I.

Introduction

Portugal, republic in south-western Europe, situated in the western portion of the Iberian Peninsula, bordered on the north and east by Spain and on the south and west by the Atlantic Ocean. The Azores and Madeira Islands in the Atlantic are considered integral parts of the republic. The total area of metropolitan Portugal, including the Azores (2,335 sq km/902 sq mi) and the Madeira Islands (796 sq km/307 sq mi), is 92,345 sq km (35,655 sq mi). Portugal owned the last European colony in the Far East, Macau (now Macao S. A. R.), for 442 years, but the territory was handed over to China in December 1999. The capital of Portugal is Lisbon.

II.

Land and Resources

The frontiers of Portugal are defined by mountains and rivers, and the interior is largely mountainous. In the west and south the mountains descend to a large coastal plain that is intensively cultivated. The highest range is the Serra da Estrela in central Portugal, rising to almost 2,000 m (6,562 ft).

A.

Rivers and Lakes

Portugal is traversed by three great rivers, which rise in Spain and empty into the Atlantic Ocean. The Tagus (Tejo), with Lisbon situated at its mouth, is the largest river; followed by the Douro, with Porto at its mouth; and the Guadiana, which forms part of the eastern frontier. A fourth river, the Minho (Spanish, Miño), forms part of the northern frontier.

B.

Climate

The climate varies according to altitude, and high temperatures occur only in the comparatively low regions of the south. The mean annual temperature north of the River Douro is about 10° C (50° F); between the Tagus and Douro, about 15.6° C (60° F); and in the valley of the Guadiana, about 18.3° C (65° F). Rainfall is heavy, particularly in the north, but there is virtually none in July and August throughout the country.

C.

Natural Resources

The most valuable of Portugal’s natural resources are fish and minerals. Much of this mineral wealth was not developed until after World War II. Among the mineral resources are coal, copper, gold, iron ore, kaolin, tin, and wolframite, which is a source of tungsten. Although a substantial proportion of the population supports itself by agriculture, the land is not particularly suited to this occupation. Portugal also has an abundance of water-power resources in its rivers and mountain streams.

D.

Plants and Animals

The plants and animals of Portugal are virtually identical to those of Spain. The most abundant trees are the evergreen oak, cork oak, poplar, and olive. Grapevines flourish in the arid soil: port wine from Porto and Madeira wine from Madeira are world famous. Wild animals include the wolf, lynx, wildcat, fox, wild boar, wild goat, deer, and hare. Bird life and insects abound.

E.

Environmental Concerns

Soil degradation is a major environmental problem in Portugal. The land has been overworked, leading to the erosion of portions of the topsoil and to poor soil fertility. Although agricultural land makes up 32 per cent (1997) of the country's total area, Portugal must import more than half its food.

Forests cover 31 per cent (1995) of Portugal's land and are growing at a rate of 0.86 per cent a year: from 1990 to 1995 the country gained 120,000 hectares (297,000 acres) of forest cover. However, severe forest fires in the summer of 2003 destroyed more than 50,000 hectares (123,550 acres) of land. Portugal does export wood and wood products, nevertheless, and it is the world's leading producer of cork. Portugal protects 6.5 per cent (1997) of its land in parks and other reserves. Portugal suffers from water pollution, especially in coastal areas. Discharge of pollutants into these areas has threatened the coastal ecosystem. Fish are one of the country's primary natural resources, and the vast majority of them are found in these coastal regions. Portugal's total fish catch is 229,108 metric tons (1997), and 90 per cent of this catch is from the ocean. Portugal's fish catch is on the decline, however. It is already quite low compared with other small European countries.

Air pollution resulting from heavy concentrations of traffic and industry is a problem for Portugal as well, primarily in Lisbon. Acid rain has contributed to the defoliation of many of the country's trees. As a member of the European Union (EU), Portugal is expected to experience a positive change in air quality as a consequence of the organization's protocols on sulphur emissions. Hazardous waste from Portugal's industrial sector is often disposed of improperly; sometimes it is simply dumped on the land. The Portuguese government is working on a new system to properly handle hazardous waste disposal, and the process of change has accelerated since new EU regulations came into effect in the mid-1990s. Portugal is party to international treaties on air pollution, biodiversity, climate change, desertification, endangered species, hazardous wastes, marine dumping, ship pollution, tropical timber, and wetlands.

III.

Population

The Portuguese are a combination of several ethnic elements, principally Iberians, Romans, Visigoths, and later Moors. The people still live, for the most part, in rural villages.

A.

Population Characteristics

Portugal, including the Azores and Madeira islands, has a population of 10,676,910 (2008 estimate). The overall population density is about 116 people per sq km (301 per sq mi). Around 56 per cent of the population is urban.

