Portuguese Republic
A country in the southwest of Europe, in the western part of the Iberian Peninsula; it also includes the Azores and Madeira islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Area - 92.1 thousand km². Territorial waters - 12 miles, economic zone - 200 miles. Land border - with Spain. Capital - Lisbon (with suburbs - 1.5 million), largest cities: Porto, Braga, Setúbal, Coimbra, Évora. In some countries of the world (Brazil, France, South Africa, Canada, USA, Venezuela, Switzerland, Germany), there are significant Portuguese colonies with a total population of about 5 million people.
Administrative-territorial division - 18 districts ("distritos"), which are divided into 308 municipal areas ("concelhos"), consisting of parishes ("freguesias"). The representative of central authority in the district is a civil governor appointed by the government. In municipal areas, municipal assemblies are elected, and the executive local authorities are municipal chambers (mayors). The autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira are granted broad political-administrative and economic autonomy. They have their own legislative assemblies, elected for 4 years, and regional governments.
The representative of central authority in the autonomous region is the minister of the republic. Population - 10.5 million; 95% - Portuguese, 5% - foreigners. The official language is Portuguese. The main religion is Catholicism (90% of believers), the church is separated from the state. The currency is the euro.
It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (established with the USSR in 1974).
National holiday - Portugal Day, Camões Day, and the Day of Portuguese Communities, celebrated on June 10, the day of the death of the outstanding Portuguese poet L. Camões (1580).
The independent Portuguese state was formed in the mid-12th century, having separated from the León-Castilian (Spanish) kingdom. By the end of the 15th century, Portugal became one of the largest maritime and colonial powers, but later gradually fell into decline. From 1581 to 1640, it was under the rule of the Spanish monarchy.
Subsequently, it gradually came under strong economic and political influence from England.
In 1910, the monarchy was overthrown and a republic was proclaimed. Portugal participated in World War I (from 1916) on the side of the Entente.
In May 1926, as a result of a coup, military dictatorship was established in the country. With the adoption of the constitution in 1933, which defined Portugal as a "unitary corporate republic," the authoritarian regime of Prime Minister A. Salazar was established. During World War II, Portugal maintained neutrality, then moved to close military-political cooperation with the USA. Since 1961, it waged a colonial war against national liberation movements in its territories in Africa.
On April 25, 1974, as a result of a successful uprising by army units, the regime of Salazar's successor M. Caetano was overthrown. In the subsequent period, significant democratic transformations were carried out in the state structure, political and socio-economic life, enshrined in the new constitution adopted in April 1976. In 1974-75, Portugal recognized the independence of its former colonies in Africa: Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola.
After the 1974 revolution, Portugal experienced a rather prolonged period of acute internal political struggle. Stability was achieved with the rise to power of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1985. From 1995 to 2002, the Socialist Party (SP) was in power. In March 2002, early parliamentary elections were held, in which the relative majority (40% of the votes) was obtained by the SDP, which then formed a coalition center-right government together with the People's Party (PP). The Prime Minister was social democrat J. M. Durão Barroso, and then, after his departure in July 2004 due to his appointment as President of the European Commission, - P. Santana Lopes. In 2005, new early parliamentary elections were held, in which the SP won, obtaining an absolute majority of seats in the Assembly of the Republic. Its leader J. Sócrates formed a single-party government with the participation of independent politicians (the start of its activities - March 12, 2005).
Portugal is a parliamentary republic with a so-called "semi-presidential regime" (implying mutual limitation of the powers of the president, government, and parliament). The constitution of 1976 is in effect, with amendments in 1982, 1989, 1992, 1997, and 2004.
The president of the republic since March 1996 is socialist J. Sampaio (re-elected for a second 5-year term in January 2001).
The highest legislative body - the Assembly of the Republic - is a unicameral parliament (230 deputies), elected for 4 years. In the early parliamentary elections on November 20, 2005, the Assembly of the Republic was elected with 121 deputies from the Socialist Party, 77 from the Social Democratic Party, 12 from the electoral bloc Coalition of Democratic Unity (CDU) led by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), 12 from the right-wing People's Party (PP), and 8 from the "Left Bloc." The Chairman of the Assembly of the Republic is J. Gama (SP).
The government is formed by the Socialist Party. The Prime Minister is J. Sócrates.
