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Early Greek explorers named the region "Ophiussa" (Greek for "land of serpents") because the natives worshipped serpents.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal was a major economic, political, and cultural power. The overseas empire was pervasive across the world.

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

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.

Religious minorities include a little over 300,000 Protestants. There is also about 50,000 Muslims and 10,000 Hindus, most of them came from Goa, a former Portuguese colony on the west coast of India. There are also about 1,000 Jews, but a considerable large number of people have some Jewish heritage, and although they consider themselves Catholics, one can observe some Jewish customs.

During the past 3000 years Portugal has witnessed a constant flow of different civilizations. Phoenician, Celtic, Carthaginian, Roman, Barbarian (Germanic) and Arabic cultures have all made an imprint in Portugal.

European football is the most popular and practiced sport in Portugal. As of August 2004, the country is ranked 8th in 205 countries by FIFA. Luís Figo is one of the world's top players, but the legendary Eusébio, Rui Costa and Cristiano Ronaldo are also noteworthy. FC Porto crowned its international success by winning the UEFA Cup in 2003 and UEFA Champions League in 2004 as well as local cups. The team also won the Intercontinental Cup in Japan last December, by defeating Colombian champions Once Caldas in the penalty shootouts.

Portugal borders only one nation—Spain, to the west and north—with a total of 1,214km of borders. It is bordered on the east with a 1,793km coastline along the North Atlantic Ocean. Portugal also controls the Atlantic islands of Azores and Madeira Islands, which are strategic locations along western sea approaches to the Strait of Gibraltar between the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. In total, the country has an area of 92,391km,² of which 91,951km² is land and 440km² water.