Portugal

Guide to PORTUGAL

PORTUGAL which official name is Portuguese Republic or Portugal, is a country from Europe located at the Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain. PORTUGAL with 1,214 km sq km, limits with: Spain 1,214 km; and is divided in 18 districts . PORTUGAL's capital is Lisbon which is the most populated city with about 517,798 inhabitants.

History of PORTUGAL

PORTUGAL's government is parliamentary democracy; a Republic with a Ceremonial government type, with President Aníbal Cavaco Silva as head of state and Prime Minister José Sócrates as head of government.

Other symbols of PORTUGAL are Portuguese motto " Esta é a ditosa pátria minha amada (Portuguese , This is my beloved fortunate motherland) Portuguese anthem "A Portuguesa (The Portuguese) Portuguese flag.Portuguese flag is composed by two vertical bands of green (hoist side, two-fifths) and red (three-fifths) with the Portuguese coat of arms centered on the dividing line .

PORTUGAL's history is quite long: 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.

PORTUGALs geography

Guide to travel to PORTUGAL

If you are thinking on traveling to PORTUGAL, you will have to take in consideration some points like PORTUGAL's currency, PORTUGAL's weather, PORTUGAL's national holiday and PORTUGAL's transports.

The first thing you need to know for your travels abroad is country's currency. PORTUGAL`s currency is called euro ( €), which is divided in 100 cents. For your consideration, euro's exchange rate is about 0 per dolar.0.6347688642.

PORTUGAL's weather is characterized to be maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south. So be sure of choosing the proper date to travel to PORTUGAL.

You can also consider to visit PORTUGAL on it's national holiday to get in PORTUGAL's culture. If you do so, PORTUGAL's national holiday is called Portugal Day, 10 June.

Also, if you like natural wonders, don't forget to visit the highest point of PORTUGAL: Ponta do Pico (Pico or Pico Alto) on Ilha do Pico in the Azores 2,351 m. And try also to get to PORTUGAL's lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 mBut if you prefer the city, you must visit PORTUGAL's tallest structure: ( ).

Don't be afraid to take a flight to PORTUGAL, with more than 66 airports and 6 airlines, you will get to PORTUGAL without problems. Once there, you can choose the transport type that better fits your needs. PORTUGAL has about2,786 of railways, and also210 of roadways, so is a good place for a car trip.

Portuguese Culture

PORTUGAL is known by Portugueses as Republica Portuguesa or Portugal in the shortened way. Portuguese, about 10,642,836 people, are composed by different ethnics: homogeneous Mediterranean stock; citizens of black African descent who immigrated to mainland during decolonization number less than 100,000; since 1990 East Europeans have entered Portugal. And they also have different languages: Portuguese.

Another relevant point nowadays it's PORTUGAL's religion. Portugueses are divided in Roman Catholic 84.5%, other Christian 2.2%, other 0.3%, unknown 9%, none 3.9% (2001 census). So you can visit any of it's7 like Porto Cathedral, in Porto .

But if want to know more about PORTUGAL's culture, the best way is by reading the most famous Portuguese novelists' books like Fernando de Campos, Vergílio Ferreira or Aquilino Ribeiro.

Videos of Portugal

See some viedos of Portugal's places and tourism before choosing your vacations destination.

Latest News of Portugal