Portugal Location:
38°46'N, 9°11'W
Portugal Geography:
The climate can be classified as Oceanic in the north and Mediterranean in the south. One of the warmest European countries, yearly temperature averages in mainland Portugal 13 °C (55 °F) in the north and 18 °C (64 °F) in the south. The Madeira and Azores Atlantic archipelagos have a narrower temperature range. Spring and summer are sunny, whereas autumn and winter are rainy and windy. Extreme temperatures occur in North-Eastern parts of the country in winter (where it may reach -12 °C) and South-Eastern parts in summer (where temperatures can soar up to 44 °C). Sea coastal areas are milder, varying between -2 °C on some coldest winter mornings and 37 °C on some of the hottest summer afternoons.
Mainland Portugal is split by its main river, the Tagus. The northern landscape is mountainous in interior areas, with plateaus indented by river valleys. The south, between the Tagus and the Algarve (the Alentejo), features mostly rolling plains and a climate somewhat warmer and drier than in the cooler and rainier north. The Algarve, separated from the Alentejo by mountains, enjoys a Mediterranean climate like southern Spain. Snow happens sometimes (in some cold winter days) in the northern interior of the country. However it is a rare event in the south, but it may happen.
The islands of the Azores and Madeira are located in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Some islands have had volcanic activity as recently as 1957. Portugal's highest point is Mount Pico on Pico Island. It is an ancient volcano measuring 2,351 m (7,713 ft).
Portugal People:
Population
- July 2007 estimate 10,642,836 (75th)
- 2001 census 10,148,259
- Density 114 /km2 (87th)
295 /sq mi
Portugal Government:
Portugal is a democratic republic ruled by the constitution of 1976 with Lisbon, the nation's largest city, as its capital. The four main governing components are the president of the republic, the assembly of the republic, the government, and the courts. The constitution grants the division or separation of powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
The president, who is elected to a five-year term, has a supervising, nonexecutive role. The current President is Aníbal Cavaco Silva. The Assembly of the Republic is a unicameral parliament composed of 230 deputies elected for four-year terms.
The government is headed by the prime minister (currently José Sócrates), who chooses the Council of Ministers, comprising all the ministers and the respective state secretaries. The national and regional governments, and the Portuguese parliament, are dominated by two political parties, the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party. Minority parties CDU (Portuguese Communist Party plus Ecologist Party "The Greens"), Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc) and CDS-PP (People's Party) are also represented in the parliament and local governments.
The courts are organized into categories, including judicial, administrative, and fiscal. The supreme courts are the courts of last appeal. A thirteen-member constitutional court oversees the constitutionality of legislation.
Government Parliamentary democracy
- President Aníbal Cavaco Silva
- Prime Minister José Sócrates
Portugal Communication:
In 2006 the world's largest solar power plant began operating in the nation's sunny south while the world's first commercial wave power farm opened in October 2006 in the Norte region. As of 2006, 55% of electricity production was from coal and fuel power plants. The other 40% was produced by hydroelectrics and 5% by wind energy. The government is channeling $3.8 billion into developing renewable energy sources over the next five years.
Portugal wants renewable energy sources like solar, wind and wave power to account for nearly half of the electricity consumed in the country by 2010. "This new goal will place Portugal in the frontline of renewable energy and make it, along with Austria and Sweden, one of the three nations that most invest in this sector", Prime Minister Jose Socrates said.
An Airbus A330-200 from national airline TAP Portugal.Transportation was seen as a priority in the 1990s, pushed by the growing use of automobiles and industrialization. The country has a 68,732 km (42,708 mi) network of roads, of which 2,000 km (1,240 mi) are part of 44 motorways.
The two principal metropolitan areas have subway systems: Lisbon Metro and Metro Sul do Tejo (in final stages of completion) in Lisbon and Porto Metro in Porto, each with more than 35 km (22 mi) of lines. Construction of a high-speed TGV line connecting Porto with Lisbon and Lisbon with Madrid will begin in 2008; it will replace the Pendolinos. The government is currently studying two locations (Ota and Alcochete) to replace the present Lisbon airport. Currently, the most important airports are in Lisbon, Faro, Porto, Funchal (Madeira), and Ponta Delgada (Azores).
Portugal has one of the highest mobile phone penetration rates in the world (the number of operative mobile phones already exceeds the population). As of October 2006, 36.8% of households had high-speed Internet services and 78% of companies had Internet access. Most Portuguese watch television through cable (June 2004: 73.6% of households).
Portugal Economy:
Portugal joined the European Union in 1986 and started a process of modernization within the framework of a stable environment. It has achieved a healthy level of growth. Successive governments have implemented reforms and privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy. Portugal was one of the founding countries of the euro in 1999, and therefore is integrated into the Eurozone.
Major industries include oil refineries, automotive, cement production, pulp and paper industry, textile, footwear, furniture, and cork (the world's leading producer).[4] Agriculture no longer represents the bulk of the economy, but Portuguese wines, namely Port Wine (named after the country's second largest city, Porto) and Madeira Wine (named after Madeira Island), are exported worldwide. Tourism is also important, especially in the mainland Portugal's southernmost region of the Algarve and in the Atlantic Madeira archipelago.
The Global Competitiveness Report for 2005, published by the World Economic Forum, places Portugal on the 22nd position, ahead of countries like Spain, Ireland, France, Belgium and Hong Kong. This table shows that Portugal has stepped two places regarding the 2004 ranking. On the Technology index, Portugal was ranked 20th and on the Public Institutions index Portugal is the 15th best.[5]
A research about standard of living by Economist Intelligence Unit or EIU Quality-of-life Survey places Portugal as the country with the 20th-best quality of life in the world.
The major Portuguese stock exchange is the Euronext Lisbon which is part of the NYSE Euronext, the first global stock exchange.
Portugal More Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal |
