Portugal Hotels, Accommodations and Travel Information

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Wikipedia: Portugal

  

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic is a country on the Iberian Peninsula.

Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal 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. 

Some of the earliest civilizations include Lusitanians and Celtic societies. 

Incorporation into the Roman Republic dominions took place in 
the 2nd century BC. 

The region was ruled and colonized by Germanic peoples, such as the Suebi and 
the Visigoths, from the 5th to the 8th century. 

From this era, some vestiges of the Alans were also found. 

The Muslim Moors arrived in the early 8th century and conquered the 
Christian Germanic kingdoms, eventually occupying most of the Iberian Peninsula. 

In the early 1100s, during the Christian Reconquista, Portugal appeared as a 
kingdom independent of its neighbour, the Kingdom of León and Galicia. 

In a little over a century, in 1249, Portugal would establish almost its entire 
modern-day borders by conquering territory from the Moors.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, with a global empire that included 
possessions in Africa, Asia and South America, Portugal was one of the 
world's major economic, political, and cultural powers. 

In the 17th century, the Portuguese Restoration War between Portugal and 
Spain ended the sixty year period of the Iberian Union (1580-1640). 

In the 19th century, armed conflict with French and Spanish invading forces 
and the loss of its largest territorial possession abroad, Brazil, disrupted political 
stability and potential economic growth. 

After the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution coup d'état in 1974, 
the ruling regime was deposed in Lisbon and the country handed over its last 
overseas provinces in Africa. 

Portugal's last overseas territory, Macau, was handed over to China in 1999.

Portugal is a developed country, has a high Human Development Index and is 
among the world's 20 highest rated countries in terms of quality of life, 
although having the lowest GDP per capita of Western European countries. 

It is a member of the European Union (since 1986) and the United Nations (since 1955); 
as well as a founding member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 
Development (OECD), North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 
Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (Community of Portuguese Language Countries, CPLP), 
European Union's Eurozone, and is also a Schengen state. 

According to the Global Peace Index, Portugal is the 7th most peaceful country in the world, 
only behind Iceland, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, Japan and Ireland.

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