Portugal during the past 3,000 years has witnessed a constant flow of
different civilizations. Phoenician, Greek, Celtic, Carthaginian, Roman,
Barbarian and Arabic cultures have all made an imprint in Portugal. During
the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal eclipsed most other nations in terms
of economic, political, and cultural influence and it had an extensive
overseas empire throughout the world.
Portugal's name derives from the Roman name Portus Cale, a mixed Greek and
Roman name meaning "Beautiful Port".
History
Early ancient Greek explorers named the region Ophiussa (Greek for Land of
Serpents) because the natives worshiped serpents. The Phoenicians had been
exploring the area since 1104 BC and they had an important influence on the
native culture. In the early first millennium BC, several waves of Celts
invaded Portugal from Central Europe and intermarried with local peoples,
the Iberians, forming the Celt-Iberians. Two of the new tribes formed by
this intermarriage were the Lusitanians, who lived between the Douro and
Tagus rivers, and the Calaicians who, lived north of the Douro river with
several other tribes. A Phoenician colony was established in southern
Portugal, the Conii. The Celtics, a later wave of Celts, settled in Alentejo.
In 238 BC, The Carthaginians occupied the Iberian coasts. In 219 BC, the
first Roman troops invaded the Iberian Peninsula. Within 200 years, Roman
armies dominated most of the peninsula, driving the Carthaginians out of
their colonies in the Punic Wars.
The Roman conquest of Portugal started from the south, where the Romans
found friendly natives, the Conii. Over decades, the Romans increased their
areas of control. But in 194 BC a rebellion began in the north. The
Lusitanians and other native tribes, under the leadership of Viriathus,
successfully held off the Romans, took back land, and ransacked Conistorgis,
the Conii capital, because of their alliance with Rome. Viriathus drove
Roman forces out of all of Portugal. Rome sent numerous legions and its best
generals to reinforce the Roman positions. Still the Lusitanians took back
land. Then the Romans changed their strategy. They bribed ambassadors sent
by Viriathus, and persuaded the traitors to kill their own commander.The
three men named Audax, Ditalco and Minuro waited until Viriato was asleep
and then murdered him. Viriathus was assassinated, and the resistance was
soon over.
At first, Rome installed a colonial regime. But during this period,
Lusitania grew in prosperity and many Portuguese cities and towns were
founded. In 27 BC, Lusitania gained the status of Roman Province. Later, a
northern province of Lusitania was formed, known as Galecia, with capital in
Bracara Augusta (today's Braga).
In the 5th century, Germanic tribes, known as Barbarians, invaded the
peninsula. One of these, the Suevi, stopped fighting and founded a kingdom
whose domains were, approximately, coincident with today's Portugal. They
fixed their capital in Bracara Augusta. Later, the Visigoths conquered this
kingdom, unifying the Peninsula.
An Islamic invasion took place in 711, destroying the Visigoth Kingdom. Many
of the ousted nobles took refuge in the unconquered north Asturian highlands.
From there they aimed to reconquer their lands from the Moors. They were
eventually successful.
In 868, Count Vímara Peres reconquers and governs the region between the
Minho and Douro Rivers (including the capital, Portucale - today's city of
Porto). Thus the region became known as Portucale (i.e. Portugal).
After the Moors were, for the most part, driven out of power, most of the
Northern Iberian peninsula was briefly united under Christian rule. However,
it quickly split apart after the death of Ferdinand the Great of Leon and
Castile, whose domains were divided by his children. Therefore, in 1065 the
Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal became independent, shortly after a war
among brothers, made all the domains of Ferdinand back in one.
At the end of the 11th century a knight from Burgundy named Henry became
count of Portugal. Henry was a strong supporter of independence. Under his
leadership, the County of Portucale and the County of Coimbra merged. Henry
declared independence 2 for Portugal while a civil war raged between Leon
and Castile.
Henry died without reaching his aims. His son, Afonso Henriques, took
control of the county. The city of Braga, the unofficial Catholic centre of
the Iberian peninsula, faced new competition from other regions. The lords
of the cities of Coimbra and Porto (then Portucale) with the Braga's clergy
demanded the independence of the renewed county.
