Map of Portugal | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake occupation during the Napoleonic Wars and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades repressive governments ran the country. In 1974 a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.


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Location: Southwestern Europe bordering the North Atlantic Ocean west of Spain

Geographic coordinates: 39 30 N 8 00 W

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 92,391 km²
Land: 91,951 km²
Note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands
Water: 440 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Indiana

Land boundaries
Total: 1,214 km
Border countries: (1) Spain 1,214 km

Coastline: 1793 km

Maritime claims
Contiguous zone: 24 NM
Territorial sea: 12 NM
Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

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

Terrain: mountainous north of the Tagus River rolling plains in south

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Extremes highest point: Ponta do Pico (Pico or Pico Alto) on Ilha do Pico in the Azores 2,351 m

Natural resources: fish forests (cork) tungsten iron ore uranium ore marble arable land: hydropower

Land use
Arable land: 20.57%
Permanent crops: 7.74%
Other: 71.69% (1999 est.)

Irrigated land: 6,320 km² (1998 est.)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: Azores subject to severe earthquakes

Geography
Note: Azores and Madeira Islands occupy strategic locations along western sea approaches to Strait of Gibraltar


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Population: 10,102,022 (July 2003 est.)
Growth rate: 0.17% (2003 est.)
Below poverty line: NA%

Nationality
Noun: Portuguese (singular and plural)
Adjective: Portuguese

Ethnic groups: homogeneous Mediterranean stock; citizens of black African descent who immigrated to mainland during decolonization number less than 100,000; since 1990 East Europeans have entered Portugal

Languages: Portuguese (official) Mirandese (official - but locally used)

Religions: Roman Catholic 94% Protestant (1995)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 16.8% (male 874,198; female 825,742)
15-64 years: 67.2% (male 3,326,957; female 3,461,425)
65 years and over: 16% (male 651,697; female 962,003) (2003 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 37.6 years
Male: 35.8 years
Female: 39.3 years (2002)

Population growth rate: 0.17% (2003 est.)

Birth rate: 11.45 births/1000 population (2003 est.)

Death rate: 10.21 deaths/1000 population (2003 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.49 migrant(s)/1000 population (2003 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

Environment
Current issues: soil erosion; air pollution caused by industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution especially in coastal areas
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Environmental Modification, Nuclear Test Ban

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.07 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.06 male/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male/female
Total population: 0.92 male/female (2003 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 5.73 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 5.17 deaths/1000 live births (2003 est.)
Male: 6.26 deaths/1000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 76.35 years
Male: 72.86 years
Female: 80.07 years (2003 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.49 children born/woman (2003 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.5% (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: 27,000 (2001 est.)
Deaths: 1000 (2001 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 93.3%
Male: 95.5%
Female: 91.3% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: Portuguese Republic
Conventional short form: Portugal
Local long form: Republica Portuguesa
Local short form: Portugal

Government type: parliamentary democracy

Capital: Lisbon

Administrative divisions: 18 districts (distritos singular - distrito) and 2 autonomous regions* (regioes autonomas singular - regiao autonoma); Aveiro Acores (Azores)* Beja Braga Braganca Castelo Branco Coimbra Evora Faro Guarda Leiria Lisboa Madeira* Portalegre Porto Santarem Setubal Viana do Castelo Vila Real Viseu

Dependent areas

Independence: 1143 (independent republic proclaimed 5 October 1910)

National holiday: Portugal Day 10 June (1580)

Constitution: 25 April 1976 revised 30 October 1982 1 June 1989 5 November 1992 and 3 September 1997

Legal system: civil law system; the Constitutional Tribunal reviews the constitutionality of legislation; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Jorge SAMPAIO (since 9 March 1996)
Note: there is also a Council of State that acts as a consultative body to the president
Head of government: Prime Minister Jose Manuel DURAO BARROSO (since 6 April 2002)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 14 January 2001 (next to be held NA January 2006); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president
Election results: Jorge SAMPAIO reelected president; percent of vote - Jorge SAMPAIO (Socialist) 55.8%, Joaquim FERREIRA Do Amaral (Social Democrat) 34.5%, Antonio ABREU (Communist) 5.1%

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 17 March 2002 (next to be held NA 2006)
Election results: percent of vote by party - PSD 40.1%, PS 37.8%, PP 8.7%, PCP/PEV 6.9%, The Left Bloc 2.7%; seats by party - PSD 105, PS 96, PP 14, PCP/PEV 12, The Left Bloc 3

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de Justica (judges appointed for life by the Conselho Superior da Magistratura)

Political parties and leaders: The Greens or PEV [no leader]; Popular Party or PP [Paulo PORTAS]; Portuguese Communist Party/The Greens or PCP/PEV [Carlos CARVALHAS]; Portuguese Socialist Party or PS [Eduardo Ferro RODRIGUES]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Jose Manuel DURAO BARROSO]; United Democratic Coalition or CDU [Carlos CARVALHAS]; The Left Bloc [no leader]

