Portugal
Name
| Official name | Portuguese Republic — República Portuguesa |
|---|---|
| Former names | The Kingdom of Portugal (1139–1910) and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (1815–22); the Estado Novo (1933–74), the "New State" of Salazar; the First Republic (1910–26); the County of Portugal of 868 and 1096; the Iberian Union of the Spanish kings (1580–1640); Lusitania of the Romans |
| Demonym | Portuguese; português, portuguesa; "Lusitanian" of the poets, "tuga" of the slang |
| Meaning of the name | From Portus Cale, the Roman port at the mouth of the Douro of today's Porto and Gaia, the "port of Cale," the county of Portucale of the 800s that gave the kingdom its name; the "Lusitania" of the Lusitanians of Viriathus the Romans' name for the province |
| Motto | None official — the "Esta é a ditosa pátria minha amada," "this is my blessed and beloved homeland," of Camões's Lusiads; the "Por mar nunca dantes navegado," "by seas never sailed before" |
Quick facts
| Capital | Lisbon — Lisboa — the capital since 1255, the Olissipo of the Romans and the city of 1147 and 1755; about 550,000 in the city and 2.9 million in the metropolis |
|---|---|
| Largest cities | Lisbon; Porto, about 230,000 in the city and 1.7 million in the metropolis of the north, the port wine and the Ribeira; Vila Nova de Gaia of the port lodges; Amadora and Sintra of the Lisbon suburbs; Braga of the Bom Jesus; Coimbra of the university of 1290; Funchal of Madeira; Setúbal; Almada of the Christ statue; Aveiro of the canals; Faro of the Algarve; Guimarães, the "cradle of the nation" and the Green Capital of 2026; Évora of the Roman temple; Ponta Delgada of the Azores; Leiria of the storms of 2026 |
| Official language | Portuguese — the language of the Lusiads, of Pessoa, Saramago's Nobel of 1998 and Lobo Antunes, dead on 5 March 2026, the fifth most spoken language of the world by the count of 260 million across Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé, East Timor, Goa and Macau, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries; Mirandese, the Astur-Leonese language of Miranda do Douro, co-official there by the law of 1999 for 10,000 speakers; Portuguese Sign Language in the Constitution since 1997; English by 60% and the tourism, Spanish understood, French of the emigrants' return |
| Currency | Euro — EUR, €; 100 cents; since 1 January 1999 and the notes of 1 January 2002 at 200.482 escudos; the escudo of 1911–2002 |
| Time zone | Western European Time, UTC+0, on the mainland and Madeira, summer time UTC+1; the Azores UTC−1 and UTC+0 in summer |
| Calling code | +351 |
| Internet domain | .pt |
| ISO 3166 codes | PT · PRT · 620 |
| Vehicle registration code | P |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 230 V, 50 Hz; plug types C and F |
| Independence | 25 July 1139, the Battle of Ourique and Afonso Henriques's title of king by the tradition; 5 October 1143, the Treaty of Zamora, the recognition by León and Castile; 1 December 1640, the Restoration of the independence from the Spanish crown after the sixty years of the Iberian Union, the Restoration Day; 5 October 1910, the Republic; 25 April 1974, the Revolution; the oldest state of Europe with its borders |
| National days | 10 June, Portugal Day, the Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities, for the poet's death of 1580; 25 April, Freedom Day, the Carnation Revolution; 5 October, Republic Day; 1 December, Restoration of Independence; 1 May; 15 August; 1 November; 8 December; Good Friday and Easter; Corpus Christi; 25 December; 1 January; the Santo António of Lisbon of 13 June and the São João of Porto of 24 June of the sardines and the hammers; the 13 May of Fátima |
| Constitution | 2 April 1976 — the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, adopted by the Constituent Assembly elected on the first anniversary of the Revolution and in force on 25 April 1976, the charter of the semi-presidential republic of the president elected by the people for five years and two consecutive terms with the veto, the dissolution and the "magistracy of influence," the prime minister of the Assembly's confidence, the Assembly of the Republic of 230, the Constitutional Court, the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira; the socialist clauses of 1976 pruned by the seven revisions of 1982 to 2005, the Council of the Revolution abolished in 1982; the fiftieth anniversary marked on 2 April 2026; the Constitutional Court that struck the nationality law's loss-of-citizenship clause on 8 May 2026 |
| Population | 10,343,066 at the census of 2021; about 10.7 million (INE, 2026 est.) — rising on the immigration after the decline of 2010–17 |
| Area | 92,090 km² (35,556 sq mi) — land 91,470 km², water 620 km²; the mainland 89,015 km², the Azores 2,333, Madeira 801; the exclusive economic zone of 1.7 million km², the third-largest of the Union |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | Two vertical bands of green at the hoist, two-fifths of the length, and red at the fly, with the national coat of arms — the shield of the five blue escutcheons and the seven castles on the golden armillary sphere — centered on the line between them; the green for hope and the red for the blood of the nation by the Republic's reading, the colors of the republican party that replaced the blue and white of the monarchy, adopted by the decree of 30 June 1911 after the revolution of 5 October 1910 and designed by the committee of the painter Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro; the armillary sphere of Manuel I and the Discoveries, the quinas of Ourique, the castles of the Algarve; the flag that the Revolution of 1974 kept.Flag of Portugal |
|---|---|
| Coat of arms | The shield of Portugal — five blue escutcheons in a cross, the quinas, each with five silver bezants, on a white field, for the five Moorish kings Afonso Henriques defeated at Ourique and the five wounds of Christ by the legend, within a red border of seven golden castles for the Algarve of 1249 — set on the golden armillary sphere of the navigators, the emblem of Manuel I, in a ring of the green and red; adopted 30 June 1911; the older arms of the crown the monarchists keep |
| National anthem | "A Portuguesa" ("The Portuguese Song") — the music of Alfredo Keil and the words of Henrique Lopes de Mendonça of 1890, written in the fury of the British Ultimatum of 11 January 1890 that stopped the "pink map" of Africa, "Heróis do mar, nobre povo," "heroes of the sea, noble people," the "contra os canhões, marchar, marchar," the "against the cannons" that replaced the "against the British" of the first text; the song of the republicans banned by the monarchy and adopted by the Republic on 19 June 1911; the "Hino da Carta" of the monarchy before |
| National motto | None official |
| National colors | Green and red |
| National animal | The rooster of Barcelos, the galo, the painted cockerel of the legend of the pilgrim saved from the gallows, the souvenir of every shop and the emblem of the tourism board; the Iberian wolf of the north and the Iberian lynx brought back to the Guadiana valley, the rarest cat of the world in 2002 and 2,000 now across the border; the Lusitano horse of the bullring, the Portuguese water dog of the fishermen and the White House, the sardine of the June feasts; widely cited |
