Portugal

I

Introduction

Portugal, nation in southwestern Europe, occupying the western portion of the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal lies south and west of Spain, with which it shares the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal’s long coastline faces the Atlantic Ocean. Portuguese territory also includes two autonomous archipelagos, the Azores (Açores) and the Madeira Islands, both located in the Atlantic. Lisbon (Portuguese Lisboa) is Portugal’s capital and largest city.

Roughly rectangular in shape, Portugal covers an area approximately as large as the state of Maine. To the north, the mainland is mountainous and lush, with plenty of rain and cool weather. The area is noted for its vineyards, especially the valley of the Douro River, which produces grapes for port, Portugal’s most famous wine. The central and southern parts of Portugal are warmer and drier, but they support many forms of agriculture, including vineyards, wheat fields, and groves of cork oaks and olives. To the far south is the Algarve, a region famous for its hot summers and miles of sunny beaches.

Portugal became part of the Roman Empire in the 2nd century bc. The name Portugal is derived from Portus Cale, a former Roman settlement at the mouth of the Douro River. After the collapse of Roman rule in the 5th century ad, Portugal was colonized by Germanic peoples, who came overland from Europe. Portugal was then conquered by Muslims from North Africa, before coming under the control of Spanish kings. Portugal became an independent kingdom in the 12th century.

In the 15th century Portugal emerged as the foremost center of maritime exploration in Europe. Over the next century, Portuguese sailors explored the world and dominated the sea trade. These sailors helped Portugal build the first great European overseas empire, with colonies in Africa, Asia, and South America. Today, Portuguese is one of the world’s most widely spoken languages, a legacy of Portugal’s once-vast empire. By the late 16th century, however, Portugal’s power and resources were exhausted, and most of the country’s Asian colonies were lost. Portugal kept its largest colony, Brazil, until the 19th century and its huge African empire until the late 20th century. Despite its extensive possessions, Portugal remained one of Europe’s least developed nations.

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Monarchs governed Portugal until 1910, when the first Portuguese republic was proclaimed. A period of great instability followed. In 1926 a coup d’état installed a dictatorship that ruled Portugal for nearly five decades. A series of costly colonial wars in Africa beginning in the 1960s drained Portuguese resources and weakened the national economy. Partly as a result of the dictatorship’s stubborn prosecution of the wars, a revolution occurred in Portugal in 1974, and a military junta came to power. The following year Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. A new constitution in 1976 established a democratic system of government. Since that time, Portugal has forged new ties to Europe and worked to modernize its economy. Portugal joined the European Community (EC, a forerunner of the European Union) in 1986, and in 1999 adopted the euro, the EU’s common currency. Macao, the last remnant of Portugal’s colonial empire in Asia, was returned to China in 1999.

II

Land and Resources of Portugal

The total area of Portugal, including the Azores (2,247 sq km/868 sq mi) and the Madeira Islands (794 sq km/307 sq mi), is 92,090 sq km (35,556 sq mi).

Portugal covers about one-sixth of the Iberian Peninsula. Although small in size, Portugal is geographically diverse. Portugal’s eastern interior encompasses the westernmost slope of the Meseta Central, a high, mountainous plateau that covers most of Spain. To the north the land is rugged and hilly. Peaks rising to more than 1,200 m (4,000 ft) above sea level extend from the edge of the Meseta Central across the northern interior. To the west and south the mountains descend to a large coastal plain. This plain is intensively cultivated and increasingly urbanized. Portugal’s two largest cities, Lisbon and Porto (Oporto), are located here.

In the central interior region are the lofty ridges that form the country’s backbone. Portugal’s highest mountain, Malhão de Estrela, is found here. The peak, a part of Portugal’s highest mountain range, the Serra da Estrela, has an elevation of 1,991 m (6,532 ft) above sea level. The ridges of central Portugal descend in a southwesterly direction to the hills near Sintra, which drop to the Atlantic Ocean at Cape Roca, near Lisbon. South of the Tajo (Tejo) are gently rolling lowlands that extend to the plains of Portugal’s Baixo Alentejo region. The Serra de Monchique, a range of hills stretching to the Atlantic Ocean at Cape Saint Vincent, separate these plains from the southernmost region of Algarve.

Many of Portugal’s major rivers originate in the highlands of the Meseta Central. The Tajo, with Lisbon at its mouth, is the longest river, followed by the Douro (Duero), with Porto at its mouth. The Miño (Minho) flows south from the mountains of Spain’s Galicia region and forms part of Portugal’s northern border. These rivers all cut narrow gorges through the mountains and widen as they empty into the Atlantic Ocean. The Guadiana, which originates in central Spain, flows south and forms part of Portugal’s southeastern frontier with Spain. In 2002 Portugal closed the gates of the newly completed Alqueva dam on the Guadiana in the southern region of Alentejo; the reservoir behind the dam created the largest artificial lake in western Europe. The Mondego, which flows through the west central city of Coimbra, is the longest river whose source is in Portugal.

The broad estuaries formed by rivers flowing to the west indent the coastline of Portugal, as do a series of saltwater lagoons. However, much of Portugal’s coastline, which extends about 800 km (about 500 mi), is straight and sandy. Good natural harbors are found at Aveiro, Porto de Leixões, Lisbon, Porto, and Setúbal. Sines is an important deep-water port used for petroleum and natural gas imports.

A

Climate

Portugal has a maritime temperate climate that varies according to elevation and proximity to the ocean. The heaviest precipitation occurs in northern Portugal. The northern coast receives about 152 cm (about 60 in) of rain annually. Rainfall increases with altitude, and the western slopes of the northern mountains receive about 2,300 mm (about 90 in) annually—the heaviest rainfall in western Europe. Precipitation decreases toward the south, and in the extreme south, in Algarve, rainfall averages only about 38 cm (about 15 in) a year.

In southern Portugal summers are long and hot and winters are moderate. In the northwest summers are shorter and wetter, while winter temperatures are generally mild and moderated by maritime influences. In the northeast summers can be scorching and winters are typically long, cold, and snowy. The mean annual temperature north of the Douro River is about 10°C (about 50°F); between the Tajo and Douro, about 16°C (about 60°F); and in the valley of the Guadiana, about 18°C (about 65°F).

B

Natural Resources

Portugal is rich in mineral resources, a variety of which are extracted, processed, and exported. Much of this mineral wealth was not commercially exploited until after World War II (1939-1945). Among the most important mineral resources are copper, gold, iron ore, kaolin, marble, halite (rock salt), tin, uranium, and wolframite, which is a source of tungsten. Portugal also has abundant waterpower in its rivers and dammed lakes (called barragems), which the nation is continuing to develop. However, Portugal lacks significant fossil fuel resources and is heavily dependent on imports to meet its energy needs.

Forests cover about two-fifths of Portugal’s land area, and many areas, especially in the mountains, are well suited to forestry. However, Portugal is not well endowed with agricultural resources. Portuguese soils tend to be sandy and acidic and are generally volcanic in origin. An exception is the loamy and fertile alluvial soil of the lower Tajo valley.

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