|RNature and climate:|N Mountains and the Minho River naturally forms the northern border to Spain.
The northern half of the country is mountainous with a highest peak, Serra de Estrêla, reaching 1991 m.a.s.l.
South of these mountains are vast open plains.
Average temperature in January 12°C by the southern coast and 5°C in the northeastern mountains. Average temperature in July 20°C.
Percipitation between 600 and 1000 mm, but by the southern coast only 400 mm.
|RPeople:|N Homogenous Mediterranean stock with small minority of Africans from former colonies.
|REconomy:|N 19% of the labour force is occupied in agriculture, 34% in industry and trade and 46% in services and government.
Economy is mainly based on underdeveloped agriculture, forestry and fishing.
Most important crops are grains, potatoes, rice, grapes (for wine), olives and fruits.
Portugal have the worlds largest production of cork.
Fishing is extensive and Portuguese fishers work all over the Atlantic Ocean. Their catches is the base for an important canning industry.
Portugal have some minerals. Most important are tungsten, uranium, copper, iron and marble.
Tourism is very important.
Portuguese industry has been underdeveloped and up to the 1980:s Portugal was one of the poorest countries of Europe.
In 1987 the socialdemocrats won an absolute majority in parliament on an almost Thatcheristic platform of spending cuts, privatization and reliance of free enterprise and since then Portugal has had the fastest growing economy in Europe.
|RHistory:|N There are rich remnants of settlers in Portugal from prehistoric times. Among these are graves by the mouth of River Tejos the most known.
In the last centuries BC Portugal was inhabited by Celtic tribes that were defeated by the Romans in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD and Portugal became the province of Lusitania.
In 712 it was conquered by the Islamic Moors.
In the 12th century the Christian reconquest of the Iberian peninsula started. The county of Portugal was a county of the kingdom of the Castile and comprised the northern third of todays Portugal and was liberated from the Moors in 1087.
In the 12th century the counts continued the reconquest southwards and in 1139 the count declared Portugal an independent kingdom and in 1147 Lisbon was conquered. And finally in 1263 the last Moor was thrown out and Portugal had expanded to its modern boundaries.
During the 15th and 16th centuries Portugal sent seafarers exploring the world and they founded tradestations in South America, Africa and India.
It was Henry the Navigator, 1394 - 1460, that started by colonizing the Azores and the Madeiras. He also sponsored exploration of the west African coast and his successors continued these explorations and Portugal became the most important tradepower of the world.
From 1580 until 1640 Portugal was ruled by the Spanish kings and economy declined and by the mid 17th century Dutch, British and French colonizers seized most of the vast Portuguese colonies, leaving only Macao, Timor, Mocambique, Angola, Portuguese Guinea and Brazil in Portuguese hands.
During the 18th century the ties to Britain were very close and in the 19th century these ties became even closer. Portugal was occupied by France in 1807 and the whole royal family fled to Brazil. With British help the French forces were driven away, but the king stayed in Brazil that declared its independence in 1822.
In 1820 the British were thrown out of Portugal, but their impact was still great and the country was weakened by a number of dynastic wars.
In 1881 a republican party was constituated and in 1901 universal suffrage was established. The king was dethroned and republic declared, but chaos ensued. In 15 years there were eight presidents, 44 governments and close to total collapse in economy.
In 1926 the military seized power and in 1928 they installed Antonio Salazar, a professor of economics, as dictator. He stabilized the country and at the beginning there was some economic progress, but soon the regime became extremely conservative and clerical.
While other colonial powers gave independence to their colonies Portugal showed no such intensions, thus provoking the nationalists in the colonies to start guerilla wars.
Salazar retired in 1968 because of illness and in 1974 his successor was ousted in a military coup.
The coup was performed by a number of leftwing officers.
Their first step was to grant the old colonies independence and in 1976 they promulgated a socialist constitution. After that the big agrarian estates were expropriated and banking, insurance and large industries were nationalized. This caused economic recession in the late 1970:s.
In 1985 there were free elections for parliament and in 1986 for the presidency, and in 1986 Portugal joined the EC.