| National flower | The lavender of the Alentejo, the carnation of the Revolution of 1974 put in the soldiers' rifles by the flower seller Celeste Caeiro; the cork oak, the sobreiro, the national tree by the law of 22 December 2011, protected since 1209, the trees of the Alentejo that give half the world's cork; the olive of the Alentejo groves; widely cited |
| National dish | Bacalhau — the salt cod of the 365 recipes, one for every day, the "faithful friend" of the Christmas Eve, the bacalhau à Brás and the com natas; the pastel de nata of Belém of the monks' recipe of 1837 and every café; the caldo verde soup of the kale, the sardinhas assadas of June, the francesinha of Porto, the cozido, the leitão of the Bairrada, the bifana, the polvo; the port wine of the Douro since 1703, the vinho verde, the Madeira; the Mediterranean diet on UNESCO's list; widely cited |
| National sport | Football — the Seleção of Eusébio's 1966, of Figo and Ronaldo, the European champions of 10 July 2016 at Paris, the Nations League of 2019 at home and of 8 June 2025 at Munich over Spain on penalties, the World Cup of 2026 in North America of 11 June to 19 July of Ronaldo's sixth, Benfica, Porto and Sporting of the "big three," Porto's Champions Leagues of 1987 and 2004, the Mourinho of it; futsal, the world champions of 2021 and the European of 2018 and 2022; roller hockey of the 16 world titles, the most; surfing of Nazaré's giants, the 26-meter records; the athletics of Carlos Lopes's marathon gold of 1984 and Rosa Mota's of 1988, Pichardo's triple jump gold of 2021, Iúri Leitão's cycling gold of 2024; the canoeing of Fernando Pimenta; the judo; the Volta a Portugal and the Portimão of the MotoGP; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag and the arms by the decree of 30 June 1911; the anthem by the decree of 19 June 1911 and the Constitution's Article 11; the cork oak by the law of 2011; the animals, other plants, dishes and sports widely cited |
Geography
| Location | Southwestern Europe, the western edge of the Iberian peninsula on the Atlantic — Spain to the north and east along the whole land border, the Atlantic to the west and south; the Azores 1,500 km west in the mid-Atlantic and Madeira 1,000 km southwest off Morocco, the autonomous regions; Cabo da Roca the westernmost point of the European mainland, the Flores of the Azores the westernmost of Europe; Africa 250 km from the Algarve across Morocco |
|---|---|
| Land borders | 1,224 km (761 mi) with one neighbor — Spain, "the Raia," the border of the Treaty of Alcañices of 12 September 1297 between Denis of Portugal and Ferdinand IV of Castile, the oldest border of Europe in its line, along the Minho of the north, the Douro of the gorges, the mountains of the Beira and the Guadiana of the south to the Guadiana's mouth at Vila Real de Santo António, the Olivenza the Spanish hold since 1801 and Lisbon has never recognized, the 700 km of the dry border of the Raia of the smugglers of old and the dying villages; the Schengen border open since 1995 and the Covid closure of 2020 |
| Coastline | 1,793 km (1,114 mi) — the Minho and the Costa Verde of the north, the beaches of the Aveiro lagoon and the Nazaré of the giant waves, the Peniche and the Berlengas, the Cabo da Roca cliffs and the Estoril and Cascais of Lisbon's coast, the Tagus estuary, the Sado of the dolphins, the Alentejo coast of the empty beaches of the Vicentine, the Sagres of Henry the Navigator, the Algarve of the golden cliffs of Lagos and the Ria Formosa lagoon of Faro; the Azores of the whales and the Madeira of the levada cliffs; the exclusive economic zone of 1.7 million km², the third of the Union, and the claim on the extended shelf of 2 million more; the sardines of Matosinhos and the cod fleets of old |
| Highest point | Mount Pico, 2,351 m (7,713 ft), on Pico in the Azores; the Torre of the Serra da Estrela, 1,993 m, the mainland's highest; the Pico Ruivo of Madeira, 1,862 m |
| Lowest point | The Atlantic Ocean, 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 372 m (1,220 ft) |
| Rivers | The Tagus — Tejo — 1,007 km from the Sierra de Albarracín of Spain to the Atlantic at Lisbon, 275 km of it Portuguese, the longest river of the peninsula, the Vila Franca and Santarém of the floods of February 2026, the worst of the Tagus in thirty years, the estuary of the Lisbon bridges; the Douro, 897 km, 213 in Portugal, the river of the port wine terraces of the Alto Douro of the World Heritage and of Porto's Ribeira and the five dams; the Guadiana of the Spanish border and the Alqueva; the Mondego, 234 km, the longest wholly Portuguese, of Coimbra and the levee that burst on 11 February 2026 and took the A1 with it; the Minho of the northern border; the Sado of Setúbal; the Vouga of Aveiro; the Lima, the Cávado, the Zêzere of the dams, the Mira; the Côa of the rock art |
| Lakes | The Alqueva reservoir on the Guadiana, 250 km², the largest artificial lake of Western Europe since the dam of 2002, the water of the Alentejo's olives and the drought; the Castelo do Bode of the Zêzere of Lisbon's water; the Sete Cidades of São Miguel in the Azores, the twin lakes of the crater, one green and one blue, of the legend of the princess and the shepherd, the Lagoa do Fogo and the Furnas of the hot springs; the Ria de Aveiro and the Ria Formosa of the lagoons; the Lagoa de Óbidos; the Pateira de Fermentelos, the largest natural lake of the peninsula's north; the glacial lakes of the Serra da Estrela |
| Terrain | The mountains of the north and center of the granite and the schist — the Peneda-Gerês of the only national park, the Marão, the Montesinho, the Serra da Estrela of the Torre and the glacial valleys, the Lousã; the Douro valley of the terraces; the plains of the Alentejo of the cork oaks and the wheat, the "beyond the Tagus" of the latifundia and the emptiness; the Algarve of the Monchique hills and the cliffs; the coastal lowlands of the Tagus estuary and the Aveiro lagoon; the Azores of the nine volcanic islands of the Pico and the calderas; Madeira of the Pico Ruivo and the laurel forest of the World Heritage, the Porto Santo of the beach; the Selvagens; the Berlengas |
| Climate | Mediterranean on the south and the coast and oceanic on the north — Lisbon at 17°C in the year with the summers of 28°C and the winters of 11 and the 700 mm of rain of the winter, the Algarve of the 300 days of sun, the Minho green with 1,500 mm, the Serra da Estrela of the snow; the heat waves of 47°C of 2003 and 2022 in the Alentejo, the record 47.4 at Amareleja; the droughts of 2005, 2017 and 2022–23 and the Almada water alert of July 2026; the Atlantic storms of the winter, Kristin of January 2026 the fiercest with the record gust of 208.8 km/h at Soure; the Azores of the mild and wet and the anticyclone of the weather maps; Madeira of the eternal spring at 20°C |