Portugal traces its national origin to 24 June 1128 with the Battle of São
Mamede. Afonso proclaimed himself first as Prince of Portugal and in 1139 as
the first King of Portugal. On October 5, 1143, with the assistance of a
representative of the Holy See at the conference of Zamora, Portugal was
formally recognized as independent 2. Afonso, aided by the Templars,
continue to conquer southern lands to the moors. In 1250, the Portuguese
Reconquista came to an end, as the Algarve was finally reconquered from the
Moors. Since then, the border with Spain has remained almost unchanged.
July 25, 1415, marked the beginning of the Portuguese Empire, when the
Portuguese Armada along with King John I and his sons Prince Duarte (future
king), Prince Pedro, Prince Henry the Navigator and Prince Afonso, also with
the mythical Portuguese hero Nuno Álvares Pereira departed to Ceuta in North
Africa, a rich Islamic trade centre. On August 21, the city was conquered,
and the Portuguese Empire was founded. Further steps were taken which
expanded the Empire even more. Henry the Navigator's interest in exploration
together with some technological developments in navigation made Portugal's
expansion possible and led to great advances in geographic knowledge.
In 1418 two of the captains of Prince Henry the Navigator, João Gonçalves
Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, were driven by a storm to an island which
they called Porto Santo, or Holy Port, in gratitude for their rescue from
the shipwreck. In 1419, Zarco disembarked on Madeira Island. Between 1427
and 1431 most of the Azorean islands were discovered.
In 1434, Gil Eanes rounded the Cape Bojador, South of Morocco. The trip
marked the beginning of the Portuguese exploration of Africa. Before this
voyage very little information was known in Europe about what lay beyond it.
At the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th centuries, those who
tried to venture there became lost, giving birth to legends of sea monsters.
In 1448, on a small island known as Arguim off the coast of Mauritania a
castle was built, working as a feitoria (a trading post) for commerce with
inland Africa thus circumventing the Arabic caravans that crossed the
Sahara. Some time later, the caravels explored the Gulf of Guinea leading to
the discovery of several uninhabited islands and reaching the Congo River.
A remarkable achievement was the rounding of Cape of Good Hope by
Bartholomew Diaz in 1487. By then the wealthy India was nearby, hence the
name of the cape. In 1489, the King of Bemobi gave his realms to the
Portuguese King and converted to Christianity. Between 1491 and 1494, Pêro
de Barcelos and João Fernandes Lavrador explored North America. At the same
time, Pêro da Covilhã reached Ethiopia. Vasco da Gama sailed to India, and
arrived at Calicut on May 20, 1498, returning in triumph to Portugal the
next year. In 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral landed on the Brazilian coast. Ten
years later, Alfonso d'Albuquerque conquered Goa, in India.
The two million Portuguese people now ruled a vast empire with millions of
inhabitants stretching from Brazil to Africa, from Ormuz in the Persian Gulf
to Goa to Malacca By 1514, the Portuguese had reached China and Japan.
In 1578, a very young King Sebastian died in battle, leaving no heir, which
lead to a dynastic crisis. Because Philip II of Spain was the son of a
Portuguese princess, Spain invaded Portugal and the Spanish ruler became
Philip I of Portugal in 1580. Some men claimed to be King Sebastian in 1584,
1585, 1595 and 1598. Sebastianism, a myth that the young king would return
on a foggy day has prevailed until modern times.
Portugal maintained an independent law, currency and government, and the two
first Spanish kings were popular. The third Spanish king, Philip III tried
to make Portugal a Spanish province. Because of this, in December 1, 1640, a
native king, John IV, was acclaimed, and a Restoration War against Spain was
fought. New empires had emerged and started to assault all the Portuguese
Empire; Portugal regained some, but much was lost, especially in Asia.
Immigration to Brazil took place on a massive scale, and in 1709, King John
V prohibited emigration, since Portugal had lost a very sizable amount of
its population. Lisbon was destroyed in 1755 earthquake. From 1801, the
country was occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, and lost Olivença (part of
the national territory) to Spain (ally of France). Shortly after, the
Kingdom of Brazil proclaimed its independence in 1822.
