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During the second semester of 2004, a coalition between the PSD (main party) and PP governed Portugal in the 16th constitutional government, led by Pedro Santana Lopes, substituting José Manuel Durão Barroso. Barroso resigned to become President of the European Commission. After dissolution of the Assembly by President Jorge Sampaio, this coalition lost the election on Feb 20, 2005. The victory of José Sócrates, the leader of the PS, is complete with no less than 121 MPs - an unprecendented absolute majority for the PS.

With the 1975-76 independence of its colonies (except Macau, because it hadn't any independentist movement), the 560 year old Portuguese Empire had already effectively ended. With it, 15 years of war effort also came to an end. Also many Portuguese returned from the colonies, coming to comprise a sizeable sector of the population and starting an economic recovery, thus opening new paths for the country's future just as others closed. In 1986, Portugal entered the European Union.

The great majority of the Portuguese population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. Religious observance remains very strong in northern areas, with the population of Lisbon and southern areas generally less devout.

In 1975, Portugal granted independence to its Overseas Provinces (Províncias Ultramarinas in Portuguese) in Africa (Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe). In that same year, Indonesia invaded and annexed the Portuguese province of Portuguese Timor (East Timor) in Asia before independence could be granted. The Asian dependency of Macau, after an agreement in 1986, was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1999. Portugal applied international pressure to secure East Timor's independence from Indonesia, as East Timor was still legally a Portuguese dependency, and recognized as such by the United Nations. After a referendum in 1999, East Timor voted for independence and Portugal recognized its independence in 2002.

Portugal traces its national origin to 24 June 1128 with the Battle of São Mamede. Afonso proclaimed himself first as Prince of Portugal and in 1139 as the first King of Portugal. By 1143, with the assistance of a representant of the Holy See at the conference of Zamora, Portugal was formally recognized as independent, with the prince recognized as Dux Portucalensis. In 1179, Afonso I was declared, by the pope, as King. After the Battle of São Mamede, the first capital of Portugal was Guimarães, from which the first King ruled. Later, when Portugal was already officially independent, he ruled from Coimbra.

Saint Martin's Day, is celebrated in some countries in Europe, Portugal included, it is on November 11. This day is the peak of three days, often with very good weather, it is known as Verão de São Martinho ("saint Martin summer" or "Short Summer"), the Portuguese celebrate it with gerupiga (an alcoholic drink) and roasted Portuguese chestnuts (castanhas assadas). and it is called Magusto.

On January 6, Epiphany is celebrated in some families, especially in the North, where the family gathers to eat "Bolo-Rei" (King Cake); this is also the time for the traditional street songs - "As Janeiras" (The January ones).

The Portuguese monarchy was deposed by the revolution of 1910, starting the First Republic. It was marked by chaos and Portuguese participation in the World War I; it came to an end in 1926 when a nationalist military coup d'etat gave birth to the Second Republic, a period of almost fifty years of repressive rule.

At the end of the 11th century, a knight from Burgundy named Henry became Count of Portugal. Henry was a strong supporter of independence. Under his leadership, the County of Portucale and the County of Coimbra merged. Henry declared independence for Portugal while a civil war raged between Leon and Castile.

An Islamic invasion took place in 711, destroying the Visigothic Kingdom. Many of the ousted nobles took refuge in the unconquered north Asturian highlands. From there they aimed to reconquer their lands from the Moors: this war of reconquest is known as the Reconquista. After the Moors were, for the most part, driven out of power, most of the Iberian peninsula was briefly united under Christian rule. However, it quickly split apart after the death of Ferdinand the Great of Leon and Castile, whose domains were divided by his children.

Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar ruled as a dictator, from 1932 to 1968. Although a stable period financially and economically, it saw the beginning of the end of the Portuguese Empire. India annexed Portuguese India, including Goa, in 1961. Independence movements also became active in Angola, Mozambique, and Portuguese Guinea, and an increasingly costly series of colonial wars failed to defeat the guerrillas. Despite the Salazar's incapacitation in 1968 and his death in 1970), and Marcelo Caetano's marcelist spring, discontent about the wars was one of the factors leading to the 1974 Revolution.

Within the Portuguese political culture, the PSD is described as center-right and the PS is described as center-left. Other parties with seat in the parliament are the PP (Partido Popular) – Popular Party, PCP (Partido Comunista Português) – Communists, Os Verdes – The Greens, and the BE (Bloco de Esquerda) – Left Block. BE, Os Verdes and PCP are left wing and the PP right wing.

In the early first millennium BCE, several waves of Celts invaded Portugal from central Europe and intermarried with the local Iberian people, forming the Celt-Iberian ethnic group. Two of the new tribes formed by the intermarrying were the Lusitanians, who lived between the Douro and Tagus rivers, and the Calaicians, who lived north of the Douro river with several other tribes. A Phoenician colony was established in southern Portugal, the Conii. The Celtics, a later wave of Celts, settled in Alentejo. In 238 BCE, the Carthaginians occupied the Iberian coasts.