Portuguese Republic Coat of Arms Flag     National Information Ideology Fascism Government  Dictatorship President Remigio Nascimento Party Portuguese Union of Fascists Population 11,127,835 Religion Catholicism Time Zone GMT+0 Date Format dd/mm/yyyy Driving Side Right Anthem: A Portuguesa   Location of Portugal (dark green) Location of Europe and North Africa (light green) Capital Lisbon   Economy GDP 1.41 trillion Gini 37.1 HDI 0.901 Currency Portuguese Escudo (PTE)

Portuguese Republic

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe. It features the westernmost point in continental Europe, its mainland west and south border with the North Atlantic Ocean and in the north and east it  borders the Spanish Republic. Lisbon is the capital and largest city by population, being also the main spot for tourists alongside Porto and Algarve.

History

The history of Portugal can be traced from circa 400,000 years ago, when the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Homo heidelbergensis.

The Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, which lasted almost two centuries, led to the establishment of the provinces of Lusitania in the south and Gallaecia in the north of what is now Portugal. Following the fall of Rome, Germanic tribes controlled the territory between the 5th and 8th centuries, including the Kingdom of the Suebi centred in Braga and the Visigothic Kingdom in the south.

The 711–716 invasion by the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate conquered the Visigoth Kingdom and founded the !@#$ of Al-Andalus, gradually advancing through Iberia. In 1095, Portugal broke away from the Kingdom of Galicia. Afonso Henriques, son of the count Henry of Burgundy, proclaimed himself king of Portugal in 1139. The Algarve (the southernmost province of Portugal) was conquered from the Moors in 1249, and in 1255 Lisbon became the capital. Portugal's land boundaries have remained almost unchanged since then. During the reign of King John I, the Portuguese defeated the Castilians in a war over the throne (1385) and established a political alliance with England (by the Treaty of Windsor in 1386).

From the late Middle Ages, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal ascended to the status of a world power during Europe's "Age of Discovery" as it built up a vast empire. Signs of military decline began with the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in Morocco in 1578; this defeat led to the death of King Sebastian and the imprisonment of much of the high nobility, which had to be ransomed at great cost. This eventually led to a small interruption in Portugal's 800-year-old independence by way of a 60-year dynastic union with Spain between 1580 and the beginning of the Portuguese Restoration War led by John IV in 1640. Spain's disastrous defeat in its attempt to conquer England in 1588 by means of the Invincible Armada was also a factor, as Portugal had to contribute ships for the invasion. Further setbacks included the destruction of much of its capital city in an earthquake in 1755, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the loss of its largest colony, Brazil, in 1822. From the middle of the 19th century to the late 1950s, nearly two million Portuguese left Portugal to live in Brazil and the United States.

Government

    1.    Remigio Nascimento - President
    2.    
    4.    Manuel Santos - Minister of Defense
    5.    Joaquim Ferreira - Minister of Justice
    6.    Ricardo Costa - Minister of Finance
    7.    Francisco Oliveira - Minister of Propaganda
    8.    Miguel Rodrigues - Minister of Education
    9.    Carlos Carvalho - Minister of Health
    10.    Bruno Gonçalves - Minister of Labour
    11.    Nuno Martins - Minister of Industry
    12.    Alexandre Almeida - Minister of Agriculture
    13.    Fernando Sousa - Minister of Transportation
    14.    Diogo Ramos - Minister of Culture
    15.    Rui Oliveira - Minister of Foreign Affairs