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 1985.

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.)

Natural hazards: Azores subject to severe earthquakes

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

Population: 10,084,245 (July 2002 est.)
Growth rate: 0.18% (2002 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

Religions: Roman Catholic 94% Protestant (1995)

Age structure
0-14 years: 16.9% (male 875,485; female 827,670)
15-64 years: 67.3% (male 3,324,215; female 3,463,301)
65 years and over: 15.8% (male 644,761; female 948,813) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.18% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 11.5 births/1000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 10.21 deaths/1000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.5 migrant(s)/1000 population (2002 est.)

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

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: 0.93 male/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.84 deaths/1000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 76.14 years
Female: 79.87 years (2002 est.)
Male: 72.65 years

Total fertility rate: 1.48 children born/woman (2002 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.74% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 36,000 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 280 (1999 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 87.4%
Male: NA%
Female: NA%

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

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

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 [leader NA]; The Left Bloc [no leader]

International organization participation: AfDB Australia Group BIS CCC CE CERN EAPC EBRD ECE ECLAC EIB EMU ESA EU FAO IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICFTU ICRM IDA IEA IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO Interpol IOC IOM ISO ITU LAIA (observer) MINURSO NAM (guest) NATO NEA NSG OAS (observer) OECD OPCW OSCE PCA UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNMIBH UNMIK UNMOP UNTAET UPU WCL 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, Apartado 4,258, 1507 Lisboa CODEX
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) 727-9,109
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

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 its new currency 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 2001-02. GDP per capita stands at 75% 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 new 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 growth rate: 0.8% (2002 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $18,000 (2002 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 4%
Industry: 29%
Services: 68% (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.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 3%
Highest 10: 28% (1995 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index: 36 (1994-95 )

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

Fiscal year: calendar year

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

Exports: $25.9 billion f.o.b. (2001)
Commodities: clothing and footwear machinery chemicals cork and paper products hides
Partners: EU 79.7% (Germany 19.2% Spain 18.6% France 12.6% UK 10.3% Benelux 5.4%) US 5.8% (2001)

Imports: $39 billion f.o.b. (2001)
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment chemicals petroleum textiles agricultural products
Partners: EU 74.2% (Spain 26.5% Germany 13.9% France 10.3% Italy 6.7% UK 5.0%) US 3.8% Japan 1.9% (2001)

Debt external: $13.1 billion (1997 est.)

Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 1.1324 (January 2002) 1.1175 (2001) 1.0854 (2000) 0.9386 (1999); Portuguese escudos per US dollar - 180.10 (1998) 175.31 (1997)

Electricity
Production: 43.242 billion kWh (2000)
Production by source fossil fuel: 70%
Production by source hydro: 26%
Production by source other: 4% (2000)
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Consumption: 41.146 billion kWh (2000)
Exports: 3.767 billion kWh (2000)
Imports: 4.698 billion kWh (2000)

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

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

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

Airports: 67 (2001)
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)

Pipelines
Note: the secondary lines for the natural gas pipeline that will be 300 km long have not yet been built

Railways
Total: 2,850 km
Broad gauge: 2,576 km 1.668-m gauge (623 km electrified; 426 km double-tracked)
Narrow gauge: 274 km 1.000-m gauge (2001)

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

Merchant marine
Total: 140 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,001,440 GRT/1,519,701 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 10, cargo 71, chemical tanker 17, container 10, liquefied gas 8, multi-functional large-load carrier 1, petroleum tanker 10, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 6, short-sea passenger 4, 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, United Kingdom 1, Virgin Islands (UK) 1 (2002 est.)

Disputes international: none

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