B.

Political Divisions

Mainland Portugal is divided into 18 districts for administrative purposes: Aveiro, Beja, Braga, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Évora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisbon, Portalegre, Porto, Santarém, Setúbal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, and Viseu. The Azores and Madeira each constitute an autonomous region.

C.

Principal Cities

Lisbon (population, 2003 estimate, 1,962,000) is the capital, largest city, and leading seaport of Portugal. Other important cities include Porto (263,131, 2001), the second-largest city and seaport; Coimbra (148,474, 2001), an industrial centre; and Vila Nova de Gaia (288,749, 2001).

D.

Religion

Roman Catholicism is the faith of 97 per cent of the Portuguese people. The constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and some Protestant churches have been established.

E.

Language

The official language is Portuguese, which is spoken by virtually the whole population. Five other languages are mother tongues for minorities, including Galician, Miranda Do Douro, and Caló, all of which are Romance languages like Portuguese.

F.

Education

Education is free and compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15. Higher education is voluntary. In 1994 Portugal had about 13,260 primary schools annually attended by some 929,400 pupils and staffed by more than 71,400 teachers. The country’s 877 secondary schools have about 940,000 students. Adult literacy (2005) is 94 per cent. In 2002–2003, 5.9 per cent of the country’s gross national product (GNP) was spent on education.

Some 125,480 students attended Portugal’s institutions of higher education in the 1994-1995 academic year. The University of Coimbra (1290) and the University of Lisbon (1290) were both founded in the 13th century. Other university-level institutions include the University of Algarve (1979), the University of Aveiro (1973), the University of the Azores (1976), the University of Beira Interior (1973), the University of Evora (1559), the University of Porto (1911), the University of Minho (1973), and the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (1973).

G.

Culture

Portuguese culture is closely related to Spanish culture and has been influenced by the three primary cultures from which it derives: Latin, Visigoth (see Goths), and Muslim (see Islam).

Lisbon has a number of important libraries, including the Library of the Academy of Sciences, the Ajuda Library, the National Library, and the Military Library. The National Archives of Torre do Tombo, also in Lisbon, is noteworthy for its collection of historical documents dating from the 9th century. The provincial libraries in Porto, Évora, Braga, and Mafra contain many rare old books and large manuscript collections. Various specialized libraries are attached to the universities.

Museums of archaeology, art, and ethnography are found in the principal cities and towns of each district. The art museum in Coimbra is famous for its collection of 16th-century sculpture; the museum in Évora is known for Roman sculpture and 16th-century paintings. The National Museum of Ancient Art, in Lisbon, houses decorative art and paintings from the 12th to the 19th century. Also in Lisbon are the National Museum of Contemporary Art; the National Museum of Natural History; the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, with a collection of fine art dating from 2800 bc to the 20th century; the Ethnographical Museum; and the Archaeological Museum.

Some of the relics found in Portugal date from prehistoric times. Dolmens, ancient stone burial chambers, have been found along the Atlantic coast, and in the Algarve region, tombs dating from the Iron Age have been discovered. Some of the country’s most important monuments were constructed during the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula (2nd century bc-5th century ad). The so-called Temple of Diana in the south-east, the ruins of the city of Conimbriga on the west coast, and the bridge of Chaves in the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro in the north-east are fine examples of Roman architecture. Subsequent occupation by the Visigoths in the 5th century and by the Muslim Moors in the 8th century can be discerned in the styles of many of Portugal’s buildings and churches.

The 14th century was the golden age of Portuguese sculpture, at which time such fine monuments as the tombs of the kings at Alcobaça were produced. The sculptors of the Renaissance and Baroque periods in Portugal did their finest work for the Church.

The Portuguese are a musical people, and their folk music ranges from very lively songs and dances to passionate laments. Similar to other music of the Iberian Peninsula, Portuguese music reflects three major influences: the Roman Catholic Church, the troubadours of the kings, and the wandering minstrels who sang their stories across the countryside.

For a discussion of the literature of the country, see Portuguese Literature.

IV.

Economy

The Portuguese economy grew by 2.8 per cent in 1995, 1996, and 1997. The country’s GNP in 2004 (World Bank) was $US149,305 million, or about US$17,850 per capita. The estimated budget for 2006 included $75,112 million in revenue and $82,403 million in expenditure. Modernization and privatization was in progress in the mid-1990s and the unemployment rate was among the lowest in the European Union (EU).