| Natural hazards | Wildfires — the Pedrógão Grande fire of 17 June 2017 with 66 dead on the road of Figueiró and the October fires of 2017 with 50 more, the deadliest of the country's history, the eucalyptus of the blame; the fires of September 2024, of August 2025 that burned a record 280,000 hectares of the north and center with four dead, and of July and August 2026 of the heat wave, the European mechanism activated on 3 July 2026, the seven firefighters of Arouca critically burned on 20 August; storms — Kristin of 28 January 2026 with 14 dead, 2,000 injured, the gusts of 208.8 km/h at Soure and 238 unofficial at Lavos, €6 billion of damage in the center and the state of calamity of 29 January, Leonardo of 5 February with the floods of the Tagus and the Mondego, the A1 collapsed at Coimbra on 11 February, the presidential runoff postponed to 15 February for 36,852 voters of the flooded areas, the home minister resigned; earthquakes — the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1 November 1755, magnitude 8.5 to 9, with the tsunami and the fire, 30,000 to 50,000 dead and the city razed, the Enlightenment's shock, the Azores of 1980 with 61 dead at Terceira, the 1969 of the Algarve, the tremors of 2026 felt at Lisbon on 19 February and 10 August and in the Algarve on 28 June; the droughts; the Madeira flood of 20 February 2010 with 51 dead; the emergency delays of the INEM of January 2026 |
| Natural resources | Cork — the cork oaks of the Alentejo, half the world's cork and the Corticeira Amorim of the wine stoppers; lithium of the Barroso and the Beira, the largest reserves of Europe, the Savannah mine of Boticas licensed in 2023 against the villages' fight, the Union's critical mineral; tungsten of the Panasqueira mine, the largest of Europe since 1898; copper and zinc of the Neves-Corvo of the Alentejo, the largest copper mine of the Union; the marble of Estremoz and Vila Viçosa; the fish of the sardines, the tuna and the octopus; the forests of the pine and the eucalyptus of the paper; the wine of the Douro, the Dão, the Alentejo and the Vinho Verde; the olives; the sun and the wind of the renewables at 70% of the power; the beaches and the sea of the tourists |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 39%, the olives, the vines, the cork oaks and the wheat of the Alentejo; forest about 38%, the eucalyptus of the paper mills and the pine, the cork and holm oaks of the montado, the fires' fuel; the urban of the coast |
| National parks | 1 national park and 13 natural parks on about 8% of the land — Peneda-Gerês of 1971 on the Galician border, the granite mountains of the Iberian wolves, the wild ponies and the Roman road; the Serra da Estrela natural park of the Torre; the Arrábida of the cliffs of Setúbal; the Sintra-Cascais of the palaces; the Ria Formosa of the Algarve lagoon; the Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast; the Montesinho and the Douro International; the Tejo International; the Berlengas reserve; the Azores' island parks and the Madeira natural park of the laurel forest, two-thirds of the island; the Alvão, the Serras de Aire e Candeeiros of the caves; the Paul do Boquilobo of the herons |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 17 — the Central Zone of the Town of Angra do Heroismo in the Azores (1983), the Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon (1983), the Monastery of Batalha (1983), the Convent of Christ in Tomar (1983), the Historic Centre of Évora (1986), the Monastery of Alcobaça (1989), the Cultural Landscape of Sintra (1995), the Historic Centre of Oporto, Luiz I Bridge and Monastery of Serra do Pilar (1996), the Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley and Siega Verde (1998, extended 2010 with Spain), the Laurisilva of Madeira (1999), the Alto Douro Wine Region (2001), the Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zone (2001, extended 2023), the Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture (2004), the Garrison Border Town of Elvas and its Fortifications (2012), the University of Coimbra, Alta and Sofia (2013), the Royal Building of Mafra (2019) and the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga (2019); the fado (2011), the Mediterranean diet (2013, shared), the cante alentejano (2014), the Estremoz clay figures (2017), the winter festivities of Podence (2019) and the Campo Maior street festival (2021) on the intangible list |
| Administrative divisions | 18 districts of the mainland — Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Setúbal, Aveiro, Leiria, Faro, Coimbra, Santarém, Viseu, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Castelo Branco, Évora, Guarda, Beja, Bragança and Portalegre — the units of the civil governors abolished in 2011 and of the elections; the 2 autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira since 1976 with their own governments and legislative assemblies, the Azores under the PSD's Bolieiro and Madeira under Albuquerque; 308 municipalities with mayors and councils elected 12 October 2025 for four years, the PSD the largest, Carlos Moedas kept in Lisbon; 3,092 parishes; the seven regions of the statistics and the "regionalization" the referendum of 1998 refused |
People
| Population | 10,343,066 (census of 2021); about 10.7 million (2026 est.) |
|---|---|
| Population density | About 116 per km² (300 per sq mi) — Lisbon's district at 1,000, the Alentejo at 20, the interior emptying |
| Population growth | About 0.5% a year — the immigrants of 100,000 and more a year from 2022 against the deaths above the births by 30,000, the reversal of the loss of 2010–17 when the crisis sent the young to London and Luxembourg |
| Median age | About 47 years — the second-oldest of the European Union after Italy |
| Life expectancy | About 82 years |
| Fertility rate | About 1.4 births per woman |
| Urban population | About 68% |
| Adult literacy | About 96% — the illiteracy of the old of Salazar's schools |
| Ethnic groups | Portuguese about 89% by the count of the nationals, the people of the Lusitanians, the Romans, the Suebi, the Visigoths, the Moors and the Jews of the peninsula's layers; the foreigners about 1.5 million, 15% and doubled in five years by the estimates of 2025 — the Brazilians of 500,000 the largest, the Cape Verdeans, Angolans, Guineans and São Tomeans of the old empire and the Lisbon suburbs of the 1970s, the Indians, Nepalis and Bangladeshis of the fields of the Alentejo and the shops of the 2020s, the Ukrainians of 2022, the British, French, Germans and Americans of the retirement and the golden visas of the Algarve and Lisbon, the Chinese of the shops, the Romanians and Moldovans; the Roma of 50,000 of the six centuries; the Afro-Portuguese of the Amadora of the Odair Moniz killing of October 2024 and the riots |
| Languages | Portuguese by 95% as the mother tongue, the European Portuguese of the closed vowels the Brazilians find hard; Mirandese of the northeast by 10,000; the Portuguese Sign Language; Cape Verdean Creole of the Lisbon suburbs, Brazilian Portuguese of the half million, Ukrainian, Romanian, Hindi and Nepali of the new; English by 60% and the "estrangeiros" who never learn; the Spanish of the border and the "portunhol"; the Galician of the north the cousin |
