Portugal

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country in Southwestern Europe. Mainland Portugal is located on the southwestern portion of the Iberian Peninsula, and bordered by Spain to the north and east. Portugal also includes the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. The country has a population of 11.4 million, and Lisbon, its capital, is the largest city. Portugal's internal waters and territorial sea together account for two-fifths of its territory, and its exclusive economic zone is one of Europe's largest, while its terrain contains a diverse range of landscapes and regional climates. The western Iberian Peninsula has been inhabited since prehistory, with the earliest signs of settlement dating to between 5500 BC and 5300 BC. Muslims had occupied the Iberian Peninsula since 711. As a result of the Reconquista against them, Portugal was established as a county of the Kingdom of León in 868 and formally as a kingdom in 1179. During the Age of Discovery, the kingdom made several advancements in nautical science and maritime exploration to discover new territories and sea routes, which led to the establishment of the Portuguese Empire. The kingdom became a republic in 1910, before becoming a dictatorship in 1926, whose 1974 overthrowal enabled democracy to be established in 1976. Portugal is a unitary republic and multi-party representative democracy with four separate sovereignty organs: president, government, parliament, and judiciary. It has a unicameral national legislature known as the Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República). Portugal is divided into seven mainland regions and two autonomous overseas regions, though it remains a highly centralised country. A developed country, Portugal has an advanced economy that chiefly relies upon services, industry, and tourism. Shaped by the various civilisations that have inhabited its territory, Portugal developed a culture with a worldwide influence that allowed Portuguese to become the world's fifth-most spoken native language with more than 250 million native speakers. With a stable foreign policy shaped by its colonial and diplomatic history and location, Portugal is a member of multiple international organisations and forums.

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