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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.

Portugal's economy is based on traditional industries such as textiles, clothing, footwear, cork and wood products, beverages (wine), porcelain and earthenware, and glass and glassware. In addition, the country has increased its role in Europe's automotive sector. Services, particularly tourism, are playing an increasingly important role in the economy.

Portugal is a small coastal nation in southwestern Europe. Its mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula, located 38°41° north of the equator and 8°5° west of the Prime Meridian.

The Parliament, or Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República in Portuguese) is a unicameral body composed of 230 deputies. It is elected by universal suffrage according to a system of proportional representation to multi-member constituencies. Deputies serve terms of office of 4 years, unless the president dissolves the assembly and calls for new elections. The Assembly of the Republic is the main legislative body. The President of Parliament substitutes the President of the Republic in the event of his absence.

Portuguese have a reputation for loving cod dishes (bacalhau in Portuguese). For that there are 365 ways of making cod dishes.

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.

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.

The first known people that lived in Portugal were the Oestriminis, that stretched their territory from Galicia (Northwestern Spain) to the Algarve. They are today seen as the first native people.

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

Portugal's April 25, 1976 constitution reflected the country's 1974-76 move from authoritarian rule to provisional military government to a parliamentary democracy with some initial communist and left-wing influence. The military coup in 1974 was a result of the colonial wars and removed the authoritarian dictator, Marcelo Caetano, from power.

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.

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.

In a survey on nationalism and European issues made by a newspaper in Portugal in 1994, revealed that only 9% of the Portuguese people would consider themselves as very little or not at all nationalist, while 43% consider themselves as a lot or extremely nationalist. But when the question is federalism in Europe, Portuguese people do not see a contradiction between a European identity and nationalism, 51% of the interviewed would even agree with Portugal's integration in a supposed United States of Europe, while 27% would be against (22% do not have an opinion). Portuguese public opinion and media tend to be Europhile, in the EuroBarometer's 2004 Spring survey, 60% of the Portuguese trusted the EU.