| Country name | conventional long form: Portuguese Republic conventional short form: Portugal local long form: Republica Portuguesa local short form: Portugal etymology: name derives from the Roman designation "Portus Cale" meaning "Port of Cale"; Cale was an ancient Celtic town and port in present-day northern Portugal |
| Government type | semi-presidential republic |
| Capital | name: Lisbon geographic coordinates: 38 43 N, 9 08 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October note: Portugal has two time zones, including the Azores (UTC-1) etymology: Lisbon is one of Europe's oldest cities (the second oldest capital city after Athens) and the origin of the name is lost in time; it may have been founded as an ancient Celtic settlement that subsequently maintained close commercial relations with the Phoenicians (beginning about 1200 B.C.); the name of the settlement may have been derived from the pre-Roman appellation for the Tagus River that runs through the city, Lisso or Lucio; the Romans named the city "Olisippo" when they took it from the Carthaginians in 205 B.C.; under the Visigoths the city name became "Ulixbona," under the Arabs it was "al-Ushbuna"; the medieval version of "Lissabona" became today's Lisboa |
| Administrative divisions | 18 districts (distritos, singular - distrito) and 2 autonomous regions* (regioes autonomas, singular - regiao autonoma); Aveiro, Acores (Azores)*, Beja, Braga, Braganca, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Evora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisboa (Lisbon), Madeira*, Portalegre, Porto, Santarem, Setubal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Viseu |
| Independence | 1143 (Kingdom of Portugal recognized); 1 December 1640 (independence reestablished following 60 years of Spanish rule); 5 October 1910 (republic proclaimed) |
| National holiday | Portugal Day (Dia de Portugal), 10 June (1580); note - also called Camoes Day, the day that revered national poet Luis DE CAMOES (1524-80) died |
| Constitution | history: several previous; latest adopted 2 April 1976, effective 25 April 1976 amendments: proposed by the Assembly of the Republic; adoption requires two-thirds majority vote of Assembly members; amended several times, last in 2005 (2021) |
| Legal system | civil law system; Constitutional Court review of legislative acts |
| International law organization participation | accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction |
| Citizenship | citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Portugal dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years; 6 years if from a Portuguese-speaking country |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA (since 9 March 2016) head of government: Prime Minister Antonio Luis Santos da COSTA (since 24 November 2015) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 24 January 2021 (next to be held on 24 January 2026); following legislative elections the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president election results: Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA reelected president in the first round; percent of vote - Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA (PSD) 60.7%, Ana GOMES (independent) 12.97%, Andre VENTURA (CH) 11.9%, João FERREIRA (PCP-PEV) 4.32%, Marisa MATIAS (BE) 3.95%, other 6.16% note: there is also a Council of State that acts as a consultative body to the president |
| Legislative branch | description: unicameral Assembly of the Republic or Assembleia da Republica (230 seats; 226 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed-list proportional representation vote and 4 members - 2 each in 2 constituencies representing Portuguese living abroad - directly elected by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms) (e.g. 2019) elections: last held on 6 October 2019 (next to be held 2023) (e.g. 2019) election results: percent of vote by party - PS 36.4%, PSD 27.8%, B.E. 9.5%, CDU 6.5%, other 20.8%; seats by party - PS 108, PSD 79, B.E. 19, CDU 12, other 12; composition - men 158, women 72, percent of women 31.3% (e.g. 2019) |
| Judicial branch | highest courts: Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de Justica (consists of 12 justices); Constitutional Court or Tribunal Constitucional (consists of 13 judges) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court justices nominated by the president and appointed by the Assembly of the Republic; judges can serve for life; Constitutional Court judges - 10 elected by the Assembly and 3 elected by the other Constitutional Court judges; judges elected for 6-year nonrenewable terms subordinate courts: Supreme Administrative Court (Supremo Tribunal Administrativo); Audit Court (Tribunal de Contas); appellate, district, and municipal courts |
| Political parties and leaders | Democratic and Social Center/Popular Party (Partido do Centro Democratico Social-Partido Popular) or CDS-PP [Assuncao CRISTAS] Ecologist Party "The Greens" or "Os Verdes" (Partido Ecologista-Os Verdes) or PEV [Heloisa APOLONIA] Enough (Chega) [Andre VENTURA] (formed in 2019) People-Animals-Nature Party (Pessoas-Animais-Natureza) or PAN [Andre SILVA] Portuguese Communist Party (Partido Comunista Portugues) or PCP [Jeronimo DE SOUSA] Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata) or PSD (original name Partido Popular Democratico) or PPD [Rui RIO] Socialist Party (Partido Socialista) or PS [Antonio COSTA] The Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) or BE or O Bloco [Catarina MARTINS] Unitary Democratic Coalition (Coligacao Democratica Unitaria) or CDU [Jeronimo DE SOUSA] (includes PCP and PEV) |
| International organization participation | ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BIS, CD, CE, CERN, CPLP, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINUSMA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club (associate), PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Domingos Teixeira de Abreu FEZAS VITAL (since 28 January 2016) chancery: 2012 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 350-5400; [1] (202) 332-3007 FAX: [1] (202) 462-3726; [1] (202) 387-2768 email address and website: info.washington@mne.pt; sconsular.washington@mne.pt https://washingtondc.embaixadaportugal.mne.gov.pt/en/ consulate(s) general: Boston, Newark (NJ), New York, San Francisco consulate(s): New Bedford (MA), Providence (RI) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Kristin M. KANE (since January 2021) embassy: Avenida das Forcas Armadas, 1600-081 Lisboa mailing address: 5320 Lisbon Place, Washington DC 20521-5320 telephone: [351] (21) 727-3300 FAX: [351] (21) 726-9109 email address and website: conslisbon@state.gov https://pt.usembassy.gov/ consulate(s): Ponta Delgada (Azores) |
| Flag description | two vertical bands of green (hoist side, two-fifths) and red (three-fifths) with the national coat of arms (armillary sphere and Portuguese shield) centered on the dividing line; explanations for the color meanings are ambiguous, but a popular interpretation has green symbolizing hope and red the blood of those defending the nation |
| National symbol(s) | armillary sphere (a spherical astrolabe modeling objects in the sky and representing the Republic); national colors: red, green |
| National anthem | name: "A Portugesa" (The Song of the Portuguese) lyrics/music: Henrique LOPES DE MENDOCA/Alfredo KEIL note: adopted 1910; "A Portuguesa" was originally written to protest the Portuguese monarchy's acquiescence to the 1890 British ultimatum forcing Portugal to give up areas of Africa; the lyrics refer to the "insult" that resulted from the event |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
