Blackwell Reference Online

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Situated in southwestern Europe, Portugal covers an area of 92,152 sq km and has a population of 10.7 million (2009 estimate). The two biggest cities are Lisbon, the capital, and Oporto. The official language is Portuguese. The literacy rate is 93 percent, and 85 percent of the population are Roman Catholic. In 2009, the country's GDP per capita was US$20.655. Portugal is a parliamentary democracy. The Portuguese Constitution determines the complete separation of the four main organs: the president, the government, the parliament, and the courts. Portugal has been an independent country since the twelfth century. The monarchy was overthrown in 1910, but the period of the First Republic ended in 1926 with a military coup d’état. From 1933 the nation was ruled by a repressive right-wing regime with close ties to the Catholic church, the Estado Novo. Democracy came with the 1974 leftist revolution, which also led to independence being granted to Portugal's colonies in Africa. Between 1985 and 1995, the ruling center-right Partido Social Democrático promoted the privatization of key sectors of the economy, including banking and telecommunications, a tendency that continued under subsequent Socialist Party governments. The country joined the European Union in 1986 and experienced a significant economic growth in the 1990s. However, the economy has struggled and unemployment has grown ... log in or subscribe to read full text