Map:

Overview:
Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.

The People:
Population: 10,566,212 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 16.6% (male 916,234/female 839,935)
15-64 years: 66.3% (male 3,468,844/female 3,538,779)
65 years and over: 17.1% (male 744,787/female 1,057,633) (2005 est.)

Religions:
Roman Catholic 94%, Protestant (1995)

Government Type:
parliamentary democracy

Leader(s) to pray for:
chief of state: President Jorge SAMPAIO (since 9 March 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Jose SOCRATES (since 12 March 2005)

Source: The World Factbook

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