Some facts about Portugal

Your holiday destination briefly highlighted

Name:
República Portuguesa - Portuguese Republic

Einwohner:
about 10,5 million

Capital:
Lisbon (approx. 600.000 inhabitants, with suburbs approx. 3 million, as of going to press)

Language:
portugiesisch

Time zone:
CET minus 1 hour

Economy:
Since joining the EU in 1986, Portugal has developed into an increasingly service-oriented economy. When joining the European Monetary Union in 1998, the previous currency, the Portuguese escudo, was replaced by the euro on 01.01.2002.
In a European comparison, Portugal achieved above-average economic growth every year until the economic crisis in 2007. Things have been on the up again since 2013, and Portugal was able to overcome the recession. There has been enormous investment in the infrastructure, partly with the help of the EU. The motorway network is now one of the densest in Europe.

Agriculture:
Portugal is considered to be the world's largest producer of raw cork. Around 50% of the world's harvested amount comes from here.
Another important economic factor is pulp production (paper manufacture). For this purpose, areas are afforested with eucalyptus. From an ecological point of view, this development is questionable. Eucalyptus displaces the original flora and fauna, which promotes forest fires. Other agricultural products are wine and almonds.

Natural resources:
Portugal is one of the world's leading nations in tungsten production. Other mineral resources include coal, copper, tin, gold, iron ores, kaolinite, uraninite and wolframite.

Tourism:
Tourism plays an important role in Portugal's economy, and the trend is rising. The focus is still on the Algarve. But also the west coast and especially Lisbon, which is developing more and more into a trend metropolis, as well as the city of Porto are enjoying increasing popularity.

Traffic:
The most important road traffic routes are covered by toll autoestradas (A), plus there are the toll-free Itinerários Principais (IP) / Itinerários Complementares (IC).
Long-distance bus transport is very important in Portugal. The largest bus company is Rede Expressos.
Rail traffic has a rather subordinate role. Most of the routes are operated by the state-owned Comboios de Portugal (CP).
Portugal has 5 international airports. In addition to the 3 busiest airports in Lisbon, Faro and Funchal (Madeira), these are the airports of Porto and Ponta Delgada (Azores). Due to the increasing number of passengers, a new, major international airport in the south of Lisbon is being planned, which should go into operation in 2020.
The main sea ports are at Sines, Aveiro, Porto, Lisbon and Setúbal. Of the rivers, the Douro (flows into the Atlantic at Porto) and the Tejo (flows into the Atlantic at Lisbon) are navigable.

Education:
There is compulsory schooling for children from 9 to 15 years of age. Divided into a primary school (4 years) and a high school (5 years). Portugal has 23 universities. The most famous and renowned are in Coimbra and Braga. The University of Coimbra is one of Europe's most important research universities.

Health system:
The tax-financed Serviço Nacional de Saúde has been available to all locals and visitors since 1979. This is mostly free of charge, with the exception of mostly low additional payments.

UNESCO world heritage:
There is a lot to discover in Portugal. UNESCO has already made 21 world cultural heritage classifications (as of 2017), including:

World Heritage:

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos Monastery and the Torre de Belém Tower, Lisbon (since 1983)
Historic Center of Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira Island, Azores (since 1983)
Convent of Cristo Monastery, Tomar (since 1983)
Mosteiro da Batalha Monastery (since 1983)
Historic center of Évora (since 1986)
Mosteiro de Alcobaça Monastery (since 1989)
Sintra Cultural Landscape (since 1995)
Historic Center of Porto (since 1996)
Archaeological Park of the Côa Valley (since 1998)
Historic Center of Guimarães (since 2001)
Cultural landscape of the Alto Douro wine region (since 2001)
Cultural landscape of the vineyards on the island of Pico, Azores (since 2004)
Elvas and its fortifications (since 2012)
University of Coimbra, Alta and Sofia (since 2013)