Portugal is a parliamentary republic. Following the bloodless military coup of 25th April 1974, which put and end to the dictatorship introduced in 1926, power was provisionally assumed by a military Junta and a Revolutionary Council. The Revolutionary Council was an advisory body, composed of military personnel, whose task it is to guarantee the defence of the constitution. With the institution of the new constitution, approved on 2nd April 1976 by the Constituent Assembly which was elected on 25th April 1975, democratic freedom was re-instated. The head of state is the President of the Republic, who is elected for 5 years by direct universal suffrage, and who has wide-ranging powers. Jorge Sampaio will be President until 2001. Executive power is in the hands of the Prime Minister (currently, António Guterres) and the government, who are accountable to the unicameral parliament. This last, elected by direct universal suffrage for 5 years, has legislative powers.
Portugal is a member of UNO, the EEC, the Council of Europe, OECD, EFTA and NATO.
The country borders on the Atlantic Ocean and to the east is situated on the edge of the Spanish highlands, with parallel ranges of mountains alternating with the fluvial valleys of the main rivers like Tagus and Douro.
Area: 92 080 sq km, including Açores and Madeira which, though considered politically part of the mainland, enjoy a large degree of autonomy.
Population: 10 203 000 ; 111 per sq km.
Annual growth rate: 0.8% ; birth rate: 12‰ ; death rate: 10‰ ; average life expectancy: 69 years.
Capital: Lisboa, with a population of 2 010 000.
Other important towns: Porto (1 565 000); Coimbra (71 000); Braga (60 000); Vila Nova de Gaia (52 000); Set√∫bal (50 000); Funchal (48 000).
Land use: cultivated 39%; grazing 6%; wooded 40%; uncultivated 15%.
Gross National product: US $ 28 900 million; per capita: US $ 2 850.
Currency: Escudo.
Dependency: Overseas province of Macau in South-East Asia, until 1999.
The people:
Today Portugal's population is quite homogeneous. Traces of its ethnic diversity may be seen, however, in the multiplicity of physical types, ranging from the blond hair and blue eyes often found among the peasants in the north to the Moorish appearance common in the south. Since about 1890, the population of Portugal has increased steadily. Although the country remains predominantly rural, the people have tended to concentrate in Lisbon and Porto, the country's two great urban centres. Population density is highest in the north and center, but in recent years internal migration has begun to fill up the underpopulated areas of the south.
The Portuguese language is very close to Spanish in vocabulary and structure but quite distinct in phonetics and pronunciation. It has become the language of Brazil and the official language of the Portuguese territories in Africa, mentioned above. For a long time it was the lingua franca of such places as Ceylon, Malaya, Java and Siam.
Compulsory education from the ages of 7 to 11 has been in force since 1911. Students attend obligatory school until the age of 15, when they may continue in either a liceu (high school) or a technical secondary school. Higher education is offered at the universities in many cities, mainly in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra.
A majority of the Portuguese people is Roman Catholic but there is freedom of worship, and church and state are separate. Protestants and Jewish communities are small.
Cultural life:
Portugal is rich in folklore, traditions, religious festivities, and the like, and has produced a varied galaxy of writers. Portuguese literature has its roots in the tender and simple cantigas, or songs, of the Middle Ages. During a long period of time Portuguese was considered the language of poetry in Spain as well as in Portugal, and it was used in compositions by such great figures as Alfonso de Wise of Spain.
The earliest Portuguese literary works date from the 12th century and consist of three cancioneiros (collections of songs) written in the Galician-Portuguese dialect and containing some 2000 courtly-love lyrics and political satires. The 13th-century poet Jo√£o de Lobeira wrote what was probably the earliest form of chivalric romance, Amadis de Gaula (Amadis of Gaul). Garcia de Resende compiled the Cancioneiro Geral, the outstanding poetic anthology of the 16th century.
Portuguese literature was also concerned with the history and heroic deeds of Portugal's adventurers and explorers. Fern√£o Lopes (1380-1460), who chronicled the history of the kings of Portugal, was the first of a line of great historical writers. Gil Vicente (1470-1536), author of 44 autos (plays), gave Portugal a national drama.
During the years of rule by Spain, Spanish influence on Portuguese literature became pronounced and Portuguese poets tended to write in Spanish. With the return from Italy in 1526 of the poet Francisco de Sá de Miranda the rich period of Portuguese Renaissance literature began. Inspiration was now drawn from Italy and poets such as Miranda and António Ferreira (1528-1569) wrote Italianate sonnets and pastorals. Ferreira's tragedy Inês de Castro is one of the few worthy dramatic works of the period. Portugal's 16th-century overseas explorations gave new impetus to travel writings and historiography. The Peregrinação (Peregrination) of Fernão Mendes Pinto is perhaps the finest of all Portuguese travelogues. The greatest of the Renaissance writers was Luis Vaz de Camões, whose monumental work Os Lusíadas (The Lusiads) is an epic poem centered on the story of Vasco da Gama.
Portuguese art is especially rich in architecture. The great monasteries at Alcobaça and Tomar and numerous cathedrals throughout the country are examples of medieval architecture, and one of the most interesting Gothic structures in Portugal is the 15-century Batalha Abbey. Manueline art, a transitional style between Gothic and Renaissance, was one of the original contributions of Portuguese architecture. In painting, a number of fine artists emerged, such as Nuno Gonçalves, Jorge Afonso, Francisco Henriques, Gregório Lopes, Garcia Fernandes and Gaspar Vaz. Portugal has felt the successive influence of the Italian, Flemish and, above all, Spanish schools of art.
The fado, a somewhat melancholy type of popular music, sung with the guitar, has become almost synonymous with Portugal itself.
Economic Activities:
About one third of Portugal's area is devoted to agriculture, which occupies almost half of the country's active population. The principal crops are wheat, rye, barley, oats, maize, rice, potatoes and beans. Olives are also important and Portugal is the world's fourth-largest producer of olive oil. Wine is a major export. Southern Portugal is noted for almonds, figs and various citrus fruits. The major problems of Portuguese agriculture are the need for technical advancement and for land reorganization. Portugal supplies about half of all the cork used in the world. Rosin, turpentine and other naval stores are also exported. Sardines, tuna, anchovies, whiting and cod are the principal fish caught and there is some whaling in Madeira and Açores.
Portuguese industry has been making steady advances since the end of World War II. Iron and steel mills have been established, petroleum refining introduced and paper production and shipbuilding expanded. The major industries, however, are still fich canning, textiles, cork, glass and pulp.
Portugal belongs to the European Union and trades mainly with West Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, the United States and France. The leading exports are cork, sardines and wine, and the most important imports are iron, steel, motor vehicles, raw cotton and sugar. The excess of imports over exports has been considerable and revenue from tourism has been important in alleviating this unfavourable balance of trade. Workers in industry, commerce, and the professions are organized in national syndicates.