A 1910 revolution deposed the Portuguese monarchy starting the First
Republic. It was marked by chaos, and came to an end in 1926 when a
nationalist military coup d'etat gave birth to the Second Republic, a period
of almost fifty years of repressive rule. Although a stable period
financially and economically, it saw the beginning of the end of the
Portuguese Empire. India annexed Portuguese India, including Goa, in 1961.
Independence movements also became active in Angola, Mozambique, and
Portuguese Guinea, and an increasingly costly series of colonial wars failed
to defeat the guerrillas. Discontent about the war was one of the factors
leading to the 1974 Revolution.
The Carnation Revolution of 1974, an effectively bloodless left-wing
military coup, installed the Third Republic. Broad democratic reforms were
implemented. In 1975, Portugal granted independence to its Overseas
Provinces (Províncias Ultramarinas in Portuguese) in Africa. In 1976,
Indonesia invaded and annexed the Portuguese province of East Timor in Asia
before independence could be granted. The Asian dependency of Macau, was
returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1999. Portugal applied international
pressure to grant East Timor's independence from Indonesia and claimed that
East Timor was still a Portuguese dependency, recognized by the United
Nations. After a referendum in 1999, East Timor voted for independence and
Portugal recognized its independence in 2002.
With the 1975-76 independence of its colonies (except Macau, because it
hadn't any independentist movement), the 560 year old Portuguese Empire had
already effectively ended. With it, 15 years of war effort also came to an
end. Also many Portuguese returned from the colonies, coming to comprise a
sizeable sector of the population and starting an economic recovery, thus
opening new paths for the country's future just as others closed. In 1986,
Portugal entered the European Union.
Politics
The four main organs of Portuguese politics are the President, the
Parliament, the Government, and the Judiciary.
The President, elected to a 5-year term by universal suffrage is also
commander in chief of the armed forces. Presidential powers include
appointing the Prime Minister, guided by the parliamentary election results,
and the Council of Ministers, named by the Prime Minister. Some other major
powers include dismissing the Government, dissolving the Parliament, and
declaring war or peace. These have several constitutional restrictions,
namely the need to previously consult the presidential advisory body. This
is the Council of State, composed of six senior civilian officers, all
former presidents elected since 1976, and ten citizens, five chosen by the
President and other five by the Parliament. The most commonly used power is
that of approving or vetoing any legislation.
The Parliament, or Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República in
Portuguese) is a unicameral body composed of 230 deputies. It is elected by
universal suffrage according to a system of proportional representation.
Deputies serve terms of office of 4 years, unless the president dissolves
the assembly and calls for new elections. It is the main legislative body.
The President of Parliament substitutes for the President in the event of
his absence.
The Government is headed by the Prime Minister, who names the Council of
Ministers. A new government is required to define the broad outline of its
policy in a program and present it to the Parliament for a mandatory period
of debate. Failure of the assembly to reject the program by a majority of
deputies confirms the government in office.
The Courts have several categories, including judicial, administrative and
fiscal. The national Supreme Court is the court of last appeal. A
nine-member Constitutional Tribunal reviews the constitutionality of
legislation.
The national and regional governments are dominated by two political
parties, the PSD (Partido Social Democrata) - Social Democrats and the PS
(Partido Socialista) – Socialists. Within the Portuguese political culture,
the PSD is described as center-right and the PS is described as center-left.
Other parties with seat in the parliament are the PP (Partido Popular) –
Popular Party, PCP (Partido Comunista Português) – Communists, Os Verdes –
The Greens and the BE (Bloco de Esquerda) – Left Block. Both BE, Os Verdes
and PCP are left wing and the PP right wing. As of 2004, a coalition between
the PSD (main party) and PP is governing Portugal in the 16th constitutional
government, led by Pedro Santana Lopes, substituting Durão Barroso. Barroso
resigned to become President-designate of the European Commission.