| Religion | Roman Catholic 80.2% by the census of 2021, from 81% in 2011 and 95% in 1981, the church of Fátima of the apparitions of 13 May 1917 and the pilgrimage of the millions, of the Santo António and the São João, of the World Youth Day of August 2023 with the pope and 1.5 million at Lisbon, of the abuse report of 13 February 2023 that counted 4,800 victims and of the compensation of March 2026 to 57 of them; none 14.1% and the young of the cities; other Christian 2.6%, the Evangelicals of the Brazilians, the Orthodox of the Ukrainians and Romanians, the Jehovah's Witnesses; Muslim 0.4%, the Bangladeshis and the Lisbon mosque, the "burqa law" of August 2026; Hindu 0.2%, the Goans and Gujaratis of the Lisbon temple the prime minister of India visits; Jewish of the Sephardic return of the citizenship law of 2015, the Belmonte of the hidden Jews; Buddhist; the Fátima of Salazar and of the popes of 1967, 1982, 1991, 2000, 2010 and 2017 |
| Human Development Index | 0.890 (2023 data, 2025 report) — very high; about 33rd of 193 |
| The newcomers and the law | The immigration of the 2020s that turned the country of emigrants into one of immigrants — the "manifestation of interest" of the open door of 2017 closed on 3 June 2024, the million foreigners of 2023 and 1.5 million of 2025, the AIMA of the backlog of 400,000 files, the Bangladeshis of the Martim Moniz square and the Indians of the Odemira greenhouses, the "Ventura" of the Chega that rose on it from one seat of 2019 to 60 of 2025 and the runoff of 2026; the nationality law of 1 April 2026 of the PSD, Chega, CDS and Liberals that lengthened the residence to ten years and seven for the Lusophones, promulgated by the president on 3 May with the reservation for the pending files, the loss-of-nationality penalty for the serious crimes struck by the Constitutional Court on 8 May 2026 for the second time; the "burqa law" of the face concealment promulgated on 18 August 2026; the police of the Lisbon precincts detained on 5 May 2026 in the torture inquiry of the migrants and the homeless; the neo-Nazis of the Grupo 1143 of the 37 arrests of 20 January 2026 and the Movimento Armilar Lusitano charged on 19 June with plotting attacks on the prime minister, Costa, the former presidents and 80 public figures; the "housing crisis" of the rents that doubled, the "Mais Habitação" and the golden visas ended for the property in 2023 |
| Sport | Football — the Seleção of the World Cup of 2026 of Ronaldo at 41, the Nations League of 8 June 2025, Euro 2016, the Benfica–Porto–Sporting of the league and the 124 arrested at the futsal derby of 19 February 2026, the Estádio da Luz and the Dragão, the Mourinho, the Bernardo Silva and the Bruno Fernandes; Ronaldo's 940 goals and the most international goals of any man; futsal's world title of 2021; the roller hockey of Portugal's 16 worlds and Benfica; surfing at Nazaré of the Praia do Norte, the 26.21 m of Sebastian Steudtner of 2020 and the records since; the Olympics of Paris 2024 with Iúri Leitão's omnium gold and the four medals, Pichardo's silver; the marathon of Lopes and Mota, the Lisbon Half of the bridge; the canoeing of Pimenta; the Volta a Portugal of August and the death of the British cyclist Finlay Tarling on its eighth stage of 14 August 2026; the Estoril and Portimão circuits; the Estoril tennis; the golf of the Algarve |
| Diaspora | About 5 million Portuguese and their descendants abroad, the "communities" of the ministry — France of 1.3 million of the emigration of the 1960s and the Paris banlieue, Brazil of the millions of descent of the colony and the 1900s, the United States of 1.5 million of Massachusetts and California of the Azoreans, Canada, Switzerland of 300,000, Luxembourg where the Portuguese are 15% of the country, Venezuela of the Madeirans, South Africa, Angola and Mozambique of the returnees' children, Britain of the 2010s, Germany; the votes of the two diaspora seats of the Assembly; the remittances of €4 billion; the "10 June" of the Communities; the return of the emigrants of the crisis under the tax breaks |
Government
| Form of government | Unitary semi-presidential republic under the Constitution of 1976 — the president elected by the people for five years and two consecutive terms as head of state with the veto the Assembly overrides by an absolute majority, the referral to the Constitutional Court, the dissolution of the Assembly and the "magistracy of influence" of the Belém Palace; the prime minister named by the president on the Assembly's result and responsible to it; the Assembly of the Republic of 230 of one house; the Constitutional Court; the autonomous regions; the "cohabitation" of a Socialist president and a Social Democratic government since March 2026; "free" by Freedom House, the "full democracy" of the index; the Revolution of 1974 the founding |
|---|---|
| President | António José Seguro (Socialist Party — PS), since 9 March 2026 — the twenty-first president of the Republic and the eighth of the democracy, the first Socialist in the Belém Palace since Jorge Sampaio left it in 2006; born 11 March 1962 at Penamacor in the Beira, the political scientist and lecturer, the secretary of state for youth of 1995–97 under Guterres and the minister of 2001–02, the secretary-general of the Socialist Party of 23 July 2011 to 28 September 2014, the leader of the opposition of the bailout years beaten in the primary of 2014 by António Costa and out of politics for a decade, the "moderate" and the "boring" of his own joke; the candidate of the party's doubts who won the first round of 18 January 2026 with 31% ahead of Ventura's 23%, Cotrim de Figueiredo's 16%, Gouveia e Melo's 12% and Marques Mendes's 11%, the Social Democrats' lowest ever, on the turnout of 61.5% and 52.4% of the register, and the runoff of 8 February 2026 by 66.84% to 33.16%, 3,502,613 votes to 1,737,950, the largest margin and the most votes of any Portuguese election, the flooded municipalities voting on 15 February, the liberal, the admiral and the left rallied to him against the "extremism," the PSD neutral; sworn 9 March 2026 before the Assembly, "stability" and "a golden opportunity for lasting solutions"; the promulgations of the nationality law of 3 May with his reservation and the "burqa law" of 18 August, the veto of the "ideological flags" bill of 10 June 2026, his first; the term to March 2031 |
| Prime Minister | Luís Montenegro (Social Democratic Party — PSD, the Democratic Alliance with the CDS), since 2 April 2024 — the head of the XXIV and XXV Constitutional Governments; born 16 February 1973 at Porto and raised at Espinho, the lawyer, the deputy for Aveiro since 2005 and the leader of the Social Democratic caucus of 2011–17 of the austerity years of Passos Coelho, the president of the party since 28 May 2022 and re-elected in March 2026 as the sole candidate with 95% on a turnout of 27%, the lowest; the winner of 10 March 2024 by 80 seats to the Socialists' 78 after Costa's fall, the minority government of April 2024; the "Spinumviva" affair of his family's consulting firm and its clients of the spring of 2025, the confidence motion he called and lost on 11 March 2025 by 142 to 88, the snap election of 18 May 2025 he won with 32.7% and 91 seats, the second government sworn 5 June 2025; the budget of 2026 passed by the Socialists' abstention, the labor reform that fell on 19 June 2026 to Chega and the left after the general strikes of 11 December 2025 and 3 June 2026, the nationality and immigration laws with Chega's votes, the gender law repeal, the "burqa law"; the storms of 2026 and the calamity, the home minister Maria Lúcia Amaral resigned on 10 February 2026 over the response, the first of the government, Luís Neves the police chief in her place on 23 February and the inquiry of 21 July into his trailer; "governing case by case"; the Speaker José Pedro Aguiar-Branco; the term to 2029 |
