Portugal

    Portugal is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is the westernmost country of mainland 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 also part of Portugal.

    The land within the borders of today's Portuguese Republic has been continuously settled since prehistoric times. In 29 B.C. the territory occupied by peoples like the Gallaeci and Lusitanians was integrated in the Roman Empire as the province of Lusitania and Roman settlers strongly influenced Portuguese culture, particularly the Portuguese language, mostly derived from Latin. In the 5th century, after the fall of the Roman empire, it was occupied by different Germanic peoples such as the Suevi and the Visigoths. In the early 8th century the Muslim Moors conquered those Christian kingdoms, occupying most of the Iberian Peninsula.

    During the Christian Reconquista (Reconquering), the County of Portugal was settled, as part of the Kingdom of Galicia. With the establishment of the Kingdom recognized in 1143 and the stabilization of its borders by 1249, Portugal claims to be the oldest European nation-state. In the 15th and 16th centuries, as the result of maritime exploration, Portugal established a global empire that included possessions in Africa, Asia and South America, becoming one of the world's major economic, political and military powers. In 1580 it was united with Spain by a period called the Iberian Union; however, in 1640 it went on to re-establish full independence during the Portuguese Restoration War that resulted in the establishment of a new dynasty and a return to the previous separation between the two crowns and empires.

    Portugal is a developed country and it has the world's 19th-highest quality-of-life, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit. It is the 14th-most peaceful and the 13th-most globalized country in the world. It is a member of the European Union (joined the then EEC in 1986, leaving the EFTA where it was a founding member in 1960) 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, the European Union's Eurozone, and also a Schengen state.

Pronunciation of the term Portugal in US English: En-us-Portugal.ogg (15,8 kB)

Portugal map: