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Portugal was a founding member of NATO; it is an active member of the alliance by, for example, contributing proportionally large contingents in Balkans peacekeeping forces.

In the elections of February 20, the Socialist Party obtained its largest victory ever; for the first time in the democratic history of the country a Socialist government would be formed with an absolute majority in the Assembly of the Republic.

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.

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

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.

Portugal was a strong advocate of independence for East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, and has committed troops and money to East Timor, in close cooperation with the United States, Asian allies, and the United Nations.

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".

Portugal has always been turned towards the sea; its land-based treaties are notably stable. The border with Spain has remained almost unchanged since the 13th century. A 1373 treaty of alliance between England and Portugal has never been broken to this day. Since early times, fishing and overseas commerce have been the main economic activities. Henry the Navigator's interest in exploration together with some technological developments in navigation made Portugal's expansion possible and led to great advances in geographic knowledge.

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.