A.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

Agriculture engages some 12 per cent of the Portuguese working population (1993) and accounts for about 4 per cent of the yearly gross domestic product (GDP). Chief crops (with production figures for 2006 in tonnes) are potatoes (577,034), maize (535,789), grapes (973,369), and wheat (259,851. Sugar beet (319,246), a highly profitable crop, is replacing wheat and maize. Portugal is one of the world’s leading producers of wine, particularly port wine, and olive oil. Livestock numbered approximately 1.44 million cattle, 3.58 million sheep, 2.34 million pigs, and 43.2 million poultry.

The country is one of the largest producers of cork in the world. In 1992 the output of cork products was 154,000 tonnes. The timber harvest in 2006 amounted to 10.8 million cu m (382 million cu ft).

Commercial fishing is important to the Portuguese economy. The fish catch in 2005 totalled 218,866 tonnes, of which more than 35 per cent was sardines.

B.

Mining

Mineral production in Portugal in 1994 included 147,000 tonnes of coal, 130,255 tonnes of copper-bearing iron pyrites, 60,000 tonnes of tungsten concentrates, and smaller quantities of copper, gold, silver, and tin. Mining of uranium deposits (32,000 tonnes) began in 1979.

C.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is of increasing importance to the economy of Portugal, employing about 23 per cent of the workforce (1995). Major manufactured goods include wine; processed food and canned fish; textiles, clothing, and footwear; machinery; chemicals; wood, cork, paper, glass and pottery items; refrigerators; refined petroleum; and building materials. Output in 1993 included about 40,000 tonnes of processed fish, 303,000 tonnes of refined sugar, 444,000 litres of wine, and 15,400 tonnes of cigarettes. An oil refinery and petrochemical complex opened south of Lisbon in 1979. Products of cottage industries, such as lace, pottery, ceramics, and tiles, are world famous. Over 71,000 tonnes of household ware in porcelain, china, and other ceramics were made in 1993.

D.

Tourism

Foreign exchange receipts from tourism, amounting to more than 8 per cent of GDP in 1994, help to compensate for Portugal’s trade deficit. There were some 21.7 million visitors to Portugal in 1994. In 1994 Portugal earned around US$4,100 million from tourism.

E.

Energy

In 1993 Portugal had an installed electricity-generating capacity of about 8.2 million kW; annual production was some 44.3 billion kWh in 2003. About 35 per cent of Portugal’s electricity is generated by hydroelectric facilities.

F.

Currency and Banking

Until January 1, 2002, the monetary unit of Portugal was the escudo of 100 centavos. The bank of issue was the Bank of Portugal. In January 1999 Portugal adopted the Euro in accordance with its commitment to a single European currency, but this was initially not issued in cash form. Euro notes and coins replaced the escudo on January 1, 2002. As at early 2008, 0.68 Euros equalled US$1.

G.

Commerce and Trade

In 2003 annual Portuguese imports totalled about US$47,112 million and exports about US$31,829 million. Principal imports included mineral fuels, machinery and transport equipment, and food and livestock. Principal exports included clothing and footwear, textile yarns and fabrics, machinery, and wood and paper products. Among Portugal’s chief trading partners are Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Spain, and Italy.

H.

Labour

In 2006 the total workforce in Portugal was about 5.64 million. Unemployment in 1995 was 7.1 per cent.

I.

Transport

Portugal has about 78,470 km (48,759 mi) of paved roads and some 429 passenger cars per 1,000 people. The railway system has a total length of about 2,839 km (1,764 mi). Most of the tracks are wide gauge to accommodate shipments from Spain. The merchant navy comprises 347 vessels. Major seaports include Lisbon, Leixões, Setúbal, and Funchal (Madeira). Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (TAP), the national airline, provides domestic and international service. There are international airports at Portela (Lisbon), Pedras Rubras, Faro (Algarve), Santa Maria and Lages (Azores), and Funchal (Madeira).

J.

Communications

In 2005 Portugal had about 401 telephones per 1,000 people, and an integrated network of telecommunications. Some 3 million radios and 6 million television receivers were in use in 1997. There are two state-owned and two independent TV channels. Daily newspapers number 27 (2004) and have a combined daily circulation of 315,677.

V.

Government

Portugal is governed under a constitution set up in 1976 after the restoration of democracy, and revised in 1982. Although the constitution initially called for the creation of a “classless” state based on public ownership of land, natural resources, and the principal means of production, this socialist language was modified in 1989. The right to strike and the right of assembly are guaranteed, and censorship and the death penalty are proscribed.

A.

Executive and Legislature

Portugal is a republic with a president, popularly elected to a five-year term, as head of state. The president of the republic appoints the prime minister, who is the country’s chief administrative official. The prime minister presides over a Cabinet of around 15 ministers.

Legislative power is vested in a unicameral parliament, the Assembly of the Republic. Members of the Assembly are elected under a system of proportional representation and serve four-year terms. The Assembly has a total of 230 seats.

