Portugal also includes the Azores and Madeira, two archipelagos in this ocean. The country has an unmistakable maritime character. 10.8 million inhabitants live on a territory of 92,212 km² - three times the area of ​​Belgium and more than twice the area of ​​the Netherlands. The capital and largest city of the country is Lisbon.

The country emerged from the County of Portucale against the Muslim Moors during the Reconquista and became the independent Kingdom of Portugal in the 12th century, the only Christian principality on the Iberian Peninsula that was not absorbed into the Spanish Empire (with the exception of the period 1580-1640) . Portugal experienced the peak of its power in the 15th and 16th centuries. After that it lost much of its wealth and status, in addition to wastefulness and poor management of the wealth, the destruction of Lisbon by the earthquake of 1755, the occupation by Napoleon and the declaration of independence of Brazil in 1822 also played a role. A revolution in 1910 abolished the monarchy. The Republic of Portugal fought from 1916 in the First World War on the side of the Entente. After a period of corruption and the build-up of a large national debt, a dictatorship was installed in 1926 by the May 28 Revolution. During World War II, Portugal remained neutral. In 1949, the country was a founding member of NATO. The dictatorship would last until 1974, when democratic reforms were implemented after a left-wing military coup, the Carnation Revolution. The following year, the African colonies became independent. Portugal became a member of the European Economic Community, which later became the European Union, in 1986. Portuguese companies now had easy access to a larger market and this led to growth in the Portuguese economy. Portugal quickly became a European success story. In 1995, the country started implementing the rules signed by the Schengen treaties. Four years later, in 1999, the Portuguese were among the founders of the eurozone and the country adopted the euro in 2002. In 2004, then Prime Minister José Manuel Barroso was nominated as President of the European Commission. After 2000, however, the Portuguese economy deteriorated and in 2011, at the time of the European sovereign debt crisis, Portugal applied for a European loan to stabilize the economy.

Portugal has an area of ​​92,212 km² (excluding Azores, Madeira and Ilhas Selvagens: 89,165 km²). It has only one neighboring country, Spain, with which it shares a 1214 km long land border. The west and south of Portugal have a coastline of 832 km on the Atlantic Ocean. The Portuguese mainland is bisected in the center of the country by the Tagus River. The northern part of the country is more mountainous than the south and has a cooler and rainier climate. Other major rivers are the Douro, the Minho and the Guadiana, which, like the Tagus, have their source in Spain. There are no large natural lakes inland. The largest lake is the Alqueva Reservoir (250 km²), which is also the largest reservoir in Europe. The highest point in Portugal is the Ponta do Pico in the Azores, with an altitude of 2351 m. The highest point on the mainland is the Torre in the Serra da Estrela (1993 m). The archipelagos of Madeira, consisting of five islands, and the Azores, consisting of nine islands, are located west of Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean. The islands are of volcanic origin and have a subtropical climate. The country's capital and largest city is Lisbon (Portuguese: Lisboa). Some other major cities are Amadora, Aveiro, Braga, Coimbra, Funchal (Madeira), Guimarães, Porto, Setúbal and Vila Nova de Gaia.