Portugal is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the
Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe,
and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by
Spain to the north and east. The Atlantic archipelagos of the
Azores and Madeira are part of Portugal. The country is named after
its second largest city, Porto, whose Latin name was Portus
Cale.
The land within the borders of today's Portuguese Republic has
been continuously settled since prehistoric times: occupied by
Celts like the Gallaeci and the Lusitanians, integrated into the
Roman Republic and later settled by Germanic peoples such as the
Suebi and the Visigoths, in the 8th century the lands were
conquered by Moors. During the Christian Reconquista, Portugal
established itself as an independent kingdom, claiming to be the
oldest European nation-state.[8]
In the 15th and 16th centuries, as the result of pioneering the
Age of Discovery, Portugal expanded western influence and
established a global empire that included possessions in Africa,
Asia, Oceania, and South America, becoming one of the world's major
economic, political and military powers. The Portuguese Empire was
the first global empire in history,[9] and also the longest lived
of the European colonial empires. However, the country's
international status was greatly reduced during the 19th century,
especially following the independence of Brazil, its largest
colony.
After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the unstable
Portuguese First Republic was established being then superseded by
the "Estado Novo" dictatorship. Democracy was restored after the
Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974, and
Portugal's last overseas provinces became independent (most
prominently Angola and Mozambique); the last overseas territory,
Macau, was ceded to China in 1999.
Portugal is a developed country with an advanced and high-income
economy, with a very high Human Development Index. It has the
world's 19th-highest quality-of-life, according to the Economist
Intelligence Unit, and it is one of the world's most globalized and
peaceful nations. It is a member of the European Union and the
United Nations, as well as a founding member of the Latin Union,
the Organization of Ibero-American States, OECD, NATO, Community of
Portuguese Language Countries and the Eurozone.