Country Portugal

1. Portugal

Country

2. Information

Official language: Portuguese, mirandsky (regional language)
Capital: Lisbon
Largest cities: Lisbon, Porto
Form of government: Parliamentary Republic
President: Aníbal Cavaco Silva

3. Geography

The territory: 109th in the world
Total: 92,151 km²
% of water surface: 0,5
Population: 10 799 270 people
Currency: Euro

4. History of Portugal

The history of Portugal dates back to the Early Middle Ages. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it
ascended to the status of a world power during Europe's "Age of Discovery" as it built up a vast
empire, including possessions in South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Over the following
two centuries, Portugal kept most of its colonies, but gradually lost much of its wealth and status
as the Dutch, English, and French took an increasing share of the spice and slave trades by
surrounding or conquering the widely-scattered Portuguese trading posts and territories.
Signs of military decline began with two disastrous battles: the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in
Morocco in 1578 and Spain's abortive attempt to conquer England in 1588 by means of the
Spanish Armada – Portugal was then in a dynastic union with Spain and contributed ships to the
Spanish invasion fleet. The country was further weakened by the destruction of much of its
capital city in an earthquake in 1755, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars and the loss of its
largest colony, Brazil, in 1822. From the middle of the 19th century to the late 1950s, nearly two
million Portuguese left Portugal to live in Brazil and the United States.
In 1910, there was a revolution that deposed the monarchy. Amid corruption, repression of the
church, and the near bankruptcy of the state, a military coup in 1926 installed a dictatorship that
remained until another coup in 1974. The new government instituted sweeping democratic
reforms and granted independence to all of Portugal's African colonies in 1975.
Portugal is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the European Free
Trade Association (EFTA). It entered the European Community (now the European Union) in
1986.

5. Culture

The culture of Portugal is the result of a complex flow of
different civilizations during the past millennia. From prehistoric
cultures, to its Pre-Roman civilizations (such as the Lusitanians,
the Gallaeci, the Celtici, and the Cynetes, amongst others),
passing through its contacts with the Phoenician-Carthaginian
world Roman period (see Hispania, Lusitania and Gallaecia), the
Germanic invasions and consequent settlement of the Suebi and
Buri (see Kingdom of the Suebi) the Visigoth (see Visigothic
Kingdom), Sephardic Jewish, and finally, the Moorish Umayyad
invasion of Hispania and the subsequent expulsion, during the
Reconquista, all have made an imprint on the country's culture
and history.
The name of Portugal itself reveals much of the country's early
history, stemming from the Roman name Portus Cale, a Latin
name meaning "Port of Cale" (some argue that Cale is a word of
Celtic origin, which also means port or harbour), later
transformed into Portucale, and finally into Portugal, which
emerged as a county of the Kingdom of León (see County of
Portugal) and became an independent kingdom in 1139. During
the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal was a major economic,
political, and cultural power, its global empire stretching from
Brazil to the Indies, as well as Macau and Japan.
Portugal, as a country with a long history, is home to several
ancient architectural structures, as well as typical art, furniture
and literary collections mirroring and chronicling the events that
shaped the country and its peoples. It has a large number of
cultural landmarks ranging from museums to ancient church
buildings to medieval castles, which testify its rich national
cultural heritage. Portugal is home to fifteen UNESCO World
Heritage Sites, ranking it 8th in Europe and 17th in the world.

6. Portuguese people

Portuguese people are an ethnic group
native to the country of Portugal, in the west
of the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern
Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and
their predominant religion is Christianity,
mainly Roman Catholicism.
Historically, the Portuguese descend from
the pre-Celtic, proto-Celtic and Celtic
peoples who inhabited the Iberian Peninsula
such as the Celtici, Lusitanians (para-Celtic)
and the Gallaeci forming the core identity of
the country, followed by the Italics, the
Romans. Other major segments include the
Suebi, the Buri and the Visigoths.
Due to the large historical extent of the
Portuguese Empire and the colonization of
territories in Asia, Africa and the Americas,
as well as historical and recent emigration,
Portuguese communities can be found in
many diverse regions around the globe, and
a large Portuguese diaspora exists.
Portuguese people were a key factor to the
Age of Exploration, discovering several
unknown lands to the Europeans in
Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

7. Government

The Government of Portugal is one of the four
sovereignty bodies of the Portuguese Republic, together
with the President of the Republic, the Assembly of the
Republic and the courts. It is both the body of sovereignty
that conducts the general politics of the country and the
superior body of the Portuguese public administration.
The Government of Portugal is also referred as the
Government of the Portuguese Republic, the Portuguese
Government or simply the Government.
The term "constitutional government" or simply
"government" also refers to collective ministry in the
sense of the team of ministers and its period of
government under one Prime Minister.

8. Holidays

New Year - January 1
Carnival Tuesday - February / March, the day
before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent
Good Friday - March / April, Friday during Holy
Week
Freedom Day - April 25, the anniversary of the
1974 revolution
Labor Day - May 1
Feast of Corpus Christi - May / June, the ninth
Thursday after Easter
Day of Portugal, Camões and the day, Portugal
and the Portuguese communities - June 10
Feast of the Assumption of Virgin Mary - August
15th
Republic Day - October 5, the anniversary of the
proclamation in 1910 of the Republic of Portugal
All Saints Day - November 1
Independence Day - December 1, the anniversary
of the the proclamation of independence of
Portugal from Spain in 1640
Feast of the Immaculate Conception - December 8
Christmas Day - December 25
Apart from national, each region of Portugal has
its own local holidays.

9. Tourism

Portugal attracts many tourists each year. In 2006,
the country was visited by 7 million tourists.
Tourism is playing an increasingly important role
in Portugal's economy contributing about 5% of
the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The main tourist areas are, by order of
importance, the Greater Lisbon (Lisboa), the
Algarve, Greater Porto and Northern Portugal
(Porto e Norte), city of Coimbra, Portuguese
Islands (Ilhas Portuguesas: Madeira and Azores),
and Alentejo.
Lisbon is, after Barcelona, the European city
attracting most tourists, with 7 million tourists
sleeping in the city's hotels in 2006, the number
grew 11.8% compared to previous year. Lisbon in
recent years surpassed the Algarve as the leading
tourist region in Portugal. Porto and Northern
Portugal, especially the urban areas north of
Douro River, was the tourist destination which
grew most (11.9%) in 2006 and surpassed
Madeira, in 2010, as the third most visited
destination. Today, most tourists in Portugal are
British, French, Spanish, Dutch, Scandinavians or
Brazilians, which not only search for beach
vacations, but mostly cultural ones, city breaks,
gastronomy, nautical tourism or business
traveling.

10. Thank you for the attention