B.

Political Parties

The leading political parties in Portugal are the Socialist Party (PS; Partido Socialista) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD; Partido Social Democrata). In 1983 the PS swept into power in coalition with the PSD. The PSD led the vote in the parliamentary elections of 1985 and won clear majorities in 1987 and 1991; in 1995 the PS formed a minority government, but won most seats in the election of 1999. In 2002 the Social Democrats formed a coalition with the Popular Party (PP; Partido Popular). In 2005 the PS was returned to power with a greater margin of victory than ever before.

C.

Judiciary

The judicial system in Portugal is headed by the Supreme Court, which is made up of a president and 29 judges. Below the Supreme Court are Courts of Appeal and ordinary and special district courts.

D.

Local Government

Local authority is vested in the district governors and district legislatures. Each district is further subdivided into parishes, each with an elected assembly and council.

E.

Health and Welfare

Portugal has a mixed public and private health care system. In 2004 there were some 308 people for every doctor, and around 278 people per hospital bed. Life expectancy in 2008 was 75 years for men and 82 years for women, and infant mortality was around 5 deaths per 1,000 live births. In 1993 around 10.5 per cent of the national budget was spent on health care. A controversial bill to legalize abortion was rejected in a referendum in 1998.

F.

Defence

Portugal, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has modern, well-equipped armed forces. Military service is compulsory for male citizens for a period of 4 to 18 months. In 2004 the armed forces numbered about 44,900 personnel, including 26,700 in the army, 10,950 in the navy, and about 7,250 in the air force. Paramilitary forces, such as the National Republican Guard, number some 40,900 in total.

G.

International Organizations

Portugal is a member of the United Nations (UN), the EU, the Western European Union, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Council of Europe, and NATO.

VI.

History

Up to the Middle Ages, the history of Portugal is inseparable from that of Spain. Present-day Portugal became a part of the Roman province of Lusitania in the 2nd century bc. In the 5th century ad control of the region passed to the Visigoths, and in the 8th century it was included in the area of Moorish Muslim conquest. In 997 the territory between the Douro and Minho rivers (now northern Portugal) was retaken from the Moors by Bermudo II, King of León, and in 1064 the reconquest was completed as far south as present-day Coimbra by Ferdinand I, King of Castile and León. The reconquered districts were then organized into a feudal county, composed of Spanish fiefs. Portugal later derived its name from the northernmost fief, the Comitatus Portaculenis, which extended around the old Roman seaport of Portus Cale (present-day Porto).

In 1093 Henry of Burgundy (died 1112) came to the assistance of Castile when it was invaded by the Moors. In gratitude, Alfonso I of Castile made Henry Count of Portugal. On the death of Alfonso in 1109, Count Henry, and later his widow, Teresa, refused to continue feudal allegiance to León. He invaded León and began a series of peninsular wars, but with little success. In 1128 his son, Alfonso Henriques, later Alfonso I, King of Portugal, rebelled against his mother. The Portuguese knights accepted Alfonso as king in 1143, and in 1179 the pope recognized the independence of Portugal.

A.

The Medieval Kingdom of Portugal

Alfonso I, aided by the Templars and other military orders sworn to fight the Moors, extended the border of the new kingdom as far south as the River Tagus. His son Sancho I (reigned 1185-1211) encouraged Christians to settle in the reconquered area by establishing self-governing municipalities there. The Cistercian monks occupied the land and promoted efficient agricultural methods. In the late 12th century, the Almohads, a Muslim dynasty from North Africa, temporarily halted the Christians’ southward movement, but after their defeat at Las Navas de Tolosa in Castile (1212) the reconquest continued.

King Alfonso III, who reigned from 1248 to 1279, completed the expulsion of the Moors from the Algarve and moved the capital of Portugal from Coimbra to Lisbon. He also began the practice of governing with the aid of a Cortes (representative assembly), which included members of the nobility, the clergy, and the citizens, and he increased the power of the monarchy at the expense of the Church. His son Diniz, called the Farmer King because of his encouragement of agriculture, founded the nation’s first university at Coimbra and was responsible for the development of the Portuguese navy. In 1294 he signed a commercial treaty with England, beginning a sequence of alliances between the two countries. Diniz’s successor, Alfonso IV, joined with Alfonso XI of Castile to win a major victory over the Moors at the Battle of the Salado River in 1340. In this period the royal houses of Castile and Portugal frequently intermarried, repeatedly raising the possibility that one of the kingdoms might be absorbed by the other.