| The 2025 and 2026 elections | The parliamentary election of 18 May 2025, the third in three years: the Democratic Alliance of the PSD and the CDS 32.7% and 91 seats; Chega of André Ventura 22.8% and 60, the official opposition for the first time, from 12 seats in 2022 and one in 2019; the Socialist Party of Pedro Nuno Santos 22.8% and 58, third by the seats, the leader resigned and José Luís Carneiro elected in June; the Liberal Initiative 5.4% and 9; Livre 4.2% and 6; the Communists and Greens 3; the Left Bloc 1; PAN 1; the JPP of Madeira 1; turnout 64%; the presidential election of 18 January and 8 February 2026 — the first round of eleven candidates: Seguro 31.1%, Ventura 23.5%, João Cotrim de Figueiredo of the Liberals 16%, Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo of the vaccination 12%, Luís Marques Mendes of the PSD 11%, Catarina Martins of the Left 3%, António Filipe of the Communists 2%; the runoff of Seguro by 66.84% on the turnout of 50%, the record margin over Mário Soares's of 1991, Ventura's 1.7 million the far right's ceiling of the year; the local elections of 12 October 2025 of the PSD's plurality and Moedas's Lisbon; the European election of 9 June 2024 of the PS's 8, the AD's 7 and Chega's 2 |
| Parliament | The Assembly of the Republic — Assembleia da República — of 230 deputies elected for four years by the d'Hondt method in the 18 districts, the two regions and the two circles of the emigrants of Europe and the world, the São Bento Palace of Lisbon; the president of the Assembly José Pedro Aguiar-Branco (PSD) since 2024; the AD 91, Chega 60, the PS 58, the IL 9, Livre 6, the PCP 3, the BE 1, PAN 1, JPP 1; the government's minority that needs Chega or the Socialists for every law, the budget of the abstention, the labor reform lost, the nationality law of the right, the gender law of 20 March 2026 that restored the medical validation and banned the puberty blockers; the Chega of Ventura of the "anti-corruption" and the immigration, the "official opposition" that blocked the government with the left; the Socialists of Carneiro; the Liberals of Mariana Leitão; the Livre of Rui Tavares |
| The next election | The parliamentary election by 2029, the four years from May 2025 if the Assembly runs its term, the third early election of the decade the fear; the presidential election of January 2031; the local elections of October 2029; the regional of the Azores and Madeira; the European of June 2029 |
| The republic and its parties | The two-party system of 1974–2019 broken — the Socialists of Mário Soares of 1973, of Guterres of 1995–2002, of Sócrates of the bailout and of Costa of 2015–24, the "geringonça" of the left of 2015 and the majority of 2022 that fell on 7 November 2023 when the prosecutors named Costa in the "Operation Influencer," the case that came to nothing, Costa the president of the European Council since 1 December 2024; the Social Democrats of Sá Carneiro of 1974, of Cavaco Silva of 1985–95 and Passos Coelho of the austerity, the "social democrats" of the center-right in name; Chega, "Enough," of André Ventura of 2019, the former Benfica commentator and PSD council member, the party of the "cleaning" of the corruption, the immigration and the Roma, the 60 seats and the 1.7 million of the runoff; the Liberal Initiative of the tax cuts; the Livre of the green left, the Left Bloc reduced to one, the Communists of 1921 the oldest party; the CDS of the Christian democrats in the alliance; the PAN of the animals; the "sanitary cordon" against Chega the Social Democrats keep and break by the vote |
| The storms and the calamity | The winter of 2026 — Storm Kristin of 28 January 2026, the "catastrophic" cyclone of the center with gusts of 208.8 km/h at Soure, the record of the country's history, and 238 unofficial at Lavos, 14 dead and 2,000 injured, the roofs of Leiria, Figueira da Foz and Coimbra torn off, the forests of the Pinhal de Leiria flattened, a million without power, the €6 billion of damage, the state of calamity of 29 January; Storm Leonardo of 5 February with the red alerts, the Tagus at its worst in thirty years, Santarém and Vila Franca evacuated, Alcácer do Sal and Leiria flooded, the Mondego levee burst and the A1 motorway, the country's spine, collapsed at Coimbra on 11 February and reopened on 27 February; the runoff of 8 February held in the rest of the country and on 15 February in the flooded municipalities for 36,852 voters; the home minister's resignation of 10 February; the Union's Solidarity Fund requested on 13 April 2026; the summer's fires of July and August, the heat, the Almada water alert of 9 July with the reservoirs at 10% |
| Legal system | Civil law of the Napoleonic codes and the Roman tradition — the Constitutional Court of 13, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Supreme Administrative Court, the courts of appeal of Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Évora and Guimarães; the death penalty abolished in 1867 for the civil crimes, among the first of the world, and in all cases in 1976, the last execution of 1846; the decriminalization of all drugs of 1 July 2001, the first country, the "dissuasion commissions" the world came to study; the same-sex marriage of 2010, the adoption of 2016; the euthanasia law of 2023 of the four votes and the vetoes, still not in force; the gender self-determination law of 2018 repealed on 20 March 2026; the "Operation Marquês" of Sócrates of the trial since 2024, the "Influencer" of Costa; the Odair Moniz verdict of 15 June 2026 of the three and a half years suspended for the policeman who shot the Cape Verdean cook at Amadora in October 2024; the Constitutional Court's two rulings on the nationality law; the Ombudsman |
| Local government | 308 municipalities with mayors and councils elected 12 October 2025 for four years, the PSD with the most councils, Carlos Moedas of the PSD kept in Lisbon and the PS in Porto's loss; the 3,092 parishes of the "juntas"; the 2 autonomous regions with their governments and assemblies, the Azores of the PSD-led coalition under José Manuel Bolieiro and Madeira of the PSD under Miguel Albuquerque, the elections of 2024 and 2025; the 18 districts without governments since 2011; the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto; the "CCDRs" of the five regions; the Guimarães of the European Green Capital of 2026 |
