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Population: 10.566.200
Languages: Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official, but lo
Currency: euro
Currency code: EUR
Local Times:
Portugal - Lisbon
Country Dialling Code: +361
Voltage: 220V 50Hz
Electrical plugs:
 
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Portugal, by virtue of its position on Europe's Western edge, gets fewer travelers than other Mediterranean places. But visitors are rewarded with uncrowded cities and moderate tarifs for food, hotels and private villas and apartments. Portugal has a rich culture, a landscape wreathed in olive groves, superb beach resorts, wistful towns, vineyards and wheat fields.
Portugal occupies the western part of the Iberian Peninsula and is 35,655 sq miles. The country is crossed by three large rivers that rise in Spain, flow into the Atlantic, and divide the country into three geographic areas. The Minho River, part of the northern boundary, cuts through a mountainous area that extends south to the vicinity of the Douro River. South of the Douro, the mountains slope to the plains around the Tejo River.
The country has a rich, unique culture, lively cities and beautiful countryside. Although once one of the poorest countries in Western Europe, Portugal's end of dictatorship and introduction of Democracy in 1974, as well as its incorporation into the European Union in 1986, has meant significantly increased prosperity. However it may be one of the best value destinations on the Continent. This is because the country offers outstanding landscape diversity, due to its North-South disposition along the western shore of the Iberian peninsula. You can travel in a single day from green mountains in the North, covered with vines and all varieties of trees to rocky mountains, with spectacular slopes and falls in the Centre, to a near-desert landscape in the Alentejo region and finally to the glamorous beach holidays destination Algarve. The climate, combined with investments in the golfing infrastructure in recent years, has also turned the country into a golfing haven. Portugal was recently named "Best Golf Destination 2008" by readers of Golfers Today, a British publication. Fourteen of Portugal's courses are rated in the top 100 best in Europe. If you want a condensed view of European landscapes, culture and way of life, Portugal might very well fit the bill. |
