The Country
Portugal, officially The Portuguese Republic, is a country in southern Europe.
The mainland is located on the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, bordering Spain to the north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south. The country is administratively divided into 18 districts and 2 Autonomous Regions: the archipelagos of Madeira and Azores, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Portugal was founded in 1143 - the year of the Zamora's Treaty signing - and is one of the oldest countries in Europe. It’s history is the combination of the story of Iberian tribes, Celtic peoples, the Roman Empire, Germanic kingdoms, Muslim invasions and the consequent Christian Reconquista, and finally, of the Exploration of the World.
In the 15th century, under the leadership of Prince Henry the Navigator, the small kingdom launched the era of maritime exploration that would transform the world. During this period, Portugal was the first European power to begin building a colonial empire as Portuguese sailors and explorers discovered an eastern route to India as well as several Atlantic archipelagos and colonised the African coast.
The Portuguese Empire was one of the longest-lived empires in European history, lasting almost six centuries from the conquest of Ceuta in North Africa, in 1415, to the transfer of sovereignty over Macau to China in 1999. Its former possessions are now across 50 countries around the world: for this reason, Portuguese is the official language of several independent countries and regions (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea Bissau, Macau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe).
With more than 220 million native speakers, Portuguese is one of the few languages spoken in such widely distributed parts of the world.
Portugal is a republic with a semi-presidential representative democracy.