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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 in the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it shares the longest uninterrupted border in the European Union; to the south and the west is the North Atlantic Ocean; and to the west and southwest lie the Macaronesian archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, which are the two autonomous regions of Portugal. Lisbon is the capital and largest city, followed by Porto, which is the only other metropolitan area.

The western part of the Iberian Peninsula has been continuously inhabited since prehistoric times, with the earliest signs of settlement dating to 5500 BC. Celtic and Iberian peoples arrived in the first millennium BC. The region came under Roman control in the second century BC, followed by a succession of Germanic peoples and the Alans from the fifth to eighth centuries AD. Muslims conquered the mainland of present-day Portugal in the eighth century, and Islamic rule was expelled by the Christian Reconquista culminating with the final capture of Faro, between 1238 and 1249 AD. Modern Portugal began taking shape during this period, initially as a county of the Christian Kingdom of León in 868 and subsequently as a sovereign Kingdom with the Treaty of Zamora in 1143.

As one of the earliest participants in the Age of Discovery, the Kingdom of Portugal settled Madeira and the Azores, and established itself as a major economic and political power, largely through a maritime empire that extended mostly along the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts. The Portuguese were among the first Europeans to explore and discover new territories and sea routes in South America, sub-Saharan Africa, and southern and eastern Asia, establishing a global commercial network of settlements, colonies, and trading posts. Lucrative trade in spices, slaves, and various other commodities enriched the kingdom and fueled a cultural renaissance, but could not stem growing internal political challenges. A dynastic crisis in the early 1580s resulted in the Iberian Union (1580–1640), which unified Portugal under Spanish rule, marking its gradual decline as a global power. Portuguese sovereignty was regained in 1688 following a costly and protracted war, while the 1755 Lisbon earthquake destroyed the city and further damaged the empire's economy. (Full article...)

View of Citânia de Briteiros, showing house ruins and stone paving

The Citânia de Briteiros is an archaeological site of the Castro culture located in the Portuguese civil parish of Briteiros São Salvador e Briteiros Santa Leocádia in the municipality of Guimarães; important for its size, "urban" form and developed architecture, it is one of the more excavated sites in northwestern Iberian Peninsula. Although primarily known as the remains of an Iron Age proto-urban hill fort (or oppidum), the excavations at the site have revealed evidence of sequential settlement, extending from the Bronze to Middle Ages. (Full article...)

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Portrait attributed to Simplício de Sá, c. 1830

Dom Pedro I (12 October 1798 – 24 September 1834) was the founder and first ruler of the Empire of Brazil, where he was known as "the Liberator". As King Dom Pedro IV, he reigned briefly over Portugal, where he also became known as "the Liberator" as well as "the Soldier King". Born in Lisbon, Pedro I was the fourth child of King Dom John VI of Portugal and Queen Carlota Joaquina, and thus a member of the House of Braganza. When the country was invaded by French troops in 1807, he and his family fled to Portugal's largest and wealthiest colony, Brazil.

The outbreak of the Liberal Revolution of 1820 in Lisbon compelled Pedro I's father to return to Portugal in April 1821, leaving him to rule Brazil as regent. He had to deal with challenges from revolutionaries and insubordination by Portuguese troops, all of which he subdued. The Portuguese government's threat to revoke the political autonomy that Brazil had enjoyed since 1808 was met with widespread discontent in Brazil. Pedro I chose the Brazilian side and declared Brazil's independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822. On 12 October, he was acclaimed Brazilian emperor and by March 1824 had defeated all armies loyal to Portugal. A few months later, Pedro I crushed the short-lived Confederation of the Equator, a failed secession attempt by provincial rebels in Brazil's northeast. (Full article...)

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"One is for the revolution or for the reaction! There's no third way..."

Ou se é pela revolução ou se é pela reacção! Não há cá terceiras vias...
Vasco Gonçalves, politician

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Striking the Autonomous Region of the Azores on 1 January, the 1980 Azores Island earthquake killed 73 people and injured over 400, causing severe damage on the islands of Terceira and São Jorge. Resulting from a strike slip fracture, typical of other historical Azorean earthquakes, and measuring 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale, it also shook the islands of Pico and Faial.

In response to the earthquake, Portuguese president António Ramalho Eanes announced three days of national mourning, while relief efforts, initiated by agents of the local Air Force, were soon accompanied by government-supported agencies. (Full article...)

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Abel Luís da Silva Costa Xavier (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐˈβɛl ʃɐviˈɛɾ]; born 30 November 1972) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional footballer who played as a right-back.

Xavier played for clubs in Portugal, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, England, Turkey and Germany before retiring with the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2008. He represented both Merseyside rivals Everton and Liverpool in the Premier League. While at Middlesbrough he was the first Premier League player to test positive for performance-enhancing substances, and was banned for one year. (Full article...)

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The Hieronymites Monastery (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos).

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