After the death of Ferdinand I, the last of the legitimate descendants of Henry of Burgundy, his illegitimate half-brother John I secured the Portuguese throne in 1385, after two years of civil war. His branch of the Burgundian line became known as the House of Aviz. John’s reign was one of the most notable in Portuguese history. He successfully defended the kingdom against Castilian attack and in 1385 defeated Castile decisively in the Battle of Aljubarrota. In 1386 England and Portugal allied themselves permanently by the Treaty of Windsor.

The greatest achievement of John’s reign, however, rests on the work done under the direction of his son Henry the Navigator, Prince of Portugal, in exploring the African coast for an eastward route to the Indies. A century of exploration and conquest began, which laid the foundations of the Portuguese Empire and made Portugal one of the greatest colonial powers in the world. In 1418-1419 Portuguese navigators explored Madeira and in 1427 discovered the Azores. A successful Portuguese military campaign in Morocco resulted in the capture of Ceuta in 1415.

B.

The Era of Portuguese Expansion

Madeira and the Azores rapidly became important centres of sugar production, and the capture of Ceuta gave Portugal a foothold in Africa, a base for further exploration of the African coast. Using the caravel, a new type of light sailing vessel especially adapted for Atlantic voyages, Portuguese mariners sailed round Cape Vert (in Senegal) in 1444, and by 1460 they had reached Sierra Leone. Meanwhile, John I’s successors, King Duarte (reigned 1433-38) and Alfonso V, sent further expeditions to Morocco, capturing the cities of Tangier and Arzila (Asilah).

B.1.

The Reign of John II

King John II restored the prestige the monarchy had lost at home during the reigns of his two predecessors, subjecting the turbulent nobles to his authority. Abroad, he founded (1482) a Portuguese stronghold at Elmina, in present-day Ghana, and established relations with the Kingdom of the Kongo (in present-day Angola). In 1487-1488, Bartolomeu Dias became the first to sail around the southern end of Africa, opening the sea route to the Orient. After Christopher Columbus’s voyage to America in 1492, Portugal and Spain concluded the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), which established the Line of Demarcation allocating to Portugal all undiscovered lands east of a line 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands.

B.2.

Emanuel and His Successors

Under King Emanuel, Portuguese power reached its height. In 1497-1499 Vasco da Gama made the first voyage to India following the route discovered by Dias, and inaugurated a lucrative trade in spices and other luxuries between Europe and South Asia. Led by Afonso de Albuquerque, the Portuguese occupied Goa, India, in 1510, Malacca (now Melaka, Malaysia) in 1511, the Moluccas (in present-day Indonesia) in 1512-1514, and Hormuz Island in the Persian Gulf in 1515. During the same period they opened up trade with China and established relations with Ethiopia.

As other Portuguese kings had done, Emanuel dreamed of uniting Portugal and Spain under his rule and successively married two daughters of King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I. Under pressure from his Spanish relations, he followed their example by expelling Jews and Muslims from his domains in 1497, thus depriving Portugal of much of its middle class. His son, John III, promoted the settlement of Brazil and (again influenced by the example of Spain) introduced (1536) the Inquisition into Portugal to enforce religious obedience.

By the time he died in 1557, Portugal had begun to decline as a political and commercial power. This trend continued under King Sebastian, who was killed during another expedition against Morocco in 1578. On the death of his successor, King Henry, in 1580, the Aviz dynasty came to an end.

C.

The Habsburg and Braganza Dynasties

When Henry died, seven claimants disputed the succession to the throne. The most powerful was Philip II, King of Spain, who in 1580 became Philip I of Portugal. The annexation of Portugal to the Spanish Habsburg monarchy subjected it to the heavy expenses of Spanish wars in a period known as the Sixty Years’ Captivity. After 1600 Portuguese domination of trade with the East Indies was lost to the Dutch and the English. Under Philip I, Portugal enjoyed considerable autonomy, but his successors, Philip II (Philip III of Spain) and Philip III (Philip IV of Spain), treated it as a Spanish province, provoking widespread discontent. After unsuccessful revolts in 1634 and 1637, Portuguese conspirators with the support of France won independence for their kingdom in 1640. John, Duke of Braganza, was elected John IV, first king of the House of Braganza, which ruled Portugal as long as the monarchy endured.

C.1.

John IV and His Successors

King John expelled the Dutch from Brazil, which they had occupied in 1630, and renewed the traditional tie with England. Although further weakened by conflicts with Spain in the second half of the 17th century, Portugal recovered a measure of prosperity in the 18th century, after gold and diamonds were discovered in Brazil. Between 1683 and 1750, during the reigns of Pedro II and John V, British merchants came to dominate Portuguese trade; the monarchy became more despotic and the Cortes fell into disuse.

