Country Overview | Key Property Facts

Currency:

Euro

Capital:

Lisbon

Major Cities (by population size):

Lisbon , Vila Nova de Gaia , Porto, Amadora, Matosinhos, Braga , Coimbra , Maia, Feira, Funchal

Geography:

Portugal lies on the western side of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. It is bordered by Spain to the north and east, and is the most westerly country in continental Europe. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Mediterranean to the south. It also includes the Azores archipelago and the island of Madeira both located in the Atlantic Ocean. Portugal has a temperate maritime climate, cool and rainy in the north and warmer and drier in the south. The country is mountainous north of the Tagus River with rolling plains in the south. The Azores and Madeira are volcanic and are prone to severe earthquakes.

Politics:

Portugal has been an independent nation state for over 800 years. During the Renaissance it was a great seafaring power and today is Britain 's oldest ally. When Portugal joined the EU (then European Community) back in 1986, however, it was one of the poorest countries in Western Europe. Since then, benefiting from billions of euros of EU development funds, strong socioeconomic development has taken place in the country and per capita income has risen from around half the European average to more than 75 per cent. Portugal 's infrastructure is constantly improving and its economy is now among the fastest growing in Europe. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and in the Euro currency zone.

Economy:

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.3% (2005 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $170.3 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (purchasing power parity): $200.6 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (real) growth rate: 0.4% (2005 est.)
Foreign Direct Investment (net): -$4.7 billion

Portugal's economy has a large manufacturing base with large industries in textiles, metals, oil refining, fish canning, plastic products, ceramics, electronics, aerospace equipment, ship construction and wine. Since joining the EU in 1986, the country's service sector has expanded, however, and tourism in particular is now a significant contributor to the overall economy. Portugal qualified for the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and began circulating the Euro on 1 January 2002. The country has enjoyed economic growth above the EU average for much of the past decade. However, the economy has slowed since 2001 and in 2003 went into recession. The Socialist Party came into power in 2005 with tough economic challenges to face: unemployment had almost doubled in 3 years, reaching around 7.6% in 2005; a poor educational system had been an obstacle to productivity growth which was two thirds of the EU average; observers such as the Economist have criticised the country for having an overly large public sector; and the country's important manufacturing sector has faced fierce competition from lower-cost producers in Central Europe and Asia. GDP per capita currently stands at two-thirds that of the Big Four EU economies.

Legal System

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Portugal has a civil law system and accepts compulsory rulings from the International Court of Justice, with some reservations. The judiciary is independent, but the court system is painfully slow. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, "The Portuguese legal system is slow and deliberate, with cases taking years, if not decades, to be resolved. In 2001, there were close to one million pending legal disputes in the national courts, four times the 1992 level. In an effort to address this problem, the government introduced reforms in litigation procedures and public administration in 2004."

People:

The Portuguese population is mainly of Mediterranean stock. Ethnic minorities include less than 100,000 citizens of black African descent from the decolonization era and some East Europeans who have migrated to the country since 1990. Portuguese and Mirandese are official languages with the latter only used locally. In 1995, 94% of the population were Roman Catholic and the rest Protestant.

Demographics:

Portugal has a population of 10,605,870 (July 2006 est.) with a meagre growth rate of 0.36% (2006 est.) based on a slightly higher birth rate (10.72 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)) than death rate (10.5 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)). Net immigration is significant at 3.4 migrants/1,000 (2006 est.) and life expectancy at birth is relatively high (77.7 years).

Country Ratings:

Quality of Life Index:
7.307, rank: 19th
Index of Economic Freedom:
Rank 30, Score 2.29, Category: Mostly free
International Country Risk Guide:
Political 84.0, financial 33.5, economic 35.5, current composite rating 76.5