International organization participation: AfDB AsDB Australia Group BIS CE CERN EAPC EBRD ECE ECLAC EIB EMU ESA EU FAO IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICCt ICFTU ICRM IDA IEA IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM ISO ITU LAIA (observer) MINURSO MONUC NAM (guest) NATO NEA NSG OAS (observer) OECD OPCW OSCE PCA UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNMIBH UNMIK UNMISET UPU WCL WCO WEU WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Pedro Manuel Dos Reis Alves CATARINO
In the us consulates: Los Angeles, New Bedford (Massachusetts), Providence (Rhode Island)
In the us consulates general: Boston, New York, Newark (New Jersey), and San Francisco
In the us fax: [1] (202) 462-3,726
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 328-8,610
In the us chancery: 2,125 Kalorama Road NW, Washington, DC 20,008
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador John N. PALMER
From the us embassy: Avenida das Forcas Armadas, 1600-081 Lisbon
From the us mailing address: PSC 83, APO AE 9,726
From the us telephone: [351] (21) 727-3,300
From the us fax: [351] (21) 726-9,109
From the us consulates: Ponta Delgada (Azores)

Flag description: two vertical bands of green (hoist side two-fifths) and red (three-fifths) with the Portuguese coat of arms centered on the dividing line

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community in 1986. Over the past decade successive governments have privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy including the financial and telecommunications sectors. The country qualified for the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and began circulating the euro on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other EU member economies. Economic growth has been above the EU average for much of the past decade but fell back in 2001-03. GDP per capita stands at 70% of that of the leading EU economies. A poor educational system in particular has been an obstacle to greater productivity and growth. Portugal has been increasingly overshadowed by lower-cost producers in Central Europe and Asia as a target for foreign direct investment. The coalition government faces tough choices in its attempts to boost Portugal's economic competitiveness and to keep the budget deficit within the 3% EU ceiling.

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate: 0.4% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $19,400 (2002 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 3.6%
Industry: 28.7%
Services: 67.7% (2001)

Agriculture products: grain potatoes olives grapes; sheep cattle goats poultry beef dairy products

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

Industrial production growth rate: 1.5% (2002 est.)

Labor force: 5.1 million (2000)
By occupation services: 60%
By occupation industry: 30%
By occupation agriculture: 10% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate: 4.7% (2002 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: NA%

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 3.1%
Highest 10: 28.4% (1995 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index: 35.6 (1994-95)

Budget
Revenues: $45 billion
Expenditures: $48 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 3.7% (2002 est.)

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports: $25.9 billion f.o.b. (2001)
Commodities: clothing and footwear machinery chemicals cork and paper products hides
Partners: Spain 20.3% Germany 18.4% France 12.6% UK 10.5% US 5.8% Italy 4.8% Belgium 4.5% (2002)

Imports: $39 billion f.o.b. (2001)
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment chemicals petroleum textiles agricultural products
Partners: Spain 28.1% Germany 15% France 10.2% Italy 6.5% UK 5.2% Netherlands 4.5% (2002)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $13.1 billion (1997 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 1.06 (2002) 1.12 (2001) 1.09 (2000) 0.94 (1999)


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Electricity
Production: 44.32 billion kWh (2001)
Production by source fossil fuel: 64.5%
Production by source hydro: 31.3%
Production by source other: 4.1% (2001)
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Consumption: 41.48 billion kWh (2001)
Exports: 3.479 billion kWh (2001)
Imports: 3.743 billion kWh (2001)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Consumption: 2.542 billion m³ (2001 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Imports: 2.553 billion m³ (2001 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 5.3 million (yearend 1998)
Mobile cellular: 3,074,194 (1999)

Telephone system
General assessment: undergoing rapid development in recent years, Portugal's telephone system, by the end of 1998, achieved a state-of-the-art network with broadband, high-speed capabilities and a main line telephone density of 53%
Domestic: integrated network of coaxial cables, open-wire, microwave radio relay, and domestic satellite earth stations
International: 6 submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to Azores; note - an earth station for Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region) is planned

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .pt
Service providers isps: 16 (2000)
Users: 4.4 million (2002)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $1.286 billion (FY99/00)
Percent of gdp: 2.2% (FY99/00)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 66 (2002)
With paved runways total: 40
With paved runways over 3047 m: 5
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 9
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 4
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 15
With paved runways under 914 m: 7 (2002)
With unpaved runways total: 26
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 25 (2002)

Heliports

Pipelines: gas 482 km (2003)

Railways
Total: 2,850 km
Broad gauge: 2,576 km 1.668-m gauge (623 km electrified)
Narrow gauge: 274 km 1.000-m gauge (2002)

Roadways

Waterways
Note: relatively unimportant to national economy, used by shallow-draft craft limited to 300 metric-ton or less cargo capacity

Merchant marine
Total: 132 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 993,325 GRT/1,533,255 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 11, cargo 62, chemical tanker 18, container 7, liquefied gas 8, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, passenger 4, petroleum tanker 10, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 5, short-sea passenger 3, vehicle carrier 2
Note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Belgium 1, British Virgin Islands 1, Cyprus 1, Denmark 6, Germany 20, Greece 1, Iceland 1, Italy 16, Lebanon 1, Liberia 1, Monaco 2, Norway 5, Panama 5, Spain 22, Switzerland 8, UK 1, Virgin Islands (UK) 1 (2002 est.)

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: Portugal has periodically reasserted claims to territories around the town of Olivenza Spain

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs: gateway country for Latin American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin entering the European market; transshipment point for hashish from North Africa to Europe; consumer of Southwest Asian heroin