2009 Portugal

Portugal
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Capital: Lisbon
Official Language: Portuguese with Mirandese as a regional language for Northern Portugal
Government: Parliamentary republic
Head of State: (leave this blank for players)
Formation: 1139
Population: 10,617,575 (2007)
Currency: Euro (€)EUR
¨Human Rights Record¨ US State Department Report
¨Territorial Disputes¨ Portugal and Spain dispute the ownership of; The Exclusive Economic Zone around the Savage Islands, Olvienza and Táglia
¨Ongoing Conflicts¨ Portugal has a presence of 40 in Afghanistan as of September 2008. Portugal's involvement includes an elite infantry company from the Rapid Reaction Brigade and a seven-man Tactical Air Control unit from the Portuguese Air Force. Portuguese troops are rotated every six months: currently, the 2nd Paratrooper Company is deployed and will remain in the country from August 2007 to February 2008. The Portuguese infantry company has operated at Camp Warehouse in Kabul, at Kandahar Airfield, and in the provinces of Farah and Herat. Additionally, the 2nd Commando Company, consisting of about 100 troops, was involved in search and destroy operations as of May 2007, together with Canadian, British and Afghan forces, in Operation Hoover in Kandahar Province. Previously, the Portuguese Air Force had one C-130H in Afghanistan (from July 2004 until July 2005), and a 37-man Air Force unit was responsible for Kabul International Airport from August 2005 until December 2005.
Welcome to the international embassy of Portugal! (Player added remarks)
=Diplomatic Relations=
Nation currently enjoys diplomatic relations with (List)
Nation is a member of (List)
Nation is a signatory to the following treaties (list)
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=Summary=
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa), is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are also part of Portugal.
Portugal is a developed country, has a high Human Development Index and is among the world's 20 highest rated countries in terms of quality of life, although having the lowest GDP per capita of Western European countries. It is a member of the European Union (since 1986) and the United Nations (since 1955); as well as a founding member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (Community of Portuguese Language Countries, CPLP), and the European Union's Eurozone. Portugal is also a Schengen state. According to the Global Peace Index, Portugal is among the top ten most peaceful countries in the world.
=Brief History=
The land within the borders of today's Portuguese Republic has been continuously settled since prehistoric times. Some of the earliest civilizations include Lusitanians and Celtic societies. Incorporation into the Roman Republic dominions took place in the 2nd century BC. The region was ruled and colonized by Germanic peoples, such as the Suebi and the Visigoths, from the 5th to the 8th century. From this era, some vestiges of the Alans were also found. The Muslim Moors arrived in the early 8th century and conquered the Christian Germanic kingdoms, eventually occupying most of the Iberian Peninsula. In the early 1100s, during the Christian Reconquista, Portugal appeared as a kingdom independent of its neighbour, the Kingdom of León and Galicia. In a little over a century, in 1249, Portugal would establish almost its entire modern-day borders by conquering territory from the Moors.
During the 15th and 16th centuries, with a global empire that included possessions in Africa, Asia and South America, Portugal was one of the world's major economic, political, and cultural powers. In the 17th century, the Portuguese Restoration War between Portugal and Spain ended the sixty year period of the Iberian Union (1580–1640). In the 19th century, armed conflict with French and Spanish invading forces and the loss of its largest territorial possession abroad, Brazil, disrupted political stability and potential economic growth. After the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution coup d'état in 1974, the ruling regime was deposed in Lisbon and the country handed over its last overseas provinces in Africa. Portugal's last overseas territory, Macau, was handed over to China in 1999.
=Diplomatic Messages=
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=Resources=
*Portugal on Wikipedia
*Portugal on the BBC
*Portugal on the CIA world factbook
*Homepage of the Portuguese government