Portugal

[Country map of Portugal]

Map ©1996 NGS Cartographic Division. Developed in association with GeoSystems Global Corp. World Map

Geography

Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain

Map references: Europe

Area:
total area: 92,080 sq km
land area: 91,640 sq km
comparative area: slightly smaller than Indiana
note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands

Land boundaries: total 1,214 km, Spain 1,214 km

Coastline: 1,793 km

Climate: maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south

Terrain: mountainous north of the Tagus, rolling plains in south

Natural resources: fish, forests (cork), tungsten, iron ore, uranium ore, marble

Land use:
arable land: 32%
permanent crops: 6%
meadows and pastures: 6%
forest and woodland: 40%
other: 16%

Irrigated land: 6,340 sq km (1989 est.)


People

Population: 10,562,388 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 18% (female 943,412; male 1,000,971)
15-64 years: 68% (female 3,625,086; male 3,499,176)
65 years and over: 14% (female 889,142; male 604,601) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.36% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 11.72 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 9.65 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.55 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 9.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 75.53 years
male: 72.11 years
female: 79.16 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.47 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Portuguese (singular and plural)
adjective: Portuguese

Ethnic divisions: homogeneous Mediterranean stock in mainland, Azores, Madeira Islands; citizens of black African descent who immigrated to mainland during decolonization number less than 100,000

Religions: Roman Catholic 97%, Protestant denominations 1%, other 2%

Languages: Portuguese

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population: 85%
male: 89%
female: 82%

Labor force: 4.24 million (1994 est.)
by occupation: services 54.5%, manufacturing 24.4%, agriculture, forestry, fisheries 11.2%, construction 8.3%, utilites 1.0%, mining 0.5% (1992)


Government

Names:
conventional long form: Portuguese Republic
conventional short form: Portugal
local long form: Republica Portuguesa
local short form: Portugal

Digraph: PO

Type: republic

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

Dependent areas: Macau (scheduledto become a Special Administrative Region of China on 20 December 1999)

Independence: 1140 (independent republic proclaimed 5 October 1910)

National holiday: Day of Portugal, 10 June (1580)

Constitution: 25 April 1976, revised 30 October 1982 and 1 June 1989

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


Economy

Overview: Portugal's economy contracted 0.4% in 1993 but registered a 1.4% growth in 1994, with 3% growth expected in 1995 and 1996. This comeback rests on high levels of public investment, continuing strong export growth, and a gradual recovery in consumer spending. The government's long-run economic goal is the modernization of Portuguese markets, industry, infrastructure, and work force in order to catch up with productivity and income levels of the more advanced EU countries. Per capita income now equals only 55% of the EU average. Economic policy in 1994 focused on reducing inflationary pressures by lowering the fiscal deficit, maintaining a stable escudo, moderating wage increases, and encouraging increased competition. The government's medium-term objective is to be in the first tier of the EU countries eligible to join the economic and monetary union (EMU) as early as 1997. To this end, the 1995 budget posits a cut in total deficit to 5.8% of GDP.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $107.3 billion (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate: 1.4% (1994 est.)

National product per capita: $10,190 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.1% (May 1994)

Unemployment rate: 6.7% (May 1994)

Budget:
revenues: $31 billion
expenditures: $41 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1994)

Exports: $15.4 billion (f.o.b., 1993)
commodities: clothingand footwear, machinery, cork and paper products, hides and skins
partners: EU 75.5%, other developed countries 12.4%, US 4.3% (1994)

Imports: $24.3 billion (c.i.f., 1993)
commodities: machinery and transport equipment, agricultural products, chemicals, petroleum, textiles
partners: EC 72%, other developed countries 10.9%, less developed countries 12.9%, US 3.4%

External debt: $20 billion (1993 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 1.5% (1994 est.); accounts for 30.6% of GDP

Electricity:
capacity: 8,220,000 kW
production: 29.5 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 2,642 kWh (1993)

Industries: textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper, and cork; metalworking; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; wine; tourism

Agriculture: accounts for 5% of GDP; small, inefficient farms; imports more than half of food needs; major crops - grain, potatoes, olives, grapes; livestock sector - sheep, cattle, goats, poultry, meat, dairy products

Currency: 1 Portuguese escudo (Esc) = 100 centavos

Fiscal year: calendar year


Transportation

Railroads:
total: 3,068 km
broad gauge: 2,761 km 1.668-m gauge (439 km electrified; 426 km double track)
narrow gauge: 307 km 1.000-m gauge

Highways:
total: 70,176 km
paved and graveled: 60,351 km (519 km of expressways)
unpaved: earth 9,825 km

Inland waterways: 820 km navigable; relatively unimportant to national economy, used by shallow-draft craft limited to 300 metric-ton cargo capacity

Pipelines: crude oil 22 km; petroleum products 58 km

Ports: Aveiro, Funchal (Madeira Islands), Horta (Azores), Leixoes, Lisbon, Porto, Ponta Delgada (Azores), Praia da Vitoria (Azores), Setubal, Viana do Castelo

Merchant marine:
total: 65 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 852,785 GRT/1,545,804 DWT
ships by type: bulk 5, cargo 28, chemical tanker 5, container 4, liquefied gas tanker 2, oil tanker 17, refrigerated cargo 2, roll-on/roll-off cargo 1, short-sea passenger 1
note: Portugal has created a captive register on Madeira for Portuguese-owned ships; ships on the Madeira Register (MAR) will have taxation and crewing benefits of a flag of convenience; in addition, Portugal owns 25 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 155,776 DWT that operate under Panamanian and Maltese registry

Airports:
total: 65
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 5
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 18
with paved runways under 914 m: 29
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 2


Flag by Dream Maker Software, Inc.
Information obtained from CIA, The World Factbook 1995