Portugal

Portugal is a country in southwestern Europe occupying the western portion of the Iberian Peninsula. It is bordered by Spain and the Atlantic Ocean and also includes the island groups of the Azores and Madeira. Lisbon is both its capital and largest city, Portuguese is the official language, and the country is governed as a republic. Its varied landscape includes mountains and river valleys in the north, rolling plains in the south, and an extensive Atlantic coastline.

Portugal became an independent kingdom during the twelfth century and has maintained largely the same borders since the thirteenth century. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Portuguese navigators helped lead the European Age of Exploration, establishing trade routes and an overseas empire that extended to Africa, Asia, and South America. The monarchy ended in 1910, but Portugal later endured several decades of authoritarian government. The peaceful Carnation Revolution restored democracy in 1974, and Portugal joined the European Economic Community, now the European Union, in 1986.