Geography, economy, climate, society
Getting to know the country before you go: land, climate, economy, institutions and figures.
Introduction
Portugal at a glance: geography, regions, history from empire to democracy, joining Europe, society today and the reasons to choose Europe's…
Portugal today
Portugal in 2026: the government of Luís Montenegro and President António José Seguro, the rise of Chega, economic growth and balanced public…
Statistics
Portugal in numbers: population, life expectancy, fertility, economy, public debt, unemployment and tourism, comparing the early 2000s with today.
Map of Portugal
Interactive map of Portugal with every city and destination in our guides, from the Minho to the Algarve, Madeira and the Azores, with an overview of…
Climate
Portugal's climate from the Atlantic north to the Mediterranean Algarve, Madeira and the Azores: temperatures, rainfall, sea temperature, the best…
Economy
What the Portuguese economy looks like: catching up after joining Europe, the debt crisis and the recovery, the main sectors (tourism, the car…
Political system
How the Portuguese Republic works: the 1976 Constitution, the President of the Republic, the Assembly of the Republic, the Government, the courts…
Healthcare
How healthcare works in Portugal: the National Health Service (SNS), the European Health Insurance Card for tourists, registration for residents…
Rich and poor
A reflection on life in Portugal during the crisis years: the gap between rich and poor, the struggling middle class, Lisbon's neighbourhoods and the…
Immigration
Immigration in Portugal: African Lisbon and the Cape Verdean, Angolan and Guinean communities, the retornados of 1975, Brazilians, new arrivals from…
Emigration
The history of Portuguese emigration: from Brazil in the nineteenth century to the great emigration to France in the 1960s, the diaspora in…
Drug policy
The decriminalisation of drug use in Portugal in 2001: the heroin epidemic of the 1990s, Law 30/2000, the dissuasion commissions, results on HIV…
Wildfires
Why Portugal burns every summer: the Pedrógão Grande tragedy and the 2017 fires, the role of eucalyptus and rural abandonment, an ever hotter…
The economic crisis
The causes of Portugal's debt crisis, the 2011 Troika bailout, austerity, the exit from the programme in 2014 and the recovery that brought the…
The economy in 2007
A snapshot of Portugal in 2007, with José Sócrates's government, its reforms, the minimum wage and big projects, compared with what happened in the…
Elections
The 2009 Portuguese general election won by José Sócrates and what followed: the 2011 crisis, António Costa's "geringonça", the 2022 absolute…