramarinas in Portuguese) in Africa (Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe). In 1976, Indonesia invaded and annexed the Portuguese province of East Timor in Asia before independence could be granted. Portugal's last colony, the Asian dependency of Macau, was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1999.
Portugal applied international pressure to grant East Timor's independence from Indonesia and claimed that East Timor was still a Portuguese dependency, recognized by the United Nations. After a referendum in 1999, East Timor voted for independence and became officially independent in 2002. This recognition marked the official end of the Portuguese Empire.
With the 1975-76 independence of its colonies (except Macau, because it hadn't any independentist movement), the Portuguese Empire had already effectivelly ended. With it, 15 years of war effort also came to an end. Also many Portuguese returned from the colonies, coming to comprise a sizeable sector of the population and starting an economical recovery, thus opening new paths for the country's future just as others closed.
Portugal entered the European Union in 1986.
Main article: Politics of Portugal
The four main organs of Portuguese politics are the President, the Parliament, the Government, and the Judiciary.
The President, elected to a 5-year term by universal suffrage is also commander in chief of the armed forces. Presidential powers include appointing the Prime Pinister, guided by the parliamentary election results, and the Council of Ministers, named by the Prime Minister. Some other major powers include dismissing the Government, dissolving the Parliament, and declaring war or peace. These have several constitutional restrictions, namely the need to previously consult the presidential advisory body. This is the Council of State, composed of six senior civilian officers, all former presidents elected since 1976, and ten citizens, five chosen by the President and other five by the Parliament. The most commonly used power is that of approving or vetoing any legislation.
The Parliament, or Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República in Portuguese) is a unicameral body composed of 230 deputies. It is elected by universal suffrage according to a system of proportional representation. Deputies serve terms of office of 4 years, unless the president dissolves the assembly and calls for new elections. It is the main legislative body. The President of Parliament substitutes for the President in the event of his absence.
The Government is headed by the Prime Minister, who names the Council of Ministers. A new government is required to define the broad outline of its policy in a program and present it to the Parliament for a mandatory period of debate. Failure of the assembly to reject the program by a majority of deputies confirms the government in office.
The Courts have several categories, including judicial, administrative and fiscal. The national Supreme Court is the court of last appeal. A nine-member Constitutional Tribunal reviews the constitutionality of legislation.
Main article: Political divisions of Portugal
Mainland Portugal is currently divided into 18 districts (Portuguese: distritos): Aveiro, Beja, Braga, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Évora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisbon, Portalegre, Porto, Santarém, Setúbal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real and Viseu.
There are two Autonomous Regions: the Azores and Madeira islands. Each district and region is further subdivided into the municipalities.
As of 2004, the Portuguese Districts are slated to be abolished and replaced by new Metropolitan Areas and Urban Communities, with different levels of autonomy (highest to lowest). Each municipality is choosing what region to be included in, and the level of autonomy granted will depend on the population of the new region:
| , and 1000 Jews. A considerably larger number of people have some Jewish heritage, and although themselves Catholic, still observe some Jewish customs.
[Top] International disputesBy the Vienna Treaty of 1815, Spain agreed to return Olivença (Olivenza in Spanish) to Portugal, but this promise has never been kept. Portugal has periodically reasserted it claim to the territory. This issue has been discussed at the Portuguese Parliament as recently as 2004. Olivença is still considered to be Portuguese territory, despite being under Spanish administration since 1801. [Top] CultureMain articles: Culture of Portugal - List of Portuguese people - Sebastianism [Top] LiteraturePortugal is sometimes known as "a country of poets". As a matter of fact, Portuguese poetry has a larger influence in the country's literature than prose. In the dawn of nationhood, poetry in Portuguese-Galician was widely popular in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. There are excellent works of both lyrical and epic poetry. The best-known Portuguese poets internationally are Luís de Camões and Fernando Pessoa. Modern Portuguese poetry, since the 19th century, has its roots in a handful of relevant poets, from neo-classicism to contemporary. Prose developed later than verse and first appeared in the 14th century as short chronicles, lives of saints, and genealogical treatises. The line of the chroniclers, which is one of the boasts of Portuguese literature, began with Fernão Lopes. Gil Vicente and the priest António Vieira are some pre-modern Portuguese writers. It is the modern Portuguese literature that is more internationally known, mostly the works of Almeida Garrett, Alexandre Herculano, Eça de Queirós, Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, António Lobo Antunes and the 1998 Nobel Prize for literature winner, José Saramago. [Top] Religion and Popular festivities
