Portugal v Australia Culture Geography Politics Technology
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Portugal has a surface area of 92 thousand square kilometres and is populated by more than 10 million people. Portugal entered the European Union (formerly European Community) in 1986 and adopted the Euro as its principal monetary unit in 2002.
Following its heyday as a world power during the fifteenth and sixteenth 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.
As a member of the European Union, Portugal has been able to retain some of the stature it once was in abundance of.
1) Culture
An independent nation since 1143, Portugal is one of the oldest countries in the world and is the western-most country of continental Europe. More than two hundred million people speak Portuguese worldwide, which includes over one hundred and sixty million in Brazil.
Portugal is not multicultural. The makeup of the population is ninety-nine per cent Portuguese and one per cent African (the granting of independence to Portugal's African colonies in 1974-75 resulted in an increase in refugees). Also, most Portuguese are Christians with around ninety-seven per cent of the population roman catholic, while one per cent are protestant.
Portugal's capital, Lisbon, has a diverse and high-quality cultural scene with an outstanding role in this played by the wealthy private Gulbenkian Foundation and the Centro Cultural de Belm, which is linked to the Ministry of Culture...