Youth for Christ seeks to reach young people in Portugal using the following ministries:

  • bible clubs/studies
  • camps
  • children’s ministry
  • clubs
  • conferences & seminars
  • counseling
  • drama
  • evangelism
  • HIV/AIDS education
  • internet/online ministry
  • prayer ministry
  • prayer triplets
  • Rock Solid program
  • sports ministry
  • street kids ministry
  • programs for troubled/at-risk youth
  • social work
  • correspondence courses

About Portugal

Portugal

Map of Portugal

Introduction

Following its heyday as a global maritime power during the 15th and 16th 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 of its wealthiest colony of Brazil in 1822. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.

Geography

Location

Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain
Geographic Coordinates: 39 30 N, 8 00 W

Area

Total Area: 92,090 sq km Rank: 110
Land Area: 91,470 sq km
Water Area: 620 sq km
Note: includes Azores and Madeira Islands
Comparison: slightly smaller than Indiana
Land Boundaries: 1,214 km
Bordering Countries: Spain 1,214 km
Coastline: 1,793 km

Climate

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

Terrain

mountainous north of the Tagus River, rolling plains in south

Elevations

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

Natural Resources

fish, forests (cork), iron ore, copper, zinc, tin, tungsten, silver, gold, uranium, marble, clay, gypsum, salt, arable land, hydropower

Land Use

Arable land: 17.29%
Permanent Crops: 7.84%
Other: 74.87% (2005)
Irrigated Land: 6,500 sq km (2003)
Renewable Water Resources: 73.6 cu km (2005)
Total Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): 11.09 cu km/yr (10%/12%/78%)
Freshwater Withdrawal Per Capita: 1,056 cu m/yr (1998)

Environment

Natural Hazards: Azores subject to severe earthquakes
Environmental Issues: soil erosion; air pollution caused by industrial and vehicle emissions; water pollution, especially in coastal areas
Environmental Agreements: Party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

Geography Notes

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

People

Population: 10,707,924 (July 2010 est.) Rank: 76

Age Structure

0-14 years: 16.3% (male 912,147/female 834,941)
15-64 years: 66.1% (male 3,525,717/female 3,554,513)
65 years and over: 17.6% (male 772,413/female 1,108,193) (2010 est.)
Median Age: 37.6 years

Population Growth

Growth Rate: 0.275% (2010 est.) Rank: 178
Birth Rate: 10.29 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) Rank: 191
Death Rate: 10.68 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.) Rank: 51
Net Migration Rate: 3.14 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.) Rank: 28

Urbanization

Urban Population: 59% of total population (2008)
Rate of Urbanization: 1.4% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Life and Death

Infant Mortality Rate: 4.78 deaths/1,000 live births Rank: 195
Life Expectancy at Birth: 78.21 years Rank: 47
Fertility Rate: 1.5 children born/woman (2010 est.) Rank: 187

Health and Disease

HIV/AIDS - Adult Prevalence Rate: 0.5% (2007 est.) Rank: 76
People living with HIV/AIDS: 34,000 (2007 est.) Rank: 69
HIV/AIDS Deaths: fewer than 500 (2007 est.) Rank: 94

Nationality and Culture

Noun: Portuguese (singular and plural)
Adjective: Portuguese
Ethnic Groups: homogeneous Mediterranean stock; citizens of black African descent who immigrated to mainland during decolonization number less than 100,000; since 1990 East Europeans have entered Portugal
Religion: Roman Catholic 84.5%, other Christian 2.2%, other 0.3%, unknown 9%, none 3.9% (2001 census)
Languages: Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official - but locally used)

Education

Literacy (Meaning, age 15 and over can read and write): 93.3% Male: 95.5% Female: 91.3% (2003 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): 15 years Male: 15 years Female: 16 years (2006)
Education expenditures: 4.4% of GDP (2008) Rank: 92

Government

Country Name

Conventional Long Form: Portuguese Republic
Conventional Short Form: Portugal
Local Long Form: Republica Portuguesa
Local Short Form: Portugal
Government Type: republic; parliamentary democracy
Capital: Lisbon Geographic Coordinates: 38 43 N, 9 08 W