During the reign of Joseph Emanuel (1750-1777), the kingdom was controlled by the Chief-Minister, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello, Marquês de Pombal, considered one of the greatest statesmen in modern Portuguese history. Although a ruthless dictator, he worked to weaken the power of the privileged nobility and the Church, encouraged industry and education, and ended the foreign monopoly of trade. Pombal was dismissed, however, at the accession of Joseph Emanuel’s daughter Maria I in 1777. During the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, Portugal sided with Great Britain against France.

C.2.

The Napoleonic Wars

In 1807, when the armies of Napoleon threatened Portugal, the royal family withdrew to Brazil and made Rio de Janeiro the seat of government. A French army occupied Portugal but was defeated in 1808 by a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley, later 1st Duke of Wellington. By the Convention of Sintra (August 30, 1808), the French left the country, but they re-invaded a year later. Wellington again checked the French advance, and by 1811 Portugal was free of French influence. The Portuguese royal family chose, however, to remain in Brazil, which in 1815 was made a separate kingdom. In 1816 John VI succeeded to the two thrones, ruling Portugal through a council of regency.

C.3.

The Constitutional Monarchy

In 1820 the Portuguese army headed a revolution designed to bring about a constitutional government. King John, who agreed to return to Portugal as constitutional monarch, made his son, Dom Pedro, regent of Brazil. Brazil proclaimed itself independent in 1822, and Pedro was made constitutional emperor Pedro I of that country. In Portugal, meanwhile, Pedro’s brother, Dom Miguel, appealed to the supporters of absolute monarchy to overthrow the constitutionalists, and an insurrection led by the prince almost succeeded on April 30, 1824. King John managed to remain in power, however, and Miguel went into exile in Vienna.

In 1826 Pedro I of Brazil succeeded to the throne of Portugal as Pedro IV. He put into effect a constitutional charter, providing for a parliamentary regime based on authorization of the monarchy rather than on popular will. He then abdicated in favour of his daughter, Maria II, called Maria da Gloria, a 7-year-old child. Miguel returned from Vienna in 1828 and, ruling as regent for Maria II, seized the throne. A period of acute civil strife followed. With the help of England, France, and Spain, Maria was restored to the throne in 1834.

Political conflict characterized her reign as the Liberals, who supported the 1822 constitution, opposed the Chartists, who supported the 1826 charter. Under her successors—Pedro V, who reigned from 1853 to 1861, and Louis, who reigned from 1861 to 1889—political strife became less pronounced.

D.

The Republic

Republican and radical movements grew during the reign of Carlos I, and the appointment of João Franco, an anti-republican dictator, as Prime Minister in 1906 served to increase their strength. In 1908 Carlos and his eldest son were assassinated in Lisbon. The second son of Carlos ascended the throne as Manuel II, and although he restored constitutional government, his corruption equalled that of his father. In October 1910 the army and navy led a revolution that deposed Manuel and established a republic. A liberal constitution was put into effect in 1911, and one of its provisions separated Church from State. Manuel José de Arriaga was elected the first president of the Portuguese republic.

For the next 15 years Portugal was shaken by political chaos. Ministry succeeded ministry, with an average duration of four months in office. Early in 1916 during World War I, Portugal, honouring its alliance with Britain, seized German ships in the harbour of Lisbon. On March 9 Germany declared war. Portuguese troops fought in France and in Africa. Internal disorder and political turbulence, however, continued, and in 1919 a Royalist uprising added to the confusion.

In May 1926 an army coup deposed the 40th ministry since the proclamation of the republic. Within a few days of their success the military leaders selected General António de Fragoso Carmona to head the new government. In 1928 Carmona was elected president in an election in which he was the sole candidate. In the same year he appointed António de Oliveira Salazar, a professor of economics at the University of Coimbra, as Minister of Finance. Salazar was given extraordinary powers in order to put Portuguese finances on a sound basis.

D.1.

The Salazar Regime

Salazar was successful in this task and rapidly became the most powerful political figure in Portugal. Profoundly religious, he restored much of the power of the Church. In 1930 he founded the União Nacional (National Union), a political organization based on authoritarian principles. He became prime minister and dictator in 1932 and was influential in the promulgation of a new constitution in 1933. Portugal became a corporative state with a planned economy, its new regime being called the Estado Novo (New State). No opposition was countenanced.

D.2.

Portugal in World War II

In 1936, with the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, Salazar supported the insurgents, led by General Francisco Franco. In 1939 Portugal signed a friendship and non-aggression pact with Spain, to which, on July 29, 1940, was added a protocol designed to ensure the neutrality of both countries during World War II. In October 1943, however, when the Axis powers were weakening, Portugal allowed the Allies to base planes and ships in the Azores.

