Portugal
Background: Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the loss of its Brazilian colony in 1822. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal entered the EC in 1985.
Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain Geographic coordinates: 39 30 N, 8 00 W Map references: Europe Area:
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Indiana Land boundaries:
Coastline: 1,793 km Maritime claims:
Climate: maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south Terrain: mountainous north of the Tagus River, rolling plains in south Elevation extremes:
Natural resources: fish, forests (cork), tungsten, iron ore, uranium ore, marble, arable land, hydro power Land use:
Irrigated land: 6,300 sq km (1993 est.) Natural hazards: Azores subject to severe earthquakes Environment - current issues: soil erosion; air pollution caused by industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution, especially in coastal areas Environment - international agreements:
Geography - note: Azores and Madeira Islands occupy strategic locations along western sea approaches to Strait of Gibraltar
Population: 10,048,232 (July 2000 est.) Age structure:
Population growth rate: 0.18% (2000 est.) Birth rate: 11.49 births/1,000 population (2000 est.) Death rate: 10.2 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.) Net migration rate: 0.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.) Sex ratio:
Infant mortality rate: 6.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.) Life expectancy at birth:
Total fertility rate: 1.47 children born/woman (2000 est.) Nationality:
Ethnic groups: homogeneous Mediterranean stock; citizens of black African descent who immigrated to mainland during decolonization number less than 100,000 Religions: Roman Catholic 94%, Protestant (1995) Languages: Portuguese Literacy:
Country name:
Data code: PO Government type: parliamentary democracy Capital: Lisbon Administrative divisions: 18 districts (distritos, singular - distrito) and 2 autonomous regions* (regioes autonomas, singular - regiao autonoma); Aveiro, Acores (Azores)*, Beja, Braga, Braganca, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Evora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisboa, Madeira*, Portalegre, Porto, Santarem, Setubal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Viseu Independence: 1140 (independent republic proclaimed 5 October 1910) National holiday: Day of Portugal, 10 June (1580) Constitution: 25 April 1976, revised 30 October 1982, 1 June 1989, 5 November 1992, and 3 September 1997 Legal system: civil law system; the Constitutional Tribunal reviews the constitutionality of legislation; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Executive branch:
Legislative branch:
unicameral Assembly of the Republic or Assembleia da Republica (230 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de Justica, judges appointed for life by the Conselho Superior da Magistratura Political parties and leaders: Popular Party or PP [Paulo PORTAS]; Portuguese Communist Part/United Democratic Coalition or PCP/CDU [Carlos CARVALHAS]; Portuguese Socialist Party or PSP [Antonio GUTERRES]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Jose Manuel DURAO BARROSO]; The Left Bloc [Francisco LOUCA] International organization participation: AfDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, EMU, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UPU, WCL, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC Diplomatic representation in the US:
Diplomatic representation from the US:
Flag description: two vertical bands of green (hoist side, two-fifths) and red (three-fifths) with the Portuguese coat of arms centered on the dividing line
Economy - overview: Portugal is an upcoming capitalist economy with a per capita GDP two-thirds that of the four big West European economies. In 1999, it continued to enjoy sturdy economic growth, falling interest rates, and low unemployment. The country qualified for the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and joined with 10 other European countries in launching the euro on 1 January 1999. Portugal's inflation rate for 1999, 2.4%, was comfortably low. The country continues to run a trade deficit and a balance of payments deficit. The government is working to modernize capital plant and increase the country's competitiveness in the increasingly integrated world markets. Growth is expected to remain stable in 2000 as the economic integration of Europe proceeds. Improvement in the education sector is critical to the catch-up process. GDP: purchasing power parity - $151.4 billion (1999 est.) GDP - real growth rate: 3.2% (1999 est.) GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $15,300 (1999 est.) GDP - composition by sector:
Population below poverty line: NA% Household income or consumption by percentage share:
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.4% (1999 est.) Labor force: 4.75 million (1998 est.) Labor force - by occupation: services 60%, industry 30%, agriculture 10% (1999 est.) Unemployment rate: 4.6% (1999 est.) Budget:
Industries: textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper, and cork; metalworking; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; wine; tourism Industrial production growth rate: 2.9% (1999 est.) Electricity - production: 38.581 billion kWh (1998) Electricity - production by source:
Electricity - consumption: 36.18 billion kWh (1998) Electricity - exports: 3.7 billion kWh (1998) Electricity - imports: 4 billion kWh (1998) Agriculture - products: grain, potatoes, olives, grapes; sheep, cattle, goats, poultry, beef, dairy products Exports: $25 billion (f.o.b., 1998) Exports - commodities: clothing and footwear, machinery, chemicals, cork and paper products, hides Exports - partners: EU 82% (Germany 20%, Spain 16%, France 14%, UK 12% Netherlands 5%, Benelux 5%, Italy), US 5% (1998) Imports: $34.9 billion (f.o.b., 1998) Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum, textiles, agricultural products Imports - partners: EU 77% (Spain 24%, Germany 15%, France 11%, Italy 8%, UK 7%, Netherlands 5%), US, Japan (1998) Debt - external: $13.1 billion (1997 est.) Economic aid - donor: ODA, $271 million (1995) Currency: 1 Portuguese escudo (Esc) = 100 centavos Exchange rates:
euros per US$1 - 0.9867 (January 2000), 0.9386 (1999); Portuguese escudos (Esc) per US$1 - 172.78 (January 1999), 180.10 (1998), 175.31 (1997), 154.24 (1996), 151.11 (1995)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Telephones - main lines in use: 3.724 million (1996) Telephones - mobile cellular: 887,216 (1999) Telephone system:
Radio broadcast stations: AM 47, FM 172 (many are repeaters), shortwave 2 (1998) Radios: 3.02 million (1997) Television broadcast stations: 36 (plus 62 repeaters) (1997) Televisions: 3.31 million (1997) Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 20 (1999)
Railways:
Highways:
Waterways: 820 km navigable; relatively unimportant to national economy, used by shallow-draft craft limited to 300 metric-ton or less cargo capacity Pipelines:
crude oil 22 km; petroleum products 58 km; natural gas 700 km
Ports and harbors: Aveiro, Funchal (Madeira Islands), Horta (Azores), Leixoes, Lisbon, Porto, Ponta Delgada (Azores), Praia da Vitoria (Azores), Setubal, Viana do Castelo Merchant marine:
Airports: 66 (1999 est.) Airports - with paved runways:
Airports - with unpaved runways:
Military branches: Army, Navy (includes Marines), Air Force, National Republican Guard Military manpower - military age: 20 years of age Military manpower - availability:
Military manpower - fit for military service:
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $2.458 billion (FY97) Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 2.6% (FY97)
Illicit drugs: important gateway country for Latin American cocaine entering the European market; transshipment point for hashish from North Africa to Europe; consumer of Southwest Asian heroin |
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