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Brief Data
  • Name:
  • Area:
  • Capital:
  • Currency:
  • Population:
  • National Day:
  • Rep. Portuguesa
  • 92,345 km2
  • Lisbon
  • Euro
  • 10,617,575
  • 10 June

Detailed Map

Tourism
Portugal.com

Other Facts:
  • Coordinates:
  • Lowest Pt.:
  • Highest Pt.:
  • Median Age:
  • Languages:
  • and
  • 39 30 N, 8 00 W
  • Atlantic 0 m
  • Pico Alto 2,351 m
  • 39.1 years
  • Portuguese
  • Mirandese
Introduction

Lying immediately west of Spain, Portugal is one of Europe’s smallest countries measuring a mere 560 km in length and 220 km wide. Home to 10.5 million people, Portugal’s small size belies its extraordinary history. Battered along its southern and eastern coast by the wild Atlantic sea, it is not surprising that its people became remarkable seafarers.

In 1415, Portuguese mariners set sail on an epic voyage that would see them the first to discover the ocean routes to India, Brazil, China and Japan. They founded settlements on the east and west coasts of Africa at the same time. This small country was at the helm of an enormously powerful and wealthy empire in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its vast artistic and archaeological heritage bears witness not only to its 850-year history of encounters with distant cultures, but also to the ancient peoples who once lived in the territory now known as Portugal - the Celts, Romans, Arabs and Visigoths.

Lisbon

Lisbon once held it’s own with the super powers, as one of the greatest players in the discovery of the New World, and the city still remembers these glories with pride. Buildings such as the Jerónimos and the Torre de Belém not only display the vast amounts of wealth the city could once command, but are also feature a unique Portuguese architectural style born of the great days of empire.

Estoril / Cascais

Estoril is a seaside resort and civil parish of the Portuguese municipality of Cascais. The Estoril coast is close to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. It starts in Carcavelos, 15 kilometres from Lisbon, and stretches as far as Guincho, often known as Costa de Estoril-Sintra or Lisbon Coast (Costa de Lisboa). The two main resort towns are Estoril and Cascais. Estoril has a very famous casino, Casino Estoril - the largest casino in Europe!

Sintra National Park

Sintra has become a major tourist attraction, with many day-trippers visiting from nearby Lisbon. Attractions include the fabulous Pena Palace (19th c.) and the Castelo dos Mouros (reconstructed 19th c.) with a breath-taking view of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, and the summer residence of the kings of Portugal Palácio Nacional de Sintra (largely 15th/16th c.), in the town itself. In 1809 Lord Byron wrote "I must just observe that the village of Sintra is the most beautiful in the world."

Belem

Belém is famous as the place from which many of the great Portuguese explorers set off on their voyages of discovery. In particular, it is the place from which Vasco da Gama departed for India in 1497. Perhaps Belém's most famous feature is its tower, Torre de Belém, whose image is much used by Lisbon's tourist board. The tower was built as a fortified lighthouse late in the reign of Dom Manuel. Belém's other major historical building is the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jerónimos Monastery).