The planned economy was considerably disturbed during the war years. The fishing industry declined, exports lessened, and refugees crowded the country. Moreover, the Japanese advance in the East Indies threatened Portuguese overseas territories in Asia, and Timor was captured in 1942. By the end of the war, unemployment and poverty were widespread. Political opposition to Salazar was suppressed, however, and National Union candidates monopolized the elections of November 1945. In May 1947, after crushing an attempted revolt, the government deported numerous union leaders and army officers to the Cape Verde Islands. Marshal Carmona was re-elected to the presidency without opposition in February 1949. He died in April 1951 and was succeeded in July by General Francisco Lopes, a supporter of Salazar.

E.

Post-War Portugal

During the 1950s Portugal developed close relations with the United States, and in 1958 Salazar allowed an opposition candidate, Humberto Delgado, to run for the presidency, but he was defeated by the government’s candidate, Rear-Admiral Américo Deus Tomás. Tomás was re-elected in 1965 and 1971.

In the 1960s Portugal faced opposition to its rule in the overseas territories. India annexed Portuguese Goa in 1961. In Africa, rebellion broke out in Angola in early 1961, in Portuguese Guinea in late 1962, and in Mozambique in the autumn of 1964. The government mounted intensive military campaigns against each African rebellion. It also passed measures to improve political and economic conditions within the territories. In 1961 Portugal extended Portuguese citizenship to Africans in the territories, but heavy fighting continued throughout the decade and into the 1970s. During these years the UN condemned Portugal for waging “colonial wars”.

In the mid-1960s a number of foreign loans helped to finance major irrigation and building projects, and some economic growth was gradually realized. Although several student demonstrations occurred during this period, political opposition to the Salazar regime remained uncoordinated.

E.1.

Democratic Reforms

On September 29, 1968, Marcello Caetano, a law professor and businessman and a long-time associate of Salazar, became prime minister, succeeding Salazar, who had been incapacitated by a stroke. Although Caetano called for reforms when he took office, he continued Salazar’s repressive policies, especially in Africa.

A series of military and political advances made by African liberation movements threatened Portugal’s economic stability and led to the overthrow of the Caetano government by a group of Portuguese army officers on April 25, 1974. A seven-man junta, under General António de Spinola, was installed and promised democracy at home and peace for the African territories. During 1974 and 1975, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, the Cape Verde Islands, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Angola became independent, and in 1975-1976 Portuguese Timor was occupied by Indonesian forces. The return of troops and European settlers to Portugal from the newly independent nations aggravated Portugal’s own problems of unemployment and political unrest.

On September 30, 1974, Spinola resigned, warning of growing Communist influence. He was replaced by General Francisco da Costa Gomes. Vasco Gonçalves, who had become prime minister in July, remained in office. Early in 1975 the Movement of the Armed Forces (Movimento das Forças Armadas, or MFA) assumed a formal role in the government and steps were taken to reorganize the armed forces. The provisional government passed a law establishing a single trade union confederation and began to reform the economic and social life of Portugal.

E.2.

Nationalization

Among the first actions to be undertaken were the nationalization of certain types of heavy industry and banking, and the expropriation and redistribution of large agricultural holdings. In March a right-wing coup attempt, reportedly directed by Spinola, was suppressed. In April the Socialists led in the voting for a constituent assembly.

Gonçalves formed a new government, but it proved unstable. After a series of clashes between Socialists and Communists, followed by violent anti-Communist demonstrations, especially in the north, the MFA established a triumvirate consisting of Costa Gomes, Gonçalves, and General Otelo de Carvalho, Portugal’s security chief. In September, at the army’s insistence, Gonçalves was replaced as prime minister by Vice-Admiral José de Azevedo.

Under the Azevedo government, relative stability was restored, and a new investment code was adopted to attract foreign capital. In parliamentary elections in April 1976, the Socialists won a majority of the vote, and their leader, Mário Soares, became prime minister. In June General António Ramalho Eanes was elected President of Portugal. The country experienced severe economic problems during the next two years, and in mid-1978 Soares was dismissed.

After the fall of two successive interim governments, the conservative Democratic Alliance, headed by Francisco Manuel de Sá Carneiro, won a clear majority in parliamentary elections held in December 1979. Sá Carneiro took office as premier in January 1980, but was killed in a plane crash the following December. He was succeeded in January 1981 by Francisco Pinto Balsemão, another conservative. On his initiative, the military Council of the Revolution was abolished in 1982 by constitutional amendment.

E.3.

