Portugal country profile
in http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/994099.stm
Portugal, a country with a rich history of seafaring and discovery, looks out from the Iberian peninsula into the Atlantic Ocean.
When it handed over its last overseas territory, Macau, to Chinese administration in 1999, it brought to an end a long and sometimes turbulent era as a colonial power.
The roots of that era stretch back to the 15th century when Portuguese explorers such as Vasco da Gama put to sea in search of a passage to India. By the 16th century these sailors had helped build a huge empire embracing Brazil as well as swathes of Africa and Asia. There are still some 200 million Portuguese speakers around the world today.
Portugal's history has had a lasting impact on the culture of the country with Moorish and Oriental influences in architecture and the arts. Traditional folk dance and music, particularly the melancholy fado, remain vibrant.
Jeronimos Monastery: Portugal is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination
For almost half of the 20th century Portugal was a dictatorship in which for decades Antonio de Oliveira Salazar was the key figure. The dictatorship's stubborn refusal to relinquish its grip on the former colonies as demands for independence gained momentum there resulted in expensive wars in Africa.
This period was brought to an end in 1974 in a bloodless coup, picturesquely known as the Revolution of the Carnations, which ushered in a new democracy.
By the end of 1975 all of Portugal's former colonies in Africa were independent of Lisbon.
Facts
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Full name: Portuguese Republic
Population: 10.7 million (UN, 2010)
Capital: Lisbon
Area: 92,345 sq km (35,655 sq miles)
Major language: Portuguese
Major religion: Christianity
Life expectancy: 76 years (men), 83 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 euro = 100 cents
Main exports: Textiles and clothing, wood products, electrical equipment
Leaders
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President: Anibal Cavaco Silva
Anibal Cavaco Silvo: Former centre-right PM, now president
Anibal Cavaco Silva won the January 2006 presidential poll, becoming the first centre-right president since the coup of 1974. He defeated two Socialist candidates to win a first round election victory.
The president's role is mainly ceremonial, but incumbents can appoint prime ministers, dissolve parliament and call elections.
Prime minister: Jose Socrates
Jose Socrates, whose governing Socialist Party came to power in 2005, led his party to another election victory in September 2009.
Mr Socrates' government has introduced tough austerity measures
The party, however, lost its overall majority. Final results from the general election gave the Socialists 36% the vote, seven points ahead of the centre-right Social Democrats.
Following talks with other political parties, Mr Socrates decided to form a minority government and to negotiate support for changes in legislation on a case-by-case basis.
Ruling in a minority has proved to be a tough challenge as Portugal has struggled to contend with problems such as rising debt and unemployment, a growing budget deficit and a widening wealth gap with its European partners.
Mr Socrates' first government sharply cut spending, by reducing pensions, raising the retirement age and withdrawing civil service benefits in an attempt to reduce one of Europe's biggest budget deficits.
The reforms - which some said were destroying social rights - prompted repeated protests mostly among public sector workers.
Despite the tough economic medicine administered by Mr Socrates during his first term in office, Portugal still languishes among Western Europe's poorest countries.
The global financial crisis of 2008/9 exacerbated Portugal's economic difficulties. By the summer of 2010, Portugal - together with Greece and Ireland - had become one of the countries most severely affected by the resulting eurozone crisis.
By November 2010, unemployment had risen to 11%, the budget deficit stood at 9.3% and Portugal had one of the highest levels of household indebtedness in the EU.
It remains to be seen whether tough austerity measures pushed through by Mr Socrates' minority government will be enough to prevent Portugal from going the way of Greece and Ireland as one of Europe's bad debt "dominoes".
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