Guide to Portugal Introduction 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.
Geography Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain
Geographic coordinates: 39 30 N, 8 00 W
Map references: Europe
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Indiana
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 1,793 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
Climate: maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south
Terrain: mountainous north of the Tagus River, rolling plains in south
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: fish, forests (cork), iron ore, copper, zinc, tin, tungsten, silver, gold, uranium, marble, clay, gypsum, salt, arable land, hydropower
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 6,320 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: Azores subject to severe earthquakes
Environment - current issues: soil erosion; air pollution caused by industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution, especially in coastal areas
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: Azores and Madeira Islands occupy strategic locations along western sea approaches to Strait of Gibraltar
People Population: 10,566,212 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 0.39% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 10.82 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 10.43 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 3.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 1.47 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.4% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 22,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 1,000 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: 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
Religions: Roman Catholic 94%, Protestant (1995)
Languages: Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official - but locally used)
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Lisbon
Administrative divisions: 18 districts (distritos, singular - distrito) and 2 autonomous regions* (regioes autonomas, singular - regiao autonoma); Aveiro, Acores (Azores)*, Beja, Braga, Braganca, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Evora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisboa, Madeira*, Portalegre, Porto, Santarem, Setubal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Viseu
Independence: 1143 (Kingdom of Portugal recognized); 5 October 1910 (independent republic proclaimed)
National holiday: Portugal Day, 10 June (1580); note - also called Camoes Day, the day that revered national poet Luis de Camoes (1524-80) died
Constitution: 25 April 1976; revised many times
Legal system: civil law system; the Constitutional Tribunal reviews the constitutionality of legislation; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: unicameral Assembly of the Republic or Assembleia da Republica (230 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de Justica (judges appointed for life by the Conselho Superior da Magistratura)
Political parties and leaders: Green Ecologist Party or PEV [Heloisa APOLONIA]; Popular Party or PP [Jose Ribeiro e CASTRO]; Portuguese Communist Party or PCP [Jeronimo de SOUSA]; Portuguese Socialist Party or PS [Jose SOCRATES Carvalho Pinto de Sousa]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Luis Marques MENDES]; The Left Bloc or BE [Franciso Anacleto LOUCA]; Unitarian Democratic Coalition or UDC [Jeronimo de SOUSA]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMISET, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: two vertical bands of green (hoist side, two-fifths) and red (three-fifths) with the Portuguese coat of arms centered on the dividing line
Economy Economy - overview: Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community in 1986. Over the past decade, successive governments have privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy, including the financial and telecommunications sectors. The country qualified for the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and began circulating the euro on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other EU member economies. Economic growth had been above the EU average for much of the past decade, but fell back in 2001-04. GDP per capita stands at two-thirds that of the Big Four EU economies. A poor educational system, in particular, has been an obstacle to greater productivity and growth. Portugal has been increasingly overshadowed by lower-cost producers in Central Europe and Asia as a target for foreign direct investment. The government faces tough choices in its attempts to boost Portugal's economic competitiveness while keeping the budget deficit within the eurozone's 3%-of-GDP ceiling.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $188.7 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 1.1% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $17,900 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 5.48 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 10%, industry 30%, services 60% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate: 6.5% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 35.6 (1994-95)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.1% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 22.3% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 61.5% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: grain, potatoes, olives, grapes; sheep, cattle, goats, poultry, beef, dairy products
Industries: textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper, and cork; metals and metalworking; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; rubber and plastic products; ceramics; electronics and communications equipment; rail transportation equipment; aerospace equipment; ship construction and refurbishment; wine; tourism
Industrial production growth rate: 1.1% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 43.28 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 42.15 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 3.4 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 5.3 billion kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 339,800 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: 28,830 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: 357,300 bbl/day (2001)
Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 2.542 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 2.553 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Current account balance: $-8.12 billion (2004 est.)
Exports: $37.68 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: clothing and footwear, machinery, chemicals, cork and paper products, hides
Exports - partners: Spain 25%, France 14%, Germany 13.5%, UK 9.6%, US 6%, Italy 4.3%, Netherlands 4% (2004)
Imports: $52.1 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum, textiles, agricultural products
Imports - partners: Spain 29.3%, Germany 14.3%, France 9.3%, Italy 6.1%, UK 4.6%, Netherlands 4.6% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $12.3 billion (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $274.7 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $271 million (1995)
Currency (code): euro (EUR) note
Currency code: EUR
Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 4,278,800 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 9,341,400 (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 47, FM 172 (many are repeaters), shortwave 2 (1998)
Radios: 3.02 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 62 (plus 166 repeaters) note
Televisions: 3.31 million (1997)
Internet country code: .pt
Internet hosts: 346,078 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 16 (2000)
Internet users: 3.6 million (2002)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 210 km (on Douro River from Porto) (2003)
Pipelines: gas 1,099 km; oil 8 km; refined products 174 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Leixoes, Lisbon, Setubal, Sines
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 65 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Military Military branches: Army, Navy (Marinha Portuguesa; includes Marine Corps), Air Force (Forca Aerea Portuguesa, FAP), National Republican Guard (Guarda Nacional Republicana) (2005)
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; compulsory military service was ended in 2004 (January 2005)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $3,497.8 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.3% (2003)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: none
Illicit drugs: gateway country for Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market (especially from Brazil); transshipment point for hashish from North Africa to Europe; consumer of Southwest Asian heroin
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
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