In a survey for nationalist pride and European issues made by a newspaper in
Portugal in 1994, reveled that only 9% of the Portuguese people would
consider themselves as very little or not at all nationalist, while 43%
consider themselves as a lot or extremely nationalist. But when the question
is federalism in Europe, Portuguese people do not see a contradiction
between an European identity and nationalism, 51% of the interviewed would
even agree with Portugal's integration in a supposed United States of
Europe, while 27% would be against (22% do not have an opinion). Portuguese
public opinion and media tend to be Europhile, in the EuroBarometer's 2004
Spring survey, 60% of the Portuguese trusted in the EU.
Portugal has a territorial dispute with Spain. By the Vienna Treaty of 1815,
Spain agreed to return Olivença (Olivenza in Spanish) to Portugal, but this
promise has never been kept. Portugal has periodically reasserted its claim
to the territory. This issue has been discussed at the Portuguese Parliament
as recently as 2004. Olivença is still considered to be Portuguese
territory, despite being under Spanish administration since 1801.
Districts and regions
Mainland Portugal is currently divided into 18 districts (Portuguese:
distritos): Aveiro, Beja, Braga, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Évora,
Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisbon, Portalegre, Porto, Santarém, Setúbal, Viana do
Castelo, Vila Real and Viseu.
There are two Autonomous Regions: the Azores and Madeira islands. Each
district and region is further subdivided into municipalities.
As of 2004, the Portuguese Districts are slated to be abolished and replaced
by new Metropolitan Areas and Urban Communities, with different levels of
autonomy (highest to lowest). Each municipality is to choose which region to
be included in, and the level of autonomy granted will depend on the
population of the new region:
Autonomous regions: Azores, and Madeira;
Metropolitan Areas: Lisbon, Porto, Minho, Aveiro, Coimbra, Algarve, and
Viseu;
Urban Communities: Oeste, Vale do Sousa, Leiria, Lezíria do Tejo, Baixo
Alentejo, Trás-os-Montes, Valimar, Centro Alentejo, Baixo Tâmega, Douro,
Médio Tejo, Beiras, Beira Interior Sul, and Alto Alentejo;
Intermunicipal communities: Pinhal, and Vale do Minho.
Geography
Continental Portugal is split in two by its main river, the Tagus (Tejo). To
the north the landscape is mountainous in the interior areas with plateaus,
cut by four breakings lines that allow the development of relevant
agricultural areas. Portugal's highest point, however, is Mount Pico (2351m)
in the Azores.
The south down as far as the Algarve features mostly rolling plains with a
climate somewhat warmer and drier than the cooler and rainier north. Other
major rivers include the Douro, the Minho and the Guadiana, similar to the
Tagus in that all originate in Spain. Another important river, the Mondego,
originates in the Serra da Estrela (the highest mountains in mainland
Portugal - 1,991 m). The islands of the Azores and Madeira are volcanic in
origin, and in the Azores, one to nine volcanoes are possibly active.
In mainland Portugal, average temperatures are 13ºC in the North and 18ºC in
the South. Madeira and Azores, due to their location in the Atlantic, are
rainy and wet, and have a narrower range of temperatures.
Economy
Portugal has developed an increasingly service-based economy since joining
the European Union in 1986, a development that began with the boom of the
1960s. Over the past decade, successive governments have privatised many
state-controlled firms and liberalised key areas of the economy, including
the financial and telecommunications sectors. Today, Portugal is a developed
nation. It joined the Economic and Monetary Union in 1998 and began
circulating its new currency, the euro, on January 1, 2002 along with 11
other EU members.
As of 2004, economic growth has been above the EU average for much of the
past decade, but GDP per capita stands at just 75% of that of the leading EU
economies. Portuguese GDP grew 1.5% in real terms in the second quarter of
2004 compared with the same period in 2003, by virtue of favourable domestic
conditions. It benefited from investment and private consumer spending.
Exports increased, but not in comparison with the strong growth of imports.
In the same quarter the unemployment rate was 6.3%. In 2003, GDP per capita
shrank 1%, due to a larger than expected population, low rates of investment
and an internationally weak economic climate.