Among the one and a half dozen parties operating in the country, the following have real influence: the Socialist Party - the oldest in the country, re-established in 1973. It is a member of the Socialist International. In October 2004, J. Sócrates was elected as the party's general secretary. The Social Democratic Party (essentially liberal, called the People's Democratic Party until 1979) was founded in 1974. It is a member of the European People's Party and the International of Christian Democratic and People's Parties. The chairman of the SDP until July 2004 was J. M. Durão Barroso. The new chairman of the SDP became P. Santana Lopes. Following the defeat in the February 2005 parliamentary elections, he resigned as party leader, returning to the post of mayor of Lisbon. An extraordinary congress of the SDP in April 2005 elected L. Marques Mendes as its new chairman. The People's Party is right-leaning, the successor to the Christian Democratic party Social Democratic Center, established in 1974. In the European Parliament, it is part of the Union for Europe. The chairman of the PP is P. Portas (in the previous SDP/PP government, he held the position of state minister - minister of defense and maritime affairs). After the party's failure in the February 2005 elections, he announced his resignation as leader of the PP. The Portuguese Communist Party was founded in 1921. The general secretary since December 2004 is J. De Souza. The "Left Bloc" unites left-radical People's Democratic Union, Socialist Revolutionary Party, and the "Politics-XXI" movement. Leaders - F. Louça, L. Fazenda, and M. Portas.
Trade unions have 1.7 million members. The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers - National Interunion (CGTP-IN) was created in 1970 under illegal conditions. It is under the predominant influence of the PCP. It unites more than half of union members. The general coordinator is M. Carvalho da Silva. The General Union of Workers (UGT) is controlled by socialists and social democrats, established in 1978. It mainly includes employees and engineering and technical personnel. The general secretary is J. Proença (SP). CGTP-IN and UGT are members of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the European Trade Union Confederation. About 320 thousand people are members of other trade union movements.
The total number of armed forces is 43.4 thousand people (land forces - 25.8 thousand, air forces - 9.6 thousand, naval forces - 8 thousand). Military spending in 2004 was 1.97 billion euros (8.5% more than in 2003).
Portugal is a member of the UN, NATO since 1949, EFTA since 1988, and the EU. Under Lisbon is the Joint Command of NATO's Allied Forces "West/Lisbon." The USA rents the Lajes Air Base (Terceira Island) in the Azores.
The economy of Portugal is adapted to the requirements of the EU, of which the country has been a member since January 1, 1986. The GDP volume in 2004 was about 134 billion euros, or about 12.9 thousand euros per capita. In 2004, after another cyclical crisis, the Portuguese economy entered a recovery phase, with real GDP increasing by 1.1% (in 2003, there was a decline of 1.2%).
The economically active population is 5.5 million people, with an unemployment rate of 6.8%. In industry, energy, and construction, 31.2% are employed, producing about 26.4% of GDP; in agriculture and fishing - 12.1% and 3.8%, respectively; in the service sector - 56.7% and 69.8%.
The annual production volume of the manufacturing industry (food, textile, garment, automotive, production of resins, plastics, and some types of electrical and electronic equipment) is about 67 billion euros. The production volume of the extractive industry is about 1 billion euros, of which approximately half comes from the extraction of natural stone.
The agricultural production volume is 6.4 billion euros. Small farms (93%) prevail. Citrus fruits and other fruits, vegetables, olives are grown, and wine and olive oil are produced. The annual catch of fish and seafood is 153.7 million tons. The fishing fleet mainly consists of small vessels.
In the service sector, trade, restaurant business, banking and financial services, hospitality, and tourism are well developed.
Inflation in 2004 was 2.6% (3.3% in 2003), the state budget deficit was about 2.9% of GDP, and the public debt was over 83 billion euros, or 62% of GDP (78.3 billion euros and 60.3% of GDP in 2003).
The foreign trade turnover is about 73 billion euros (more than 50% of GDP), with exports of about 29 billion euros and imports of about 44 billion euros.
The main trading partners are EU countries, which account for about 78% of Portugal's foreign trade. The balance of payments deficit is estimated at 5.2% of GDP (3.9% in 2003). Foreign exchange reserves are 8.9 billion euros. The largest investors in the Portuguese economy are EU countries, Brazil, and the USA. The volume of accumulated foreign direct investments is 46.6 billion euros. Accumulated direct Portuguese investments abroad (Spain, Germany, Brazil) amount to 34.7 billion euros.
The legally established minimum wage since January 2005 is 374.7 euros per month. The average wage is 887 euros. Labor productivity is 60-65% of the EU average.
Nine years of incomplete secondary education is mandatory. More than 20% of youth aged 18-25 are enrolled in higher education institutions. Major universities are located in Lisbon (founded in 1290), Coimbra, and Porto.
The main daily newspapers are "Público," "Diário de Notícias," and "Jornal de Notícias." The news agency is "Lusa" (financed from both state and private sources). Television - 2 state and 2 private channels.