The Portuguese are in majority Roman Catholics (circa 97%), but the constitution guarantees freedom of choice. In Portugal, Fátima is a very important catholic center, dedicated to the Mother of Jesus, Mary (in Portuguese, Maria). During the summer, in the month of June, festivities dedicated to three saints known as Santos Populares (En., Popular saints) take place all over Portugal. Why the populace associated the saints with these pagan festivities is not known. The practice is possibly related to Roman or local deities before Christianity spread in the region. The three saints are Saint Anthony, Saint John and Saint Peter. A common denominator in these festivities are the wine and água-pé (a drink basically constituted by grape juice), traditional bread along with sardines, marriages, traditional street dances, fire, fireworks and joy. Saint Anthony is celebrated on the nights of the 12th and 13th, especially in Lisbon (where that saint was born and lived most of his life), with Marchas Populares (a sort of street carnival) and festivities. In the meantime, several marriages known as Casamentos de Santo António (En., Marriages of Saint Anthony) are celebrated at the same time. But the most popular saint is Saint John. He is celebrated in many cities and towns throughout the country on the nights of the 23rd and 24th, especially in Porto and Braga, where the sardines, Caldo Verde (traditional soup) and plastic hammers to hammer on other peoples' heads for luck are indispensable. The final Saint is Saint Peter, celebrated on the nights of the 28th and 29th, especially in Póvoa de Varzim and Barcelos, festivities are similar to the others, but mostly dedicated to the sea and extensive use of fire (fogueiras). In Póvoa de Varzim, there is the Rusgas in the night, another sort of street carnival. Each festivity is a municipal holiday in the cities and towns where it occurs. Carnival is also widely celebrated in Portugal. [Top] GastronomyEating in Portugal is one of the visitor's most remembered characteristics of the country. Each region of Portugal has its own traditional dishes, including various kinds of meat, sea-food, diverse and fresh fish (including the 365 ways of making cod dishes, a nationwide favourite dish). Portugal is a country for wine lovers. The Romans associated Portugal with Bacchus, their God of Winery and Feast. Many famous Portuguese wines are known as some of the world's best: Vinho Verde, Vinho do Douro, Vinho do Alentejo, Port Wine, Madeira wine and the Moscatels of Setúbal and Music of Portugal Fado (destiny in Portuguese) is a form of melancholic music. The music is linked to the Portuguese word saudade (a word with no accurate equivalent in English; it conveys a complex mixture of sadness, pain, longing and love, along with other feelings), and its origins are probably from a mixture of African slave rhythms with traditional music of Portuguese sailors. It also has an Arabic influence. There are two varieties of Fado: Lisbon and Coimbra. The Lisbon style is the traditional (for the people), while the Coimbra's is the refined style (linked with universitary students); both are seen as ethnic music for sophisticated audience and as candidates for UNESCO World Heritage. The notable Amália Rodrigues introduced the most well-known variety of fado. After her disappearance, a new wave of performers added stylistic changes and brought more international popularity to the traditional Portuguese music. Mariza and Mísia, brought with them a new look to the traditional song, while Dulce Pontes mixed it with popular Portuguese music and Madredeus, made a complete revolution, with new instruments -- all that they kept from the original Fado is its looks and the concept of "saudade". The audience must allways keep silent until the song is completely over, because the music is transmiting pain or some feeling of the interpreter (the fadista), the fadista normally has his/her eyes closed, and singing has if he/she is crying. All varieties of Fado are sorrowful; although some can also be joyful songs. Portuguese pop-rock has grown particularly after the 1974 revolution. The most notable bands and musicians are Xutos e Pontapés, GNR, Rui Veloso, Clã, Pedro Abrunhosa and Silence Four. Other genres include a local version of hip hop, influenced by the American style by descendants of immigrants from former Portuguese colonies in Africa. Hip hop tuga (Portuguese hip hop) is very popular among the younger population in Portugal. Cool Hipnoise, Da Weasel and Mind da Gap are some of the most popular and are becoming internationally known. Other musicians include the globally recognized pianist Maria João Pires and the Portuguese guitarist Carlos Paredes. [Top] Sports and DancesEuropean football is the most known, loved and practiced sport in Portugal. As of August 2004, the country is ranked 12th in 205 countries by FIFA. Luís Figo is one of the world's top players, but the legendary Eusébio and Rui Costa, Cristiano Ronaldo are also noteworthy. At club level, SL Benfica and FC Porto are the main references. However, soccer is not native to Portugal. The country has an ancient martial art known as "Jogo do Pau" (Eng., Stick Game), used for self-protection and for duels between young men in dispute over a young women. Having its origin in the middle ages, Jogo do Pau uses wooden sticks as a combat weapon. The modern variety uses smaller sticks of 0.60 to 0.80 m (2.0 to 2.6 foot). As for dancing, Portugal has the traditional folklore (Ranchos Folclóricos), with many varieties from each region. Portugal shares with Angola a shared rhythm known as "Kuduro" (popular in both countries), a sort of 'hard samba' with fast movements and extreme sensuality and strong African rhythm, performed mainly by Angolans or Angolan descendants. [Top] Holidays
note: each municipality has its own holiday which is religious (normally Saint Anthony Day - June 13, Saint John Day - June 24 or Saint Peter Day - June 29). [Top] See also
[Top] Notes
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