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Portugal

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|name =''República Portuguesa''
|map =Portugal rel82.jpg
|map2 =Portugal location.png
|flag =Flag of Portugal.png
|arms =Arms of Portugal.png
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =José SócratesPedro Passos Coelho
|pm-raw =
|area =35,580 sq mi
|pop =10,848833,692(2007)816|pop-basis =2016
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$229.881 billion(2006)
|currency =euro
|idd =
|tld =.pt
}}
 
'''Portugal''' is a [[European]] nation in the [[Iberian Peninsula]], with land borders with [[Spain]]. Its capital is [[Lisbon]].
Virtually all Portugese Portuguese are [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholics]] and Portugese Portuguese compromise 98% of the population, the rest are North Africans and Eastern Europeans.
==Government and Political Conditions==
===Principal Government Officials===
*President of the Portuguese Republic--Anibal Republic—Anibal Cavaco Silva*Prime Minister--Jose SocratesMinister—Pedro Passos Coelho*Minister of Foreign Affairs--Luis Affairs—Luis Amado *Minister of Defense--Nuno Defense—Nuno Severiano Teixeira*Minister of State for Internal Administration--Rui Administration—Rui Pereira*Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers--Pedro Ministers—Pedro Silva Pereira*Minister of State and Justice--Alberto Justice—Alberto Costa*Minister of Finance--Fernando Finance—Fernando Teixeira dos Santos*Minister of Economy and Innovation--Manuel Innovation—Manuel Pinho*Minister of Parliamentary Affairs--Augusto Affairs—Augusto Santos Silva*Minister of the Environment--Francisco Environment—Francisco Nunes*Minister of Culture--Isabel Culture—Isabel Pires de Lima*Minister of Agriculture--Jaime Agriculture—Jaime Silva*Minister of Public Works--Mario Works—Mario Lino*Minister of Labor and Social Security--Jose Security—Jose Vieira da Silva*Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education--Jose Education—Jose Mariano Gago*Minister of Education--Maria Education—Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues
===Foreign Relations===
==Economy==
Portugal's membership in the European Union (EU) contributed to stable economic growth, largely through increased trade and an inflow of EU funds for infrastructure improvements. Until 2001, average annual growth rates consistently exceeded those of the EU average. Due to slow economic growth, Portugal has lost ground relative to the rest of the EU since 2002. Portugal's per capita GDP dropped from 80% of the EU-25 average in 2001 to 71% in 2006, causing the country to drop three places to 18th in purchasing power parity, behind Greece, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia.
[[File:The Tower of Belem.jpg|thumb|The Tower of Belem.]]
In order to enter the European Monetary Union (EMU) in January 1999, Portugal agreed to cut its fiscal deficit and undertake structural reforms. The EMU brought exchange rate stability, lower inflation, and lower interest rates. Falling interest rates, in turn, lowered the cost of public debt and helped the country achieve its fiscal targets. However, private sector borrowing increased dramatically. By 2001, the economy was in serious external imbalance, with a large current and capital account deficit. Portugal was the first country to breach the Eurozone's Stability and Growth Pact budget deficit target of 3%. The Government of Portugal met the 3% target from 2002-2004, but the deficit surged to an all-time high of 6% in 2005. The government reduced the deficit to 4.6% in 2006 mainly through revenue generating measures. The 2007 budget aims to reduce the deficit to 3.7% through spending cuts and structural reforms.
Helped in part by a wider EU recovery, the Portuguese economy grew by 1.4% in 2006, up from a 0.3% the year before. The Portuguese Government predicts the growth rate will accelerate to 1.8% in 2007. Unemployment was 7.6% in 2006.
Portugal's economy is based on traditional industries such as textiles, clothing, footwear, cork and wood products, beverages (wine), porcelain and earthenware, and glass and glassware. In addition, the country has increased its role in Europe's automotive sector and has a world-class mold-making industry. Services, particularly tourism, are playing an increasingly important role. Portugal’s EU funding will be cut by 10%, to 22.5 billion euros, during the 2007-2013 period. EU expansion into eastern Europe has erased Portugal's historic competitive advantage and relative low labor costs. The government is working to change Portugal's economic development model from one based on public consumption and public investment to one focused on exports, private investment, and development of the high-tech sector.
==History==
[[File:VascoDaGama.jpeg|thumb|left|300px|Portuguese navigator [[Vasco da Gama]].]]
Portugal is one of the oldest states in Europe. It traces its modern history to A.D. 1140 when, following a 9-year rebellion against the King of Leon-Castile, Afonso Henriques, the Count of Portugal, became the country's first king, Afonso I. Afonso and his successors expanded their territory southward, capturing Lisbon from the Moors in 1147. The approximate present-day boundaries were secured in 1249 by Afonso III.
The downfall of the Portuguese corporate state came on April 25, 1974, when the Armed Forces Movement seized power in a nearly bloodless coup and established a provisional military government.
{{License|license = This work is in the [[public domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.| source = [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3208.htm]}}
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{{European Union}}
[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:NATO membersMembers]][[Category:EU MembersChristian-Majority Countries]][[Category:Portugal]]
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