Plan your trip to Portugal

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a unitary semi-presidential republic. It is located in South-Western Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula, and it is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, being bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. Aside from continental Portugal, the Portuguese Republic holds sovereignty over the Atlantic archipelagos of Azores and Madeira, which are autonomous regions of Portugal. The country is named after its second largest city, Porto, whose name derives from Latin Portus and Celtic Cale.The land within the borders of the current Portuguese Republic has been continually fought over and settled since prehistoric times. The Celts and the Romans, followed by the Visigothic and Suebian domination, and the Moorish invaders, who were eventually expelled during the Reconquista.Portugal by 1139 established itself as an independent kingdom from Galicia. In the 15th and 16th centuries, as the result of pioneering the Age of Discovery, Portugal expanded western influence and established the first global empire, becoming one of the world's major economic, political and military powers, and ultimately dividing the world with Spain.The Portuguese Empire was the longest-lived of the modern European colonial empires, spanning almost 600 years, from the capture of Ceuta in 1415 to the handover of Macau to China in 1999 or the granting of sovereignty to East Timor in 2002. The empire spread throughout a vast number of territories that are now part of 53 different sovereign states, leaving a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today and a number of Portuguese-based creoles. Portugal's international status was greatly reduced during the 19th century, especially following the Independence of Brazil, its largest and most important colony. After 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, itself being superseded by the "Estado Novo" right-wing authoritarian regime. Democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. The revolution in 1974 also resulted in the independence of Angola, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, East Timor, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau in 1975.Portugal is considered a developed country with an advanced economy and high living standards.[citation needed] It's one of the world's most globalized and peaceful nations. It is a member of the United Nations, European Union, Eurozone, OECD, NATO, WTO, Schengen Area, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. On 31 May 2010, Portugal became the sixth country in Europe and the eighth country in the world to legally recognize same-sex marriage on the national level.Portugal also received international attention for being the first country in the world to fully decriminalize the usage of all drugs in 2001.