PORTUGAL

Physical geography

Portugal is situated in southern Europe, to the west of the Iberian Peninsula, between latitudes 32° and 43° N, and longitudes 32° and 6° W. It faces the Atlantic Ocean and borders Spain to the north and east. Portugal owns the Madeiras and Azores archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean; they are autonomous. Portugal’s landscape is diverse: plateaus and valleys in the north and center, plains in the south. The Portuguese climate is Mediterranean; average yearly temperature is 10°C.

Iconic place

Lisbon, the capital, is the largest city in Portugal. It is also the largest city in the European Atlantic coast with 2.7 million people in the metropolitan area (it contains 27% of the Portuguese population). Lisbon is a cultural, but also financial and international center, with close to 2 million tourists every year. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, built centuries before capitals such as London, Paris and Rome. Lisbon is not clearly recognized as a capital by its status, but it is conventionally the capital of the Portuguese Republic thanks to the constitution.

Iconic object

The Rooster of Barcelos is one of the best know emblems of Portugal. The legend tells that a dead rooster miraculously saved the life of a Galician pilgrim who was sentenced to death. Years after he had been saved, the pilgrim returned to Barcelos and sculpted the “Cruzeiro do Senhor do Galo” (Crucifix of the Lord of the rooster).

Something the country has given the world...

It was in Portugal that the terrible cigarette was invented. Tobacco was brought from Central America by Christopher Colombus. At the time, tobacco smoke was inhaled via the nose, but then, poor Portuguese people, who used to pick up the tobacco leftovers from the rich, had the idea to put it in a small piece of paper and, from about 1830, it became the most popular way to smoke…

Famous historic figures

Vasco De Gama is probably the best known Portuguese. Born 1460, died 1524, he is considered the first European explorer to reach India by sea via the dangerous Cape of Good Hope. Manoel Do Oliveira, born 1908, died 2015, continued to make movies until the end of his long life. He was one of the most prolific movie directors in the world. He got the Palme d’Or at the Cannes festival the year he turned 100.

History

Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula have been at the center of many battles during history. Portugal was first discovered by the Celts and the Iberians, and then the Romans invaded it in the 3^rd century BC. During the early 5^th century, Germanic tribes conquered the peninsula. In 711, and for 5 centuries, Portugal became a part of the Umayyad Caliphate. The region was called “County of Portugal”, and placed under the domination of a Visigoth elected noble. After the Reconquista, which expelled the Muslims from Spain, Portugal became a fief of the Kingdom of Leon and then the independent Kingdom of Portugal. Then the royal Catholic Portuguese monarchy reigned on an immense colonial empire until 1968, date of the Salazar revolution.

Important living figure

José Manuel Barroso, former Portuguese Prime Minister, was President of the European Commission from 2004 to 2014 (the European commission is one of the most powerful European institutions). After its signature in Lisbon in 2007, the Treaty of Lisbon became effective in 2009. The aim of this treaty is to increase the powers of the EU and make it more coherent and democratic.

Human geography

Approximately 10.5 million people live in Portugal. Throughout its history, Portugal’s population has been quite homogeneous, as the dominating Catholic religion forced the Muslims and Jews who wanted to stay after the Reconquista to convert. Inhabitants from its former colonies have come to live in Portugal (there are also people from Eastern Europe); immigrants represent 5% of the population. Portugal’s life expectancy is 80 years, and the HDI is 0.822, which is pretty high thanks to a public health system ranked 11^th in the world.

Languages and cultures

Portuguese is the only official language in Portugal. It is spoken by everybody except in some Spanish-speaking villages on the border. Nowadays, Portuguese is spoken by 200 million people around the world which makes it the 5^th most spoken language in the world. Portuguese culture has been forged by all the different civilizations who settled on the territory, but it is mostly influenced by the Roman civilization.

Political system

Portugal is a semi-presidential constitutional republic, with four main institutions: the President of the Republic, the Parliament, the Government (headed by a Prime Minister) and the Courts. The current president is Anibal Cavaco Silva. Portugal has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, and is a founding member of NATO. It joined the EEC on January the 1^st 1986.

Economy

Its economy is not doing very well, even if its wealth distribution is not as disastrous as in the rest of the Eurozone. Portugal’s old currency was the Portuguese Escudo, replaced with the Euro. Since it has been in the EU, Portugal has mostly been in a complicated economic position, as it is highly indebted.

Youth

According to a recent PISA study, a typical Portuguese teenager has the same level of general knowledge as teenagers from the USA, France or the UK. Portugal’s youth unemployment rate is 35 %. Another big problem for youth is excessive smoking (the cigarette is deeply rooted in Portuguese culture…).

Article by Jean GENES