Country Study

Portugal's official name is the Portuguese Republic. Its government is a republic and the executive branch consists of a President, Council of State, Prime Minister, and Council of Ministers. There are also legislative and judicial branches of government similar to the government in the United States. There are several major political parties at work in Portugal. The Social Democratic Party, Socialist Party, Popular Party, Portuguese Communist Party and left Bloc. The currency is the Euro, as of today, the currency exchange rate is 1 Euro is equivalent to $1.19 USD.

The land mass is slightly smaller than the State of Indiana encompassing 92,391 square kilometers including the Azores and Madeira Islands. The major cities include Lisbon, its capital with a population of 1.9 million and Porto with a population of about 1.7. million. The total population of the country is about 10.56 million averaging about 113 people per square kilometer with an annual growth rate of -1.3%. The terrain in the Portuguese republic is mountainous in the north with rolling plains in the central south. The climate is pretty mild with winter lasting from December through March averaging temperatures in the 60's. The summer temperatures tend to be in the 70's. The winter temperatures are warmer than what we would expect in an Oklahoma winter but the summer temperatures are much lower than what we would expect here.

The education level of most of the population is 9 years of formal education with a 93.3 percent literacy rate. The workforce is comprised of approximately 5.48 million people. The largest employer is Government and services which employs about 60% followed by industry and agriculture. Their unemployment rate is approximately 12 percent as compared to the United States unemployment rate of about 5.4 percent

Membership in the European Union contributed to stable economic growth. This was due, in part, to increased trade. However, Portugal has lost ground in comparison to the rest of the European Union since 2002. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is $188.7 billion with an annual growth rate of 1.1 percent. The per capita GDP is $17,900 with an average inflation rate of 2.1 percent. Its natural resources include: fish, tungsten, iron, copper, tin and uranium ores. The industry in the Portuguese Republic relies chiefly on textiles, clothing footwear, wood, cork, paper, chemicals, manufacturing, food and beverages.