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Portugal, offilicially República Portuguesa (the Portugese Republic) is a Parliamentary Democracy on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian peninsula, situated in the region of Europe that the United Nations defines as 'Southern Europe'. Lisbon is the capital (and largest) city and Portugese is the oficial language (though Mirandese is a recognized regional language). The original inhabitants of Portugal were Cltic and Lusitanian peoples and the region was brought into the Roman Empire during the second century BCE. After the fall of Rome, the region was colonized and ruled by the Germanic peoples, particularly the Suebi and Visigoths until the 8th Century when the Muslim Moors conquered the Christian Germanic kingdoms. In the early 1100s, during the Christian Reconquista, Portugal appeared as a kingdom independent of its neighbour, the Kingdom of León and Galicia. By 1249 Portugal would effectively establish its modern borders by conquering territory from the Moors. By the 15th and 16th centuries Portugal had grown into a dominant maritime power, with an empire that included possessions in Africa, Asia and South America. Portugal's independence was interrupted between 1580 and 1640. Because the heirless King Sebastian died in battle in Morocco, Philip II of Spain claimed his throne and so became Philip I of Portugal. Although Portugal did not lose its formal independence, it was governed by the same monarch who governed Spain, briefly forming a union of kingdoms. However, in 1640 the Portuguese Restoration War between Portugal and Spain ended the sixty year period of the Iberian Union. 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.

Portugal became a member of the European Union in 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), European Union's Eurozone, and is also a Schengen state. However, it is one of the poorest of the European nations, ranking only 32nd globally in terms of per capita GDP. But the country is deveoping rapidly and is quickly catching up with the European mean due, in large part, to inward investment.

Portugese cuisine is very diverse, ranging from traditional staples such as salt cod and herring through beef, pork, lamb, or chicken to chilli and bell pepper dishes. Indeed, the Portugese were the first to bring chillies from the New World and to cultivate them extensively. It's thanks to them that piri-piri chillies grow wild in West Africa. The Portugese also have an independent pastry tradition, based on the Pastéis de Nata (cream custards) of Lisbon and, as a whole, the country has a tradition of good food. It should also be noted that the Douro wine region in Portugal is the world's most established wine region.