| Defense | The Portuguese Armed Forces of about 27,000 — the army, the navy of the frigates and the submarines of the oldest navy in continuous service, the air force of the F-16s and the KC-390s of Brazil, the paratrooper of Tancos killed in May 2026; the founding member of NATO of 4 April 1949, the Lajes air base of Terceira in the Azores of the Americans since 1943, the NATO of the Iran war of 2026 and the Atlantic; the defense spending toward 2% of GDP in 2025, the 3.5% of the pledge for 2035; the conscription ended 2004; the colonial war of 1961–74 of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea, 9,000 dead and the Revolution the captains made; the peacekeepers of Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic and Lithuania's air policing; the Anglo-Portuguese alliance of 1373, the oldest in the world still in force; the two soldiers killed on the A1 on 21 August 2026 |
| Foreign policy | The European Union of 1 January 1986 and the euro, the Portugal of the "good pupil" of Brussels, the presidencies of 1992, 2000, 2007 of the Lisbon Treaty and 2021, Costa at the European Council since 2024 and Guterres at the United Nations since 2017, the Union's Solidarity Fund of the storms; NATO of the founders and the Lajes; the Lusophone world of the CPLP of 1996, Brazil of the 500,000, Angola and Mozambique of the oil and the gas, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé, East Timor of 2002, the Macau of 1999 and the "Portuguese-speaking" China; Spain of the Iberian summits, the Olivenza and the lithium; Britain of the alliance and the Algarve; the United States of the Azores; India of the Goa of 1961 forgotten and the Modi of the temple; the Security Council seat won on 3 June 2026 for 2027–28 in the vote Germany lost; the Iran war of 2026 and the Gulf's Portuguese |
| United Nations | Member since 14 December 1955, the veto of the Soviets lifted in the package of sixteen; António Guterres the secretary-general since 1 January 2017 and re-elected for 2022–26; the Security Council seats of 1979–80, 1997–98, 2011–12 and the fourth of 2027–28 won on 3 June 2026; the peacekeepers; the UNESCO of the seventeen; the East Timor of the 1999 mission |
| Other memberships | NATO (1949), a founder; the European Union (1986), the eurozone (1999), the Schengen Area (1995); the OECD (1961); the Council of Europe (1976); the WTO (1995); the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (1996), a founder; the Ibero-American Summits; the Organization of Ibero-American States; the Union for the Mediterranean; the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance (1373); the Lisbon Treaty of 2007 signed at the Jerónimos |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$320 billion (2025, IMF) — the fiftieth economy of the world and the fifteenth of the European Union |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita | About US$30,000 (2025) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$50,000 (2025) — about 85% of the Union's average, from the 60% of the bailout |
| GDP growth | About 1.9% in 2024, about 2% in 2025 and about 2% expected in 2026, the storms' €6 billion and the rebuilding the year's weight and the tourists of the record the lift; inflation about 2%; the budget surplus of 2023, 2024 and 2025 and the balance of 2026, the public debt cut from 135% of GDP in 2020 to about 92%, the "A" ratings restored; unemployment about 6%; the minimum wage of €920 a month of 2026 from the €870 of 2025 and the €500 of 2015; the poverty of 16%; the "Portuguese success" of the Costa and Montenegro years and the wages the lowest of Western Europe |
| Economy by sector | Services about 75%, the tourism, the trade, the finance and the state; industry about 22%, the cars, the paper, the cork, the textiles, the shoes, the metals and the construction; agriculture and fishing about 2.5%, the wine, the olives, the tomatoes and the sardines |
| Currency | Euro (EUR) |
| Tourism | The engine — 31 million foreign visitors in 2024, the record, three times the population, the Britons, the Spanish, the French, the Germans, the Brazilians and the Americans of the 2020s, the Algarve of the beaches and the golf, Lisbon of the trams and the Web Summit, Porto of the wine lodges, Madeira of the levadas, the Azores of the whales, Sintra, Fátima, Nazaré, the Douro cruises; about 20% of GDP with the indirect, the largest earner of exports; the short-term rentals of the "Alojamento Local" of 100,000 flats and the housing they emptied, the licenses frozen in 2023 and freed in 2024; the tourist tax of Lisbon and Porto; the cruise ships of the Tagus; the Iran war of 2026 and the flights |
| Industry and the exports | The Autoeuropa plant of Volkswagen at Palmela of the T-Roc, the largest exporter of the country, and the Stellantis of Mangualde; the Navigator paper of the eucalyptus, the largest of Europe; the cork of Amorim; the textiles and the shoes of the north, the "Made in Portugal" of the Italian brands' factories, the third exporter of shoes of Europe; the molds of Marinha Grande; the refineries of Galp at Sines and Matosinhos; the wine of €1 billion of exports, the port, the Douro and the Alentejo; the olive oil of the Alentejo's super-intensive groves, the world's fastest-growing producer; the tomato paste; the lithium refinery of the plans; exports of about US$90 billion, to Spain at 25%, France, Germany, the United States and Britain; the EDP of the power, the Jerónimo Martins of the Pingo Doce and the Biedronka of Poland, the Galp, the Sonae, the Mota-Engil of the construction, the BCP and the Caixa of the banks, the Farfetch of the tech |
| The sea, the farms and the cork | The wine of 14 regions, the Douro of the port since the Methuen Treaty of 1703 and the demarcation of 1756, the first in the world, the Vinho Verde of the Minho, the Alentejo, the Dão, the Bairrada, the Madeira of the ships; the cork of the montado, half the world's and Amorim's billion stoppers; the olives of the Alqueva's water; the tomatoes of the Ribatejo; the rice of the Sado and the Mondego; the fruit of the Algarve's oranges and the Rocha pears; the sardines, the tuna and the cod of the "bacalhoeiros" of Newfoundland of old, the fishing of the third-largest fleet of the Union by the boats; the 240,000 farms of the small plots of the north and the estates of the south; the fires of the eucalyptus |
| Energy | Electricity about 70% renewable, the wind of the north, the hydro of the Douro and the Zêzere, the solar of the Alentejo of the largest plants of Europe, the days of 100% renewable, the coal plants of Sines and Pego closed in 2021, the first of the Union with Sweden; the gas of the LNG at Sines, the Algeria and Nigeria of the pipeline through Spain; the hydrogen of Sines of the "H2 Sines" and the data centers of the Start Campus; the blackout of 28 April 2025 that darkened the whole peninsula for ten hours; the oil refined at Sines; the electricity interconnection with France the peninsula demands; the lithium the Union wants and the villages refuse |
