It is still spoken in Brazil and in parts of Africa and Asia today, and is considered an especially appealing language for song and poetry. The Portuguese language is a relative of Spanish but with Arabic and Galician influences at one time it was considered a lingua franca in large areas of Asia and Africa. It is a member of the European Union, the United Nations and the Eurozone among other organizations. Today, Portugal is a well-developed country with a high quality of life and a peaceful nature that makes it especially pleasant to visit. Much of the 20th century saw political turmoil in Portugal democracy was restored in 1974 and most of Portugal’s remaining provinces, notably Angola and Mozambique, achieved their independence. Portugal was a monarchy for many centuries but this ended in a revolution circa 1910. However, the country’s international status was greatly reduced during the 19th century, particularly after its largest colony-Brazil-became independent. Because it started so early, the Portuguese Empire was the longest-lived of the European colonial empires, spanning almost six centuries from the capture of Ceuta just across the Strait of Gibraltar in 1415 to the handover of Macao to China in 1999. During this time Portugal was one of the world’s most powerful economic, political and military global powers. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal joined the colonialist “Age of Discovery,” expanding its empire to include possessions in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America. Moorish architectural influences remain in Portugal to this day. Portugal eventually established itself as an independent kingdom during an 800-year period called the Reconquista (“Capturing”) during which the entire Andalusian region was wrested from Muslim control and established as a Christian area. Like most of Europe, it was integrated into the Roman Empire later it was settled by Germanic tribes and then in the 8th century it was conquered by the Moors. The lands that now comprise the Portuguese Republic have been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times, first by Celtic tribes and the related Lusitanian people. The country is named after its second largest city, Porto, whose Latin name was Portus Cale. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are part of Portugal. Situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, Portugal is Europe’s westernmost country it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East.
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