Portal:Portugal

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Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, overlooking the Tagus river
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, overlooking the Tagus river

Flag of Portugal
Location of Portugal in Europe

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira. It features the westernmost point in continental Europe, its mainland west and south border with the North Atlantic Ocean and in the north and east, the Portugal-Spain border constitutes the longest uninterrupted border-line in the European Union. Its archipelagos form two autonomous regions with their own regional governments. On the mainland, Alentejo region occupies the biggest area but is one of the least densely populated regions of Europe. Lisbon is the capital and largest city by population, being also the main spot for tourists alongside Porto, the Algarve and Madeira.

One of the oldest countries in Europe, its territory has been continuously settled and fought over since prehistoric times. The territory was inhabited by the Celtic and Iberian peoples, such as the Lusitanians, the Gallaecians, the Celtici, Turduli, and the Conii. These peoples had some commercial and cultural contact with Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Carthaginians. It was later ruled by the Romans, followed by the invasions of Germanic peoples together with the Alans, and later the Moors, who were eventually expelled during the Reconquista. First founded as a county within the Kingdom of León in 868, Portugal formally became an independent kingdom with the Treaty of Zamora in 1143.

During the 15th and 16th centuries Portugal led the Age of Discovery and established one of the longest-lived maritime and commercial empires, becoming one of the main economic and political powers of the time. By the early 19th century, events such as the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the country's occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the resulting independence of Brazil in 1822 led to a marked decay of Portugal's prior opulence. This was followed by the civil war between liberal constitutionalists and conservative absolutists over royal succession from 1828 to 1834. The 1910 revolution deposed Portugal's monarchy, and established the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic, later superseded by the authoritarian regimes of Ditadura Nacional (National Dictatorship) and Estado Novo (New State). Democracy was restored after the Carnation Revolution (1974), ending the Portuguese Colonial War and eventually losing its remaining colonial possessions. (Full article...)

The main walls of the Fort of Santa Cruz, as seen from Rua Vasco da Gama(Regional E.R.1-1ª)
Fort of Santa Cruz (Portuguese: Forte de Santa Cruz da Horta or Castelo da Santa Cruz), is a 16th-century fortification located in the civil parish of Angústias, municipality of Horta, on the island of Faial in the Portuguese Azores. Occasionally referred to as the Castelo de Santa Cruz by locals, it is situated in the historic centre of the city, on the edge of Horta Bay. It was constructed to work in conjunction with the Fort of Bom Jesus (Portuguese: Forte do Bom Jesus) at the mouth of the Ribeira da Conceição and Fort of Greta (Portuguese: Forte da Greta) along the coast of the extinct spatter cone Monte da Guia, to defend the entrance to the harbour and southern access to the Bay. (Full article...)

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The storm at peak intensity near the Azores on 4 October

The 2005 Azores subtropical storm was the 19th nameable storm and only subtropical storm of the extremely active 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was not named by the National Hurricane Center as it was operationally classified as an extratropical low. It developed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, an unusual region for late-season tropical cyclogenesis. Nonetheless, the system was able to generate a well-defined centre convecting around a warm core on 4 October. The system was short-lived, crossing over the Azores later on 4 October before becoming extratropical again on 5 October. No damages or fatalities were reported during that time. Its remnants were soon absorbed into a cold front. That system went on to become Hurricane Vince, which affected the Iberian Peninsula.

The subtropical nature of this unnamed system was determined several months after the fact, while the National Hurricane Center was performing its annual review of the season. Upon reclassification, the storm was entered into HURDAT, the official hurricane database. (Full article...)

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The following are images from various Portugal-related articles on Wikipedia.

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"Be plural like the universe!"

Sê plural, como o Universo!
Fernando Pessoa, poet

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The Final Charge of the British Cavalry at the Battle of Orthez, by Denis Dighton

The Battle of Orthez (27 February 1814) saw the Anglo-Spanish-Portuguese Army under Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington attack an Imperial French army led by Marshal Nicolas Soult in southern France. The outnumbered French repelled several Allied assaults on their right flank, but their center and left flank were overcome and Soult was compelled to retreat. At first the withdrawal was conducted in good order, but it eventually ended in a scramble for safety and many French soldiers became prisoners. The engagement occurred near the end of the Peninsular War.

In mid-February, Wellington's army broke out of its small area of conquered territory near Bayonne. Moving east, the Allies drove the French back from several river lines. After a pause in the campaign, the westernmost Allied corps surrounded and isolated Bayonne. Resuming their eastward drive, the remaining two Allied corps pushed Soult's army back to Orthez where the French marshal offered battle. In subsequent operations, Soult decided to abandon the large western port of Bordeaux and fall back east toward Toulouse. The next action was the Battle of Toulouse. (Full article...)

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Ferdinand Magellan, in a 16th- or 17th-century anonymous portrait

Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer best known for having planned and led the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to the East Indies, which achieved the first circumnavigation of Earth in history. During the expedition, he also discovered the Strait of Magellan, allowing his fleet to pass from the Atlantic into the Pacific Ocean and perform the first European navigation to Asia via the Pacific. Magellan died in the Philippines during his voyage, and his crew completed the return trip to Spain in 1522.

Born c. 1480 into a family of minor Portuguese nobility, Magellan became a skilled sailor and naval officer in service of the Portuguese Crown in Asia. King Manuel I refused to support Magellan's plan to reach the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, by sailing westwards around the American continent. Magellan then proposed the same plan to King Charles I of Spain, who approved it. In Seville, he married, fathered two children, and organized the expedition. In 1518, for his allegiance to the Hispanic monarchy, Magellan was appointed an admiral of the Spanish fleet and given command of the expedition—the five-ship "Armada of Molucca." He was also made a Commander of the Order of Santiago, one of the highest military ranks of the Spanish Empire. (Full article...)

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Window of the Convent of the Order of Christ, in Tomar, a Templar stronghold built by Dom Gualdim Pais, provincial Master of the Order of the Temple in 1160.

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