| Public finances | Public debt about 92% of GDP, from 135% in 2020 and the 130% of the bailout, the third-highest of the Union still after Greece and Italy; the surplus of 1.2% of 2023, 0.7% of 2024 and 0.3% of 2025, the balance of 2026 the storms strain; the budget of about €100 billion; the recovery plan of €22 billion of the Union of 2021–26; the taxes of 36% of GDP, the IRS Jovem for the young and the NHR for the foreigners ended in 2024 and replaced; the pensions of the oldest country; the health service of the queues and the emergency delays of the INEM of January 2026 that killed three; the storms' rebuilding of 2026; the "A" of the ratings |
| Income classification | High income (World Bank) |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airports | Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport at Portela, about 35 million passengers and saturated, the busiest of the country, the hub of TAP; the new Lisbon airport at Alcochete across the Tagus decided in May 2024 for the 2030s, the "Luís de Camões"; Porto Francisco Sá Carneiro, about 16 million; Faro of the Algarve's charters, about 10 million; Funchal's Cristiano Ronaldo Airport of Madeira of the runway on the stilts; Ponta Delgada and Lajes of the Azores; Beja of the Alentejo |
|---|---|
| Airline | TAP Air Portugal, the Transportes Aéreos Portugueses of 14 March 1945, the flag carrier of the A330s and A321s to Brazil, Africa and the Americas, the largest airline of Europe to Brazil, the bailout of €3.2 billion of 2020–22 and the privatization of 49.9% launched in 2025 with Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and IAG bidding; the Azores Airlines and the SATA of the islands; Ryanair and easyJet of the low-cost; the Sevenair of the regional |
| Main ports | Sines, the deepwater port of the Alentejo coast of 1978, the largest of the country, the container terminal of the PSA, the oil and the LNG of Galp, the "gateway of the Atlantic" of the Chinese and American interest; Leixões of Porto of the Matosinhos containers and the cruises; Lisbon of the cruise terminal and the containers of Alcântara; Setúbal of the Autoeuropa cars; Aveiro; Figueira da Foz; Funchal and Ponta Delgada; the fishing ports of Peniche and Matosinhos; the 25 de Abril and the Vasco da Gama of the Tagus |
| Railways | About 2,500 km (1,550 mi) of the Iberian gauge, two-thirds electrified — the CP of the Alfa Pendular of 220 km/h on the Lisbon–Porto Linha do Norte of 1864 and the Intercidades, the Linha do Sul to the Algarve, the Beira lines, the Douro line of the scenic river valley; the high-speed Lisbon–Porto line of the standard gauge for 300 km/h building since 2024, the Porto–Soure section for 2028 and the whole for 2032, the Lisbon–Madrid of the Spanish link for the 2030s; the Lisbon Metro of 29 December 1959, the four lines and the circular of the works, the Porto Metro of 2002 of the six lines, the Lisbon trams of the 28 and the funiculars, the Porto trams; the Fertagus across the bridge; the Sintra line of the crowds; the Agualva-Cacém of the bus crash of July 2026 |
| Roads | About 82,000 km (51,000 mi), nearly all paved, the motorways of 3,000 km the densest network of Europe per head — the A1 Lisbon–Porto of 1991, the spine that the Mondego flood broke at Coimbra on 11 February 2026 for sixteen days, the A2 to the Algarve, the A3 to Galicia, the A6 to Spain, the A22 of the Algarve and its tolls; the Ponte 25 de Abril of 6 August 1966, the Golden Gate's sister, and the Vasco da Gama Bridge of 29 March 1998, 17.2 km, the longest of the Union; the Ponte Luís I of Porto of 1886 of Eiffel's pupil; the electronic tolls of the "Via Verde," the first in the world of 1991; the driving on the right; the 500 road deaths a year from the 3,000 of 1990; the Brisa of the concessions |
| The islands | The Azores of the nine islands and the SATA's hops, the ferries of the central group, the Lajes runway; Madeira of the airport on stilts, the Porto Santo ferry and the levadas; the Berlengas boats of Peniche; the Tagus ferries of Cacilhas; the Douro boats of the rabelos and the cruises to the Spanish border; the elevators of Lisbon, the Santa Justa of 1902 and the Bica |
History in dates
| c. 30,000 BC | The Côa engravings |
|---|---|
| c. 1000 BC | The Lusitanians |
| 139 BC | Viriathus killed; Rome's Lusitania |
| 711 | The Moors |
| 868 | The County of Portucale |
| 1128 | São Mamede — Afonso Henriques |
| 1139 | Ourique, 25 July — the King; Zamora, 5 October 1143 |
| 1147 | Lisbon taken, 25 October |
| 1249 | The Algarve — the Reconquest complete |
| 1297 | Alcañices, 12 September — the border |
| 1373 | The alliance with England |
| 1385 | Aljubarrota, 14 August — John I |
| 1415 | Ceuta, 21 August — the Discoveries begin |
| 1488 | Dias rounds the Cape |
| 1494 | Tordesillas, 7 June |
| 1498 | Vasco da Gama at Calicut, 20 May |
| 1500 | Cabral in Brazil, 22 April |
| 1580 | The Iberian Union, to 1640 |
| 1640 | The Restoration, 1 December |
| 1755 | The earthquake, 1 November |
| 1807 | The French invade; the court to Brazil |
| 1822 | Brazil independent, 7 September |
| 1890 | The British Ultimatum, 11 January |
| 1908 | The regicide, 1 February |
| 1910 | The Republic, 5 October |
| 1917 | Fátima, 13 May |
| 1926 | The coup, 28 May; Salazar, 1932; the Estado Novo, 1933 |
| 1961 | The colonial war begins; Goa lost, December |
| 1974 | The Carnation Revolution, 25 April |
| 1976 | The Constitution, 2 April |
| 1986 | The EEC, 1 January |
| 1998 | Expo 98; Saramago's Nobel, 8 October |
| 1999 | Macau handed over, 20 December |
| 2001 | Drugs decriminalized, 1 July |
| 2011 | The bailout, 3 May — €78 billion |
| 2016 | Euro 2016, 10 July; Marcelo president, 9 March |
| 2017 | Guterres at the UN, 1 January; Pedrógão Grande, 17 June — 66 dead |
| 2023 | The abuse report, 13 February; Costa resigns, 7 November |
| 2024 | Montenegro, 2 April; the fiftieth of the Revolution, 25 April; Costa to Brussels, 1 December |
| 2025 | The confidence lost, 11 March; the blackout, 28 April; the election, 18 May; the Nations League, 8 June; the fires, August; the local elections, 12 October |
| 2026 | The first round, 18 January; Kristin, 28 January — 14 dead; Leonardo, 5 February; Seguro elected, 8 February; Amaral resigns, 10 February; the A1 falls, 11 February; Seguro sworn, 9 March; the gender law, 20 March; the nationality law, 1 April; the Constitution's fiftieth, 2 April; the strike, 3 June; the Council seat, 3 June; the veto, 10 June; the labor reform falls, 19 June; the fires, 2 July; the eclipse, 12 August; the burqa law, 18 August |
Records & firsts
| The oldest borders of Europe | Alcañices, 1297 |
|---|---|
| The oldest alliance in force | With England, 1373 |
| The first global empire | Ceuta 1415 to Macau 1999 |
| The first demarcated wine region | The Douro, 1756 |
| Half the world's cork | The Alentejo |
| The largest lithium reserves of Europe | The Barroso |
| The largest waves surfed | Nazaré, 26 m |
| The longest bridge of the European Union | Vasco da Gama, 17.2 km |
| The first to decriminalize all drugs | 1 July 2001 |
| The first electronic toll | Via Verde, 1991 |
| The oldest bookshop | Bertrand, Lisbon, 1732 |
| The most roller hockey world titles | 16 |
| The largest presidential margin | 66.84%, 8 February 2026 |
| The record wind gust | 208.8 km/h, Soure, 28 January 2026 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Portugal?