Stable Democracy

Parliamentary elections in April 1983 brought Soares back into power as prime minister. Soares’s government introduced an austerity programme and conducted negotiations leading towards Portugal’s entry into the European Community (now the European Union). Elections in October 1985 led to the formation of a minority government under a Social Democrat, Aníbal Cavaço Silva. Soares returned as president following elections in 1986; Portugal entered the European Community the same year.

In the 1987 elections the Social Democrats won control of parliament, the first time a single party had held the majority since 1975. President Soares won another five-year term in January 1991, and the Social Democrats held their majority in parliamentary elections in October. In 1992 mass student demonstrations against university entrance examinations resulted in the resignation of the minister of education, public-service employees struck for wage increases, and doctors staged a two-day strike to protest at government plans to privatize some health services.

In foreign affairs, Portugal improved its relations with the government of Spain in the late 1980s. Negotiations with the People’s Republic of China resulted in a 1987 agreement to transfer Macau, Portugal’s overseas territory, to Chinese control (as Macao Special Administrative Region) in December 1999. Beginning in 1988, Portugal played a significant role in the process to restore peace to Angola, a former Portuguese possession, and participated in negotiations for peace in Mozambique. Discussions with Indonesia regarding the former Portuguese territory of East Timor continued, despite setbacks, into 1993.

In October 1995 the Social Democratic government fell in parliamentary elections after a decade in office. The Socialist Party won the largest share of the vote, but did not secure a working majority, and formed a minority government with António Guterres as prime minister. In January 1996 the Socialist Party candidate Jorge Sampaio was elected president, succeeding the incumbent Soares after his retirement in March.

In April 1997 an inquiry was announced, headed by Soares, into Portugal’s gold purchases from Nazi Germany during World War II; Portugal was estimated to be the largest purchaser of Nazi gold after Switzerland. In November 1997 Guterres’s deputy prime minister, António Vitorino, resigned after his tax evasion on a property purchase in 1989 came to light. Local elections in December showed increased support for the socialist government. In February 1998 the government announced unexpectedly good public deficit figures, clearing Portugal for admission to the first wave of European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999. In August 1998 Portugal and the new government in Indonesia pledged to reach an agreement on the status of the former Portuguese territory of Timor-Leste (the former East Timor); in December 1999 the two countries resumed diplomatic relations, after 24 years. Earlier that year, Portugal duly entered the single European currency, and in the general election of October 1999, António Guterres was re-elected prime minister. One of the first acts of the new government was to decriminalize the consumption of illegal drugs such as cannabis and heroin. In January 2001 Jorge Sampaio was elected for a second term as president when he defeated Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral.

Portugal was hit by two bus tragedies in March 2001. In the first of these a bridge across the River Douro collapsed, and several vehicles, including a bus, were swept away by the waters, drowning about 70 people; the second disaster, near Santa Comba Dão, about 200 km (120 mi) north of the capital, Lisbon, left 14 dead and more than 20 injured. The government took responsibility for the bridge disaster but was also beset by corruption and economic mismanagement charges. Guterres sacked six ministers in June 2001. He also attempted to introduce the toughest legislation in Europe on drink driving but was forced to abandon the proposals in the face of opposition from the wine-producing lobby. In local elections held in December the Socialist Party fared badly and in a surprise move Guterres tendered his resignation. President Sampaio dissolved parliament and called for a general election for March 2002, 18 months ahead of time.

On January 1, 2002, Portugal adopted the Euro, in place of the escudo, as part of the introduction of the single European currency. Eleven other European nations adopted the Euro at the same time.

Guterres was replaced by Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues as the new leader of the Socialist Party (PS) in January 2002. However, in the general election held in March, ahead of time, he failed to make a significant showing and the Social Democrats won 102 out of 230 seats. Failing to gain sufficient votes to take power, the Social Democrats formed a coalition with the Popular Party—who had won 24 seats. The Social Democrat leader, José Manuel Durão Barroso, became prime minister and pledged to cut corporate taxes, slash public spending, and privatize some public services. Proposed revisions to the country’s labour laws led to general strikes in November and December 2002. In foreign relations Durão Barroso leaned towards the pro-American position of Spain and the UK. In March 2003, shortly before the invasion of Iraq was launched, he hosted a summit meeting in the Azores, attended by the leaders of the coalition, to discuss the crisis. In July 2004 Durão Barroso decided to resign to take up the role of president of the European Commission. As well as resigning the premiership he also stepped down as party leader. A general election was held in February 2005 and was won by the Socialist Party, which took 120 of the 230 seats. The party’s leader José Sócrates was appointed the new prime minister by President Sampaio. After his second consecutive term as president, Sampaio was succeeded by Aníbal Cavaço Silva, the former prime minister (1985-1995). Cavaço won just over 50 per cent of the vote, negating the need to go to an election run-off.