Country Facts - Portugal

The People

Nationality
Portuguese

Ethnic Composition

Homogeneous Mediterranean stock in mainland, Azores, Madeira Islands; citizens of African descent who immigrated to mainland during decolonization number less than 100,000; since 1990 East Europeans have entered Portugal.
Religious Composition

Roman Catholic	94%
Protestant denominations, other	6%

Ethnic Composition

Homogeneous Mediterranean stock in mainland, Azores, Madeira Islands; citizens of African descent who immigrated to mainland during de-colonization number less than 100,000; since 1990 East Europeans have entered Portugal.

Languages Spoken

Portuguese

Education and Literacy

Education has been compulsory since 1911. An estimated 87.4 percent of the population age 15 and over can read and write.

Labor Force

Total: 5.1 million (2000)
By occupation:

Services	60%
Industry	30%
Agriculture	10%

Geography

Land Mass Total

35,672 sq mi (92,391 sq km)

Note: Includes Azores and Madeira Islands.

Land

35,502 sq mi (91,951 sq km)

Water

169 sq mi (440 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 754 mi (1,214 km)

Border countries: Spain 754 mi (1,214 km)

Coastline

1,114 mi (1,793 km)

Maritime claim

Continental shelf: 656 ft (200 m) depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south

Terrain

Mountainous north of the Tagus River, rolling plains in south

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Atlantic Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Ponta do Pico (Pico or Pico Alto) on Ilha do Pico in the Azores
7,713 ft (2,351 m)

Natural Resources

Fish, forests (cork), tungsten, iron ore, uranium ore, marble, arable land, hydropower

Land use

Arable land	22%
Permanent crops	8%
Other	70%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Azores subject to severe earthquakes.

Environment - current issues

Soil erosion; air pollution caused by industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution, especially in coastal areas.

Geography Note

Azores and Madeira Islands occupy strategic locations along western sea approaches to Strait of Gibraltar.

Demographics

Population

10,084,245 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	16.9%	Male 875,485	Female 827,670
15-64 years:	67.3%	Male 3,324,215	Female 3,463,301
65 years and over:	15.8%	Male 644,761	Female 948,813

(2002))

Growth Rate

0.18% (2002)

Life Expectancy

76.14 years (2002)
Female: 79.87 years
Male: 72.65 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$17,300 (2001)

Infant Mortality

5.84 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.07 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.68 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.93 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

0.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community in 1986. Over the past decade, successive governments have privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy, including the financial and telecommunications sectors. The country qualified for the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1998 and began circulating its new currency, the euro, on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other E.U. member economies. Economic growth has been above the E.U. average for much of the past decade, but fell back in 2001 to 2002. GDP per capita currently stands at 75 percent of that of the leading E.U. economies. A poor educational system, in particular, has been an obstacle to greater productivity and growth. Portugal has been increasingly overshadowed by lower-cost producers in Central Europe and Asia as a target for foreign direct investment. The new coalition government faces tough choices in its attempts to boost Portugal's economic competitiveness and to keep the budget deficit within the 3-percent E.U. ceiling. Accession of several eastern European nations into the E.U. in 2004 will also add to Portugal's woes as its labor market gets undercut. GDP growth is forecast at a mere 0.7 percent for 2003 but will show sharp gains to 2.5 percent in 2004.

Unemployment

4.4% (2001)

Inflation Rate

4.4% (2001)

Industries

Textiles and footwear; wood pulp, paper, and cork; metalworking; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; wine; tourism

Exports

US$24.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$37.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$174.1 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

EU 79% (Spain 19%, Germany 18%, France 13%, UK 11%, Benelux 6%), US 6% (2000)

Top Import Partners

EU 74% (Spain 25%, Germany 14%, France 11%, Italy 7%, UK 6%), US 3%, Japan 3% (2000)

Top Exports

Clothing and footwear, machinery, chemicals, cork and paper products, hides

Top Imports

Machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum, textiles, agricultural products

Debt - external

US$13.1 billion (1997)

Economic aid

Donor: ODA, $271 million (1995)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	9a.m. to 1p.m., and 2p.m. or 3p.m. to 6p.m. or 7p.m.	Closed
Retail	9a.m. to 1p.m., and 3p.m. to 7p.m.	Saturday 9a.m. to 1p.m.
Banks	8:30a.m. to 3p.m. In Lisbon, some banks may stay open between 6p.m. and 11p.m.	Closed
Government	9:30a.m. to 12:30p.m. and 2p.m. to 4:30p.m., some until 5:30 p.m. Check hours of a particular department before visiting.	Closed

In addition, there are growing numbers of shopping centers (centros comercials ) in urban areas that remain open at lunchtime and have more flexible hours on weekday evenings and weekends.

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Carnival¹	March 3 and 4	February 23 to 24	February 5 to 8
Holy Thursday²	April 17	April 8	March 24
Good Friday	April 17	April 9	March 25
Easter³	April 17	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 17	April 12	March 28
Liberation Day	April 25	April 25	April 25
May Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
National Day	June 10	June 10	June 10
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary	August 15	August 15	August 15
Republic Day	October 5	October 5	October 5
All Saints' Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
Independence Day	December 1	December 1	December 1
Immaculate Conception	December 8	December 8	December 8
Christmas Eve	December 24	December 24	December 24
Christmas Day*¹	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	Carnival takes place one week before the beginning of Lent. Mainly a Catholic observance.
²	Observed the Thursday before Easter. This feast commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, and is one of the oldest rituals of Christian Holy Week. Maundy, or Holy Thursday also marks the beginning of Passover.
³	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
*¹	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Note: Business travelers will do best to avoid July and August for travel to Portugal as most businesspeople take a holiday during this time.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press