Official Name: Portuguese Republic

Geographic coordinates: 39 30 N, 8 00 W

Area:         total- 92,391 sq. km. land- 91,951 sq. km. water- 440 sq. km.

Climate: maritime temperature; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south

Elevation Extremes:    lowest point- Atlantic Ocean (0m)

highest point- Ponta do Pico in the Azores (2,351m)

Natural Resources: fish, forests, tungsten, iron, ore, marble, arable land, hydropower

Population: 10,102,022 people

Population Growth Rate: 0.17%

Religions: Roman Catholic (94%), Protestant

Languages: Portuguese (official), Mirandese (locally used)  

Money: Euro

National Independence:  October 5th

Government type: Parliamentary Democracy

Capitol: Lisbon

Industries: textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper and cork; metal working; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; wine; tourism

Military Branches: Army, Navy (includes Marines), Air Force, Republican Guard (includes Fiscal Guard) 

1640-1755 Restoration of the Portuguese monarchy.

                                 ~1640-1656 John IV

                                        ~1656-1667 Alfonso VI who was very weak in mind and body

                                    ~1667-1706 Peter II first regent and then king

*1703 alliance with England was revived (Treaty of               Methuen) giving mutual trade advantages to Portuguese wine and English woolens, and Portugal reluctantly entered the War of Spanish Succession against Louis XIV

                                 ~1706-1750 John V and absolutism began its height

                      *1730 financial stability recreated with the help of gold

                       from Brazil

                      ~1750-1777 Joseph and absolutism remained at its height
1755-1826 The reforms of Pombal and the Peninsular War prepared the country for a change from absolutism to constitutional monarchy.

~1755 Terrible earthquake and finances became jumbled as       Brazilian gold diminished. 

                      ~1777- 1816 Maria I

 *1807 Napoleon I marched on Portugal; the royal family fled to Brazil;

Portugal was involved in the Peninsular War

                                 *1811 French were driven out of Portugal

                      ~1816-1826 John VI
1826-1910 Portugal was a constitutional Monarchy.

                  ~1826-1853 Maria II; accepted new charter limiting the authority

                       of the royalty

                      ~1853-1861 Peter V

                  ~1861-1889 Louis I 

~1889-1908 Charles I established a dictatorship; however, he was assassinated in 1908

                      ~1908 Manuel II succeeded to the throne until 1910

                                 *1910 republican revolution forced his abdication
1910-1926 The Republic was established with Teófilo Braga as president

~1916 World War I – Portugal began as a neutral country but eventually joined with the Allies

1926-1974 Portugal was under a dictatorial regime.

~1926 a military coup overthrew the government making General Carmona president.  António de Oliveira Salazar became the finance minister and successfully reorganized the national accounts

~1949 became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization after remaining neutral during World War II

                     ~1955 Portugal was admitted to the United Nations

                     ~1950s and 1960s Portugal fell behind the rest of Europe

                     ~1961 Portugal was seized by India

                     ~1968 Marcello Caetano: premier

~1974 country upset with the endless wars in Africa and the political suppression and economic difficulties

1974 A democratic regime was established.

~1975 Angola, Mozambique, São Tomé and Principe, and Cape Verde were granted independence

~1977 to 1980 several moderate, Socialist-dominated governments tried unsuccessfully to stabilize the country politically and economically

~1980-82, a center-right coalition did succeed in instituting a process of constitutional revision, which reduced presidential power, the right of the military to intervene in politics, and the anti-capitalist biases of the 1976 constitution

~1983 to 1985 a coalition government under Socialist leader Mário Soares began to make some headway against the chaos and poverty into which Salazar's long dictatorship, the African wars, and the 1974-75 leftist revolution had thrown Portugal.

~1986 Soares became president

~1989 Constitution revisions furthered

~1995 The Socialists returned to power as a minority government

~1999 Portugal became part of the European Union's single currency plan