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Portugal has a territorial dispute with Spain. By the Vienna Treaty of 1815, Spain agreed to return Olivença (Olivenza in Spanish) to Portugal, but this agreement was never met. Portugal has periodically reasserted its claim to the territory. This issue has been discussed at the Portuguese Parliament as recently as 2004. In accordance with international law, Olivença is still considered to be Portuguese territory, despite being under Spanish administration since 1801.

Portugal proposed the creation of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) to improve its ties with other Portuguese-speaking countries. Additionally, Portugal has participated, along with Spain, in a series of Ibero-American summits.

The culture of Portugal is a very rich country in terms of culture, its culture has been maturating for centuries. It is shaped in its roots firmely in Latin culture with Celt-Iberian background. Due to its longterm relation with its former colonies, these are important to one distinguishe the portuguese national culture from other Latin cultures in Southern Europe.

Portugal is internationally known in the music scene for its traditions of fado, a popular form of music that has undergone numerous mutations in the last half of the 20th century. Within Portugal, regional folk music remains popular, having been updated and modernized in many cases, especially the northeastern region of Trás-os-Montes.

Portugal gained its first independence (as Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal) in 1065 under the rule of Garcia. Because Garcia was a tyrant and the others wanted the lands of their brothers, Portuguese and Galician nobles rebelled and the country rejoined Leon and Castile.

During the summer, in the month of June, festivities dedicated to three saints known as Santos Populares (Eng. Popular saints) take place in all over Portugal. Why the populace associated the saints to these pagan festivities is not known. But it is possibly related to Roman or local deities before Christianity has spread in the region. The three saints are Saint Anthony, Saint John and Saint Peter. A common denominator in these festivities are the wine and água-pé (drink basically constituted by grape juice), traditional bread along with sardines, marriages, traditional street dances, fire, fireworks and joy.

The south down as far as the Algarve features mostly rolling plains with a climate somewhat warmer and drier than the cooler and rainier north. Other major rivers include the Douro, the Minho and the Guadiana, similar to the Tagus in that all originate in Spain. Another important river, the Mondego, originates in the Serra da Estrela (the highest mountains in mainland Portugal - 1,991 m).

There is African, Brazilian and Asian influences throughtout its culture in various fields, especially those related to food, music, dances and habits. Arabic, Jewish, and Germanic cultures are featherweighting when compared to others.

The President of the Republic, elected to a 5-year term by universal suffrage is also commander in chief of the armed forces.

Portugal is very well represented in sports such has Rink hockey, being the country with most world titles. Golf is also worth mentioning, since its greatest players play in the sunny region of the Algarve during the "Algarve Open".

In the 5th century, Germanic tribes, known as the barbarians, invaded the peninsula. One of these, the Suevi, stopped fighting and founded a kingdom whose domains were, approximately, in today's Portugal. They fixed their capital in Bracara. Later, the Visigoths conquered this kingdom, unifying the Peninsula.

The Government is headed by the Prime Minister, who names the Council of Ministers. A newly elected government is required to define the broad outline of its policy in a program and present it to the Parliament for a mandatory period of debate. Failure of the assembly to reject the program by a majority of deputies confirms the government in office.