Administrative divisions

18 districts (distritos, singular - distrito) and 2 autonomous regions* (regioes autonomas, singular - regiao autonoma); Aveiro, Acores (Azores)*, Beja, Braga, Braganca, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Evora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisboa (Lisbon), Madeira*, Portalegre, Porto, Santarem, Setubal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Viseu
Independence: 1143 (Kingdom of Portugal recognized); 5 October 1910 (republic proclaimed)
National holiday: Portugal Day (Dia de Portugal), 10 June (1580); note - also called Camoes Day, the day that revered national poet Luis de Camoes (1524-80) died
Constitution:
adopted 2 April 1976; subsequently revised
note: the revisions placed the military under strict civilian control, trimmed the powers of the president, and laid the groundwork for a stable, pluralistic liberal democracy; they allowed for the privatization of nationalized firms and government-owned communications media
Legal system: based on civil law system; the Constitutional Tribunal reviews the constitutionality of legislation; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive Branch

Chief of State: President Anibal CAVACO SILVA (since 9 March 2006)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Jose SOCRATES Carvalho Pinto de Sousa (since 12 March 2005)
Cabinet: there is also a Council of State that acts as a consultative body to the president
Note: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 22 January 2006 (next to be held in January 2011); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president
Election Results: Anibal CAVACO SILVA elected president; percent of vote - Anibal CAVACO SILVA 50.6%, Manuel ALEGRE 20.7%, Mario Alberto Nobre Lopes SOARES 14.3%, Jeronimo DE SOUSA 8.5%, Franciso LOUCA 5.3%

Legislative Branch

unicameral Assembly of the Republic or Assembleia da Republica (230 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
Elections: last held on 27 September 2009 (next to be held in fall 2013)
Election Results: percent of vote by party - PS 42%, PSD 35%, CDS/PP 9%, BE 7%, CDU 7%; seats by party - PS 97, PSD 81, CDS/PP 21, BE 16, CDU 15

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (Supremo Tribunal de Justica); judges appointed for life by the Conselho Superior da Magistratura

Politics

Political Parties and Leaders: Democratic and Social Center/Popular Party or CDS/PP [Paulo PORTAS]; Socialist Party or PS [Jose SOCRATES Carvalho Pinto de Sousa]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Pedro Manuel PASSOS COELHO]; The Left Bloc or BE [Franciso Anacleto LOUCA]; Unitarian Democratic Coalition or CDU [Jeronimo DE SOUSA] (includes Portuguese Communist Party or PCP and Ecologist Party ("The Greens") or PEV)
Political Pressure Groups and Leaders: the media; labor unions
International Organization Participation: ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BIS, CD, CE, CERN, CPLP, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club (associate), PCA, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNMIT, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Flag Description: two vertical bands of green (hoist side, two-fifths) and red (three-fifths) with the national coat of arms (armillary sphere and Portuguese shield) centered on the dividing line; explanations for the color meanings are ambiguous, but a popular interpretation has green symbolizing hope and red the blood of those defending the nation

Economy

Economy Overview: Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community in 1986. Over the past two decades, 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 the euro on 1 January 2002 along with 11 other EU member economies. Economic growth had been above the EU average for much of the 1990s, but fell back in 2001-08, and shrank 2.8% in 2009. GDP per capita stands at roughly two-thirds of the EU-27 average. 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 budget deficit surged to an all-time high of 6% of GDP in 2005, but the government reduced the deficit to 2.6% in 2007 - a year ahead of Portugal's targeted schedule. Portugal's financial sector has been relatively insulated from the global financial crisis and the government has not spent much on shoring up banks. Nonetheless, the government faces tough choices in its attempts to stimulate the economy, while trying to keep the budget deficit within the euro-zone 3%-of-GDP ceiling. In 2009, the deficit reached 6.7% of GDP.

Gross Domestic Product

GDP (purchasing power parity): $232.6 billion (2009 est.) Rank: 50
GDP - real growth rate: -2.7% (2009 est.) Rank: 160
GDP - per capita (PPP): $21,700 (2009 est.) Rank: 56
GDP - Composition by Sector: Agriculture: 2.7% Industry: 23% Services: 74.3% (2009 est.)

Labor Force

Labor Force: 5.583 million (2009 est.) Rank: 66
Labor force - by occupation: Agriculture: 10% Industry: 30% Services: 60% (2007 est.)
Unemployment Rate: 9.5% (2009 est.) Rank: 114

Poverty

Population below poverty line: 18% (2006)
Natural gas - production:
NA (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 27
$63.64 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Transnational Issues

International Disputes: Portugal does not recognize Spanish sovereignty over the territory of Olivenza based on a difference of interpretation of the 1815 Congress of Vienna and the 1801 Treaty of Badajoz

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