The country still has a 6.7 percent illiteracy rate, mostly among the
elderly. Portugal needs to advance structural reforms to boost the country's
economic competitiveness. Portugal has been increasingly overshadowed by
lower-cost producers in Central Europe and Asia as a target for foreign
direct investment.
Demographics
As of 2004 Portugal has 10.5 million inhabitants.
Portugal is a fairly homogeneous country linguistically and religiously.
Ethnically, Portuguese are a combination of several ethnicities, primarelly
native Iberians, Romans, Celts, and Visigoths. Other elements are Moors,
Suevi and Phoenician. Even so, Portuguese people are ethnically homogenous.
The country is characterized by city, town or village cultural
differentiation and there is virtually no regional affiliation, unlike other
European countries. Portuguese is spoken throughout the country, with only
the villages of Miranda de Douro's Leonese dialect recognised as a locally
co-official language. It is known as Mirandese. The closely related Asturian
dialect in Spain is another Leonese dialect but not officially recognized by
Spain.
Almost ten percent of Portugal's citizens are immigrants. Since the
decolonization period, Portugal has received immigrants from the former
African colonies, and from Europe (especially the United Kingdom, Germany
and France - the climate, culture, and relatively low cost of living are the
main attractions). Today, many Eastern Europeans (especially Ukrainians,
Moldavans, Romanians and Russians), as well as Brazilians, are making
Portugal their home in search of a better life. Portugal, long a country of
emigration, has now become a country of immigration.
The great majority of the Portuguese population belongs to the Roman
Catholic Church. Religious observance remains very strong in northern areas,
with the population of Lisbon and southern areas generally less devout.
Religious minorities include a little over 300,000 Protestants and members
of independent sects, 50,000 Muslims (many of them from Goa, a former
Portuguese colony on the west coast of India, 10,000 Hindus (also largely
from Goa), and 1000 Jews. A considerably larger number of people have some
Jewish heritage, and although themselves Catholic, still observe some Jewish
customs.
Culture
Portugal is known for its traditional architecture, its wines, its food, and
its literature.
Portugal is sometimes known as "a country of poets". As a matter of fact,
Portuguese poetry has a larger influence in the country's literature than
prose. In the dawn of nationhood, poetry in Portuguese-Galician was widely
popular in most Christian Iberian Peninsula. There are excellent works of
both lyrical and epic poetry. The best-known Portuguese poets
internationally are Luís de Camões and Fernando Pessoa. Modern Portuguese
poetry, since the 19th century, has its roots in a handful of relevant
poets, from neo-classicism to contemporary.
Prose developed later than verse and first appeared in the 14th century. The
line of the chroniclers, which is one of the boasts of Portuguese
literature, began with Fernão Lopes. Gil Vicente and the priest António
Vieira are some pre-modern Portuguese writers. It is the modern Portuguese
literature that is more internationally known, mostly the works of Almeida
Garrett, Alexandre Herculano, Eça de Queirós, Sophia de Mello Breyner
Andresen, António Lobo Antunes and the 1998 Nobel Prize for literature
winner, José Saramago.
Fado (destiny in Portuguese) is a form of melancholic music. The music is
linked to the Portuguese word saudade (a word with no accurate equivalent in
English; it conveys a complex mixture of sadness, pain, longing and love,
along with other feelings), and its origins are probably from a mixture of
African slave rhythms with traditional music of Portuguese sailors, with
Arabic influence. There are two varieties of Fado: Lisbon and Coimbra. The
Lisbon style is the popular, while the Coimbra's is the refined style; both
are seen as ethnic music for sophisticated audience. The notable Amália
Rodrigues introduced the most well-known variety of fado. After her
disappearance, a new wave of performers added stylistic changes and brought
more international popularity to the traditional Portuguese music. Mariza
and Mísia, brought with them a new look to the traditional song, while Dulce
Pontes mixed it with popular Portuguese music and Madredeus, made a complete
revolution, with new instruments -- all that they kept from the original
Fado is its looks and the concept of "saudade". All varieties of Fado are
sorrowful; although some can also be joyful songs.
