Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a unitary sovereign country located in southwestern Europe, whose territory is situated in the

west of the Iberian Peninsula and islands in the North Atlantic. The Portuguese territory has a total area of 92,090 km and is bordered to the north and east by Spain and the south and west by the Atlantic Ocean, comprising the mainland and two autonomous regions: the Azores and Madeira. Portugal is the nation's most western European continent. The country is named after its second largest city, Porto, whose Latin name was Portus Cale. The territory within the current borders of the Portuguese Republic has been continuously inhabited since prehistoric times, occupied by Celts, like the Galician and Lusitanian, was built in the Roman Republic and later colonized by Germanic peoples, like the Suevi and the Visigoths and in the eighth century the lands were conquered by the Moors. During the Christian reconquest was formed Portucalense, first as part of the Kingdom of Galicia and then integrated into the Kingdom of Leon With the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal in 1139, whose independence was recognized in 1143, and stabilization of borders in 1249, Portugal became the oldest nation state in Europe. In the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, as a result of pioneering in the Age of Discovery (see: Portuguese Discoveries), Portugal Western influence expanded and established a global empire that included possessions in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America, becoming the power economic, political and most important military around the world. The Portuguese Empire was the first global empire in history and also the most durable of the European colonial empires, spanning almost 600 years of existence, from the conquest of Ceuta in 141 until the handover of Macao to China in 1999. However, the international importance of the country was greatly reduced during the nineteenth century, especially after the independence of Brazil, its largest colony. After the Revolution of 1910, the monarchy was overthrown and started the First Portuguese Republic, whose instability culminated in the establishment of an authoritarian regime, the Estado Novo. Representative democracy was instituted after the Carnation Revolution in 1974, which ended the Portuguese Colonial War, when the last overseas provinces of Portugal became independent, the most prominent Angola and Mozambique. Portugal is now a developed country, [19] with a Human Development Index (HDI) considered very high. The country is ranked in 19th position in quality of life, is one of the best health systems of the planet and is also one of the nation's most globalized and peaceful world. [20] [21] is a founding member of the United Nations ( UN), European Union (including the Eurozone and the Schengen Area) of the Treaty Organization (NATO), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP). Portugal also participates in several peacekeeping missions of the United Nations.

Euro currency. Portugal was one of the eleven founding

members of the European currency. Since 1985, the country entered a process of modernization in a very stable environment (1985 to the present) and joined the EU in 1986. Successive governments have made several reforms, privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy, including telecommunications and financial sectors. Portugal developed an increasingly service-based economy and was one of the eleven founding members of the European currency - the euro - in 1999. Began circulating its new currency on January 1, 2002 with 11 other European Union member states. [139] The Portuguese economic growth was above the EU average in most of the 1990s. Per capita GDP is around 76% of the largest Western European economies. The annual competitiveness ranked list of 2005 World Economic Forum (WEF - World Economic Forum), puts Portugal in 22nd place, ahead of countries like Spain, Ireland, France, Belgium and the city of Hong Kong. This classification represents a rise of two places in relation to the position of 2004. In the technological context, Portugal appears in 34th position and heading the list of public institutions, Portugal is the 24th best. With a predominantly agricultural past, present and because of all the development that the country has the structure of the economy based on services and industry, representing 67.8% and 28.2% of GVA. Portuguese agriculture is well suited due to climate, topography and soils favorable. In recent decades intensified agricultural modernization, although about 12% of the active population works in agriculture. Olive Trees (4000 km ), vineyards (3750 km ), wheat (3000 km ) and maize (2680 km ) are produced in very large areas. The wines (especially the Port wine and Madeira wine) and Portuguese olive oils are highly valued because of its quality. Also, Portugal is a producer of quality fruit selected, namely the Algarve oranges, pear-rock of the west, cherry and banana Gardunha Madeira. Other productions are horticulture and floriculture, such as sugar beet, sunflower and tobacco.

Alto Douro wine region, which produces the famous Port wine. The economic importance of fishing has declined, employing less than 1% of the workforce. The decline in stocks of fishery resources was reflected in the Portuguese fishing fleet reduction that, although it has been modernized, still has difficulty in competing with other European fleets. Despite the small extension of the Portuguese continental shelf, there is some diversity of species in the EEZ waters of Portugal, one of the largest in Europe. The Portuguese fleet makes catching in international waters and the EEZ of other countries. On the whole, the species caught are sardines, mackerel, octopus, swordfish, black, mackerel and tuna. The ports with the highest fish landings in 2001 were those of Matosinhos, Peniche, Olho and Sesimbra Cork has a very significant production, Portugal produces 54% of the cork produced in the world mineral resources are most significant in Portugal copper,

lithium (7), tungsten (6), tin, uranium, feldspar (11) , salt, talc and marble The trade of Portugal has long been in deficit, with the value of exports to cover only 65% of the value of imports in 2006. The major exports are textiles, garments, machinery, electrical equipment, vehicles, transport equipment, footwear, leather, wood, cork, paper, among others The country mainly imports products from the EU: Spain, Germany, France, Italy and United Kingdom