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Portal:Portugal

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Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, overlooking the Tagus river
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, overlooking the Tagus river

Flag of Portugal
Location of Portugal in Europe

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country in the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it shares the longest uninterrupted border in the European Union; to the south and the west is the North Atlantic Ocean; and to the west and southwest lie the Macaronesian archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, which are the two autonomous regions of Portugal. Lisbon is the capital and largest city, followed by Porto, which is the only other metropolitan area.

The western part of the Iberian Peninsula has been continuously inhabited since prehistoric times, with the earliest signs of settlement dating to 5500 BC. Celtic and Iberian peoples arrived in the first millennium BC. The region came under Roman control in the second century BC, followed by a succession of Germanic peoples and the Alans from the fifth to eighth centuries AD. Muslims invaded mainland Portugal in the eighth century, but were gradually expelled by the Christian Reconquista culminating with the capture of the Algarve, between 1238 and 1249 AD. Modern Portugal began taking shape during this period, initially as a county of the Christian Kingdom of León in 868 and recognized unequivocally as a kingdom with Manifestis Probatum in 1179.

As one of the earliest participants in the Age of Discovery, Portugal made several advancements in nautical science, the discovery of the volta do mar, which unlocked safe round-trip voyages enabling deep-sea travel, stands out as a major turning point in world's history. It settled Madeira and the Azores, and established itself as a major economic and political power, largely through a maritime empire that extended mostly along the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts. The Portuguese were among the first Europeans to explore and discover new territories and sea routes establishing a global commercial network of settlements, colonies, and trading posts. A dynastic crisis in the early 1580s resulted in the Iberian Union (1580–1640), which unified Portugal under Spanish rule, marking its gradual decline as a global power. Portuguese sovereignty was regained in 1640 and was followed by a costly and protracted war lasting until 1688, while the 1755 Lisbon earthquake destroyed the city and further damaged the empire's economy. (Full article...)

Terceira (Portuguese pronunciation: [tɨɾˈsɐjɾɐ]) is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, about a third of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean at a similar latitude to Portugal's capital Lisbon, with the island group forming an insular part of Portugal. It is one of the larger islands of the archipelago, with a population of 53,311 inhabitants in an area of approximately 396.75 km2 (153.19 sq mi).

Terceira is the location of the Azores' oldest city, Angra do Heroísmo, the historical capital of the archipelago and UNESCO World Heritage Site; the seat of the judicial system (Supreme Court); and the main insular Portuguese Air Force base, Base Aérea nº 4 at Lajes, with a United States Air Force detachment. (Full article...)

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Samora Machel reviewing FRELIMO troops

The Mozambican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the guerrilla forces of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and Portugal. The war officially started on 25 September 1964, and ended with a ceasefire on 8 September 1974, resulting in a negotiated independence in 1975.

Portugal's wars against guerrilla fighters seeking independence in its 400-year-old African territories began in 1961 with Angola. In Mozambique, the conflict erupted in 1964 as a result of unrest and frustration amongst many indigenous Mozambican populations, who perceived foreign rule as exploitation and mistreatment, which served only to further Portuguese economic interests in the region. Many Mozambicans also resented Portugal's policies towards indigenous people, which resulted in discrimination and limited access to Portuguese-style education and skilled employment. (Full article...)

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"Love is fire that burns unseen"

Amor é fogo que arde sem se ver
Luís de Camões, Portugal's national poet

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Pedro Nunes, 1843 print

Pedro Nunes (Portuguese: [ˈpeðɾu ˈnunɨʃ]; Latin: Petrus Nonius; 1502 – 11 August 1578) was a Portuguese mathematician, cosmographer, and professor, probably from a New Christian (of Jewish origin) family.

Considered one of the greatest mathematicians of his time, Nunes is best known for being the first to approach navigation and cartography with mathematical tools. Among other accomplishments, he was the first to propose the idea of a loxodrome (a rhumb line), and was the inventor of several measuring devices, including the nonius (from which the Vernier scale was derived), named after his Latin surname. (Full article...)

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The Hieronymites Monastery (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos).

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