Portuguese pop-rock has grown particularly after the 1974 revolution. The
most notable bands and musicians are Xutos e Pontapés, GNR, Rui Veloso, Clã,
Pedro Abrunhosa and Silence Four. Other genres include a local version of
hip hop, by descendants of immigrants from former Portuguese colonies in
Africa. Hip hop tuga (Portuguese hip hop) is very popular among the younger
population in Portugal. Cool Hipnoise, Da Weasel and Mind da Gap are some of
the most popular and are becoming internationally known.
A typical aspect of Portugal is its architecture, influenced by several
early civilizations but unique to the nation.Other musicians include the
globally recognized pianist Maria João Pires and the Portuguese guitarist
Carlos Paredes. In architecture, the name Siza Vieira is well known.
As for dancing, Portugal has the traditional folklore (Ranchos Folclóricos),
with many varieties from each region. Portugal shares with Angola a shared
rhythm known as "Kuduro", a sort of 'hard samba' with fast movements and
extreme sensuality and strong African rhythm.
European football is the most popular and practiced sport in Portugal. As of
August 2004, the country is ranked 12th in 205 countries by FIFA. Luís Figo
is one of the world's top players, but the legendary Eusébio, Rui Costa and
Cristiano Ronaldo are also noteworthy. Portugal also very well represented
in other sports, such has Rink hockey, being the country with most world
titles.
The country has an ancient martial art known as "Jogo do Pau" (Eng., Stick
Game), used for self-protection and for duels between young men in dispute
over a young women. Having its origin in the middle ages, Jogo do Pau uses
wooden sticks as a combat weapon. Other sports are the "Jogos Populares", a
wide variety of traditional sports used for fun.
Eating in Portugal is often a visitor's most remembered characteristic of
the country. Each region of Portugal has its own traditional dishes,
including various kinds of meat, sea-food, diverse and fresh fish.
Portuguese have a reputation for loving cod dishes. For that there are 365
ways of making cod dishes. The Romans associated Portugal with Bacchus,
their God of Winery and Feast. Today the country is known by wine lovers,
and its wines had won several international prizes. Many famous Portuguese
wines are known as some of the world's best: Vinho Verde, Vinho do Douro,
Vinho do Alentejo, Vinho do Dão, and the sweet: Port Wine, Madeira wine and
the Moscatels of Setúbal and Favaios.
Festivals play a major role in Portugal's summers. Every city and town has
its own or several festivals. The June Festivities are extremelly popular,
these festivities are dedicated to three saints known as Santos Populares
(En., Popular saints) and take place all over Portugal. Why the populace
associated the saints with these pagan festivities is not known. The
practice is possibly related to Roman or local deities before Christianity
spread in the region. The three saints are Saint Anthony, Saint John and
Saint Peter. A common denominator in these festivities are the wine and
água-pé (a drink basically constituted by grape juice), traditional bread
along with sardines, marriages, traditional street dances, fire, fireworks
and joy.
Saint Anthony is celebrated on the nights of the 12th and 13th, especially
in Lisbon (where that saint was born and lived most of his life), with
Marchas Populares (a sort of street carnival) and festivities. In the
meantime, several marriages known as Casamentos de Santo António (En.,
Marriages of Saint Anthony) are celebrated at the same time. But the most
popular saint is Saint John. He is celebrated in many cities and towns
throughout the country on the nights of the 23rd and 24th, especially in
Porto and Braga, where the sardines, Caldo Verde (traditional soup) and
plastic hammers to hammer on other peoples' heads for luck are
indispensable. The final Saint is Saint Peter, celebrated on the nights of
the 28th and 29th, especially in Póvoa de Varzim and Barcelos, festivities
are similar to the others, but mostly dedicated to the sea and extensive use
of fire (fogueiras). In Póvoa de Varzim, there is the Rusgas in the night,
another sort of street carnival. Each festivity is a municipal holiday in
the cities and towns where it occurs. Carnival is also widely celebrated in
Portugal
