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The country still has a 6.7 percent illiteracy rate, almost exclusively among the elderly. Portugal has been increasingly overshadowed by lower-cost producers in Central Europe as a target for foreign direct investment.

Portuguese art was very restricted in the early years of nationality, during the reconquista, to a few paintings in churches, convents and palaces. It is after the 15th century, with the national borders established and with the discoveries, that the Portuguese art expanded. Some kings, like John of Portugal John I, already had royal paintors. It is during this century that the Gothic art is replaced by a more humanistic and Italian-like art.

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

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.

Portugal is bordered by Spain to the north and east and by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south. In addition, Portugal contains several island territories in the Atlantic, including the Azores (Açores) and Madeira (including the Savage Islands).

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.

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.