Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa), is a country in southwestern Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula. Being the westernmost country of mainland Europe, Portugal is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are also part of Portugal.

The land within the borders of today's Portuguese Republic has been constantly settled since prehistoric times. Some of the earliest civilizations include Celtic societies, followed by incorporation into the Roman Republic dominions in the 2nd century BC, and subsequently into Germanic Kingdoms, such as the Suebi and the Visigoths, from the 5th to the 8th century. The Muslim Moors arrived in the early 8th century and conquered the Christian Germanic kingdoms, eventually occupying most of the Iberian Peninsula. In the early 1100s, during the Christian Reconquista, Portugal appeared as a kingdom independent of its neighbour, the Kingdom of León and Galicia. In a little over a century, in 1249, Portugal would establish almost its entire modern-day borders by conquering territory from the Moors.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, with a global empire that included possessions in Africa, Asia and South America, Portugal was one of the world's major economic, political, and cultural powers. In the 17th century, the Portuguese Restoration War between Portugal and Spain ended the sixty year period of the Iberian Union (1580-1640). In the 19th century, armed conflict with French and Spanish invading forces and the loss of its largest territorial possession abroad, Brazil, disrupted political stability and potential economic growth. After the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution coup d'état in 1974, the ruling regime was deposed in Lisbon and the country handed over its last overseas provinces in Africa. Portugal's last overseas territory, Macau, was handed over to the P. R. China in 1999.

Portugal is a developed country, and although having one of the lowest GDP per capita of Western European countries, it has a high Human Development Index and is among the world's 20 highest rated countries in terms of quality of life. It is a member of the European Union (since 1986) and the United Nations (since 1955); as well as a founding member of, NATO, CPLP (Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa — Community of Portuguese Language Countries), and the European Union's Eurozone.

Portugal is a small country, only 560km by 220km, and is situated at the westernmost edge of Europe. Covering an area of 92,000 sq km, it is divided up into seven traditional provinces (províncias). These are (from the north) the Minho (after the Rio Minho river), the Douro (where you will find the town of Porto, named after the Rio Douro), Trás-os-Montes (by the mountains), the Beira (border), the Estremadura (containing Lisbon), the Alentejo (past the Rio Tejo) and finally the Algarve (from the Moorish for ‘west country’ al-gharb).

Whilst the climate in Portugal has both Atlantic and Mediterranean influences, the coastline is formed entirely by the Atlantic ocean, a fact that some visitors are surprised to learn because we tend to think of Portugal as Mediterranean. This may be due to the bright colours, long days of sunshine and influences from cultures that have also become a vital part of the culture in Spain and along the south coast of France for example. The Mediterranean influence is particularly evident in the southern parts of Portugal. The River Tagus (Rio Tejo) divides Portugal into its distinctly different northern and southern halves. In the north the population has Celtic and Germanic origins, more traditional farming methods and a cooler climate. South of the Rio Tejo people have darker skin as this area was Roman and then Moorish territory, and farming tends towards figs, cork and oranges rather than the potatoes and corn of the north. In fact, Portugal produces more than 50% of the world’s wine corks, around 15 thousand million each year.

The main cities in Portugal are the capital Lisbon, with its diverse selection of Portuguese culture; the second-largest city of Porto, which is also Portugal’s economic capital; and university towns such as Coimbra and Évora, and the ancient capital of Guimarães. There are few really large cities in Portugal but a plethora of small, provincial towns that are worth visiting. Essentially, the beaches in Portugal are the main draw for tourists, especially in the Algarve. There are beaches all the way up the west coast, but the sea tends to be cooler and even cold as far north as Viana do Castelo.

Apart from the mainland, Portugal consists of Madeira and the Azores, islands colonized in the 15th century. Madeira is 900km southwest of Portugal off the west coast of Africa, and the Azores archipelago consists of nine islands 1440km west of Lisbon. Both are too far away to form part of a trip to Portugal but are popular tourist destinations in their own right.