The Portuguese Republic — República Portuguesa — the state of the oldest borders of Europe, fixed with Castile at Alcañices in 1297 and almost unchanged since, the kingdom that Afonso Henriques won at Ourique in 1139 and that Castile recognized at Zamora in 1143, that built the first global empire from Ceuta in 1415 to Macau in 1999, that lost its king to a regicide in 1908 and became a republic on 5 October 1910, lived through the forty-eight years of Salazar's Estado Novo and freed itself in the bloodless Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974. The name is the port's: Portus Cale, the Roman harbor at the mouth of the Douro that is Porto and Gaia today, the county of Portucale of the Reconquest, the name the kingdom took from its first city.
What is the capital of Portugal?
Lisbon — Lisboa, the Olissipo of the Phoenicians and the Romans, the Moorish al-Ushbuna that the Crusaders and Afonso Henriques took in 1147, the capital since 1255, the port of the Discoveries from which Vasco da Gama sailed in 1497, the city the earthquake, the fire and the tsunami of 1 November 1755 destroyed and the Marquis of Pombal rebuilt on the grid of the Baixa — about 550,000 people in the city on its seven hills and 2.9 million in the metropolis across the Tagus, the trams of the Alfama, the Belém of the Jerónimos monastery and the tower on the World Heritage list, the Ponte 25 de Abril and the Vasco da Gama bridge of 17 km, the Web Summit of the tech and the rents the tourists and the digital nomads drove out of reach. Porto of the port wine and the Douro, the second city, Vila Nova de Gaia, Amadora, Braga of the churches, Coimbra of the university of 1290, Funchal of Madeira and Ponta Delgada of the Azores follow.
How big is Portugal, and how many people live there?
About 92,090 km² (35,556 sq mi) — the size of Indiana, a little smaller than Hungary — the western edge of the Iberian peninsula with Spain along the only land border and the Atlantic on the rest, with the Azores nine islands 1,500 km out in the ocean and Madeira 1,000 km to the southwest, the autonomous regions, and the Selvagens and the Berlengas. The census of 2021 counted 10,343,066 people and the statistics institute estimates about 10.7 million in 2026, rising again after a decade of loss on the immigration of the Brazilians, the Cape Verdeans, the Indians, the Nepalis and the Bangladeshis of the new wave, 1.5 million foreigners of the count, while the Portuguese themselves have the second-oldest population of the Union at a median of 47 years and a fertility of 1.4 — the nation of 260 million speakers of its language across four continents.
What are the highest and lowest points of Portugal?
Mount Pico, 2,351 m (7,713 ft), the volcano that is the island of Pico in the Azores, the highest point of the country and of the whole mid-Atlantic ridge above the water, whose vineyards on the black lava are a World Heritage site; on the mainland the Torre of the Serra da Estrela, 1,993 m, with the only ski slope of the country; and the Atlantic. The Tagus, 1,007 km from Spain to Lisbon, is the longest river of the peninsula and the Douro, 897 km, the river of the port wine terraces and of Porto; the Guadiana holds the Alqueva reservoir, the largest artificial lake of Western Europe; the Mondego, 234 km, is the longest river wholly Portuguese; the waves of Nazaré are the largest ever surfed, 26 m; and the coast of 1,793 km runs from the Minho to the Algarve's cliffs.
What currency does Portugal use?
The euro (ISO code EUR, €), the money of the country since 1 January 1999 and in the hand since 1 January 2002, at 200.482 escudos to the euro, the escudo of 1911 retired with the Republic's first century, issued by the Banco de Portugal within the Eurosystem — the currency of the bailout of 2011, when the troika lent €78 billion and the country cut its way back, and of the surpluses of the 2020s that cut the debt from 135 percent of GDP to 92. Clocks keep Western European Time, UTC+0, the same as London, with summer time, on the mainland and Madeira, and the Azores keep UTC−1; Portugal drives on the right, on the densest motorway network of Europe.
Who governs Portugal?
President António José Seguro of the Socialist Party, head of state since 9 March 2026 — the moderate whom his own party had discarded a decade before, elected in the runoff of 8 February 2026 with 66.84 percent against the far-right leader André Ventura in the second runoff in the republic's history and by the largest margin ever, 3.5 million votes, after the candidates of the center and the liberals rallied to him and the government's own candidate ran fifth; and Prime Minister Luís Montenegro of the Social Democratic Party, head of government since 2 April 2024 at the head of a minority Democratic Alliance government re-elected on 18 May 2025 in the snap election his own confidence motion forced, with Chega's 60 seats as the official opposition and the Socialists third. The president promulgates and vetoes, the veto of the "ideological flags" bill of June 2026 the first; the government legislates by the vote of Chega or of the Socialists case by case and lost its labor reform in June. The parliamentary election is due by 2029 and the presidential in January 2031.
Explore all general-knowledge topics and the A-to-Z lists.
We Value Your Opinion Comments