Portugal: Tradle 7/3/23

      Quick Facts

      • Capital: Lisbon
      • Population: 10,223,150 (91st)
      • Languages: Portuguese, Mirandese
      • Religions (>10%): Roman Catholic 79.7%
      • GDP: $347.694 billion
      • GDP per Capita: $33,700
      • Top Exports:
        • cars and vehicle parts
        • refined petroleum
        • leather footwear
        • tires
        • paper
      • Top Export Partners (>10%):
        • Spain 26%
        • France 12%
        • Germany 12%

      10 Unique Facts About Portugal

      (1) Largest Cork Producer in the World

      Produces over 50% of the world's cork.

      (2) The Oldest Active Alliance - Treaty of Windsor

      Signed in 1386 between Portugal and England.

      (3) Highest Surfed Wave at 86 Feet

      Surfed by Sebastian Steudtner’s in Nazaré in 2020.

      (4) Carnation Revolution - Bloodless Transition to Democracy

      The Carnation Revolution overthrew a 40 year old fascist regime. It got its name from the fact that almost no shots were fired and from restaurant worker Celeste Caeiro offering carnations to the soldiers when the population took to the streets to celebrate the end of the dictatorship, with other demonstrators following suit and carnations placed in the muzzles of guns and on the soldiers' uniforms.

      (5) Fourth Most Peaceful Nation

      Behind Iceland, New Zealand, and Denmark according to the 2021 Global Peace Index (GPI).

      (6) First Country to Decriminalize all Drugs

      On July 1, 2001, Portugal became the first country in the world to decriminalize all drugs, Portugal now has some of the lowest drug usage rates in the world.

      (7) First to Navigate the Seas from Europe to Asia

      Vasco da Gama was the first explorer to successfully sail from Europe to Asia (India). He traveled around bottom of South Africa past what the ironically named Cape of Good Hope. In the Early Modern Era, the first European to reach the cape was the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias on 12 March 1488, who named it the "Cape of Storms" (Cabo das Tormentas). It was later renamed by John II of Portugal as "Cape of Good Hope" (Cabo da Boa Esperança) because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India and the East.

      (8) Colonized over 50 Countries and Territories

      • Countries/Territories: Year of Independence
      • Brazil: 1822
      • Angola: 1975
      • Mozambique: 1975
      • Cape Verde: 1975
      • Guinea-Bissau: 1974
      • São Tomé and Príncipe: 1975
      • East Timor (now Timor-Leste): 2002
      • Macau (now a Special Administrative Region of China): 1999
      • Goa, Daman, and Diu (now part of India): 1961
      • Malacca (now part of Malaysia): 1641
      • Azores and Madeira (remained under Portuguese administration)