Muslims conquered the mainland of present-day Portugal in the eighth century, but were gradually, and sometimes mercilessly expelled, by the Christian Reconquista culminating with the final capture of Faro, between 1238 and 1249 AD.

[16] As one of the earliest participants in the Age of Discovery, the Kingdom of Portugal settled Madeira and the Azores, and established itself as a major economic and political power, largely through a maritime empire that extended mostly along the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts.

[17] The Portuguese were among the first Europeans to explore and discover new territories and sea routes in South America, sub-Saharan Africa, and southern and eastern Asia, establishing a global commercial network of settlements, colonies, and trading posts.

[24] Democracy was finally restored following the Carnation Revolution of 1974, which brought an end to the Portuguese Colonial War and allowed the last of Portugal's African territories to achieve independence.

The word Portugal derives from the combined Roman-Celtic place name Portus Cale[26][27] (present-day's conurbation of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia).

Pelagius called for the remnants of the Christian Visigothic armies to rebel against the Moors and regroup in the unconquered northern Asturian highlands, known today as the Cantabrian Mountains, in north-west Spain.

[49] At the end of the 9th century, the region of Portugal between the rivers Minho and Douro, was reconquered from the Moors by nobleman and knight Vímara Peres on the orders of King Alfonso III of Asturias.

At the Battle of São Mamede, in the outskirts of Guimarães, in 1128, Afonso Henriques, Count of Portugal, defeated his mother Countess Teresa and her lover Fernão Peres de Trava, establishing himself as sole leader of the county.

War led to a deterioration of relations with Portugal's oldest ally, England, and the loss of Hormuz, a strategic trading post located between Iran and Oman.

[citation needed] He created companies and guilds to regulate commercial activity and one of the first appellation systems by demarcating the region for production of Port to ensure the wine's quality.

Historians argue that Pombal's "enlightenment," while far-reaching, was primarily a mechanism for enhancing autocracy at the expense of individual liberty and especially an apparatus for crushing opposition, suppressing criticism, and furthering colonial exploitation and consolidating personal control, and profit.

[71] In 1807 Portugal refused Napoleon's demand to accede to the Continental System of embargo against the United Kingdom; a French invasion under General Junot followed, and Lisbon was captured in 1807.

[76] In 1961, Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá's annexation by the Republic of Dahomey was the start of a process that led to the dissolution of the centuries-old Portuguese Empire.

The northern landscape is mountainous towards the interior with several plateaus indented by river valleys, whereas the south, including the Algarve and the Alentejo regions, is characterized by rolling plains.

[84] The Algarve, separated from the Alentejo region by mountains reaching up to 900 metres (3,000 ft) in Alto da Fóia, has a climate similar to that of the southern coastal areas of Spain or Southwest Australia.

Portugal's central west and southwest coasts have an extreme ocean seasonal lag; sea temperatures are warmer in October than in July and are their coldest in March.

The Savage Islands, which are part of the regional territory of Madeira and a nature reserve are unique in being classified as a desert climate with an annual average rainfall of approximately 150 millimetres (5.9 in).

Historically, the islands have belonged to private Portuguese owners from the 16th century on, until 1971[123] when the government purchased them and established a natural reserve area covering the whole archipelago.

[128] In recent years, the Portuguese Armed Forces have carried out several NATO and European Union military missions in various territories, namely in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Mali, Central African Republic, Somalia, Mozambique and East Timor.

[152] Companies listed on Euronext Lisbon stock exchange like EDP, Galp, Jerónimo Martins, Mota-Engil, Novabase, Semapa, Portucel Soporcel, Portugal Telecom and Sonae, are among the largest corporations by number of employees, net income or international market share.

[218] In 2018, Portugal's parliament approved a budget plan for 2019 that included tax breaks for returning emigrants in a bid to attract back those who left during the financial crisis of 2007–2008.

[4] The country has small Protestant, Latter-day Saint, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Eastern Orthodox Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, Baháʼí, Buddhist, Jewish and Spiritist communities.

[269] Portugal has developed a specific culture while being influenced by various civilisations that have crossed the European continent and Mediterranean, or were introduced when it played an active role during the Age of Discovery.

Modern Portugal has given the world renowned architects like Eduardo Souto de Moura, Álvaro Siza Vieira (both Pritzker Prize winners) and Gonçalo Byrne.

[286][287] Prominent international figures in visual arts today include painters Vieira da Silva,[288] Júlio Pomar,[289] Joana Vasconcelos,[290] Julião Sarmento[291] and Paula Rego.

The traditional one is the Portuguese folk music which has deep roots in local customs, utilising instruments such as bagpipes (gaita),[295] drums, flutes, tambourines, accordions and ukuleles (cavaquinho).

Artists with international recognition include Dulce Pontes,[300] Moonspell,[301] Buraka Som Sistema,[302] Blasted Mechanism,[303] David Carreira and The Gift,[304] with the three latter being nominees for a MTV Europe Music Award.

[310] The student festivals of Queima das Fitas, which are major events in a number of cities across Portugal, show every year a selection of well-established, high-profile musicians and bands to the public as well as newer, on the rise, upcoming success artists seeking definite recognition.

In motorsport, Portugal is noted for the Rally of Portugal, and the Estoril and Algarve Circuits as well as the revived Porto Street Circuit which holds a stage of the WTCC every two years, as well as for a number of internationally noted racers such as Miguel Oliveira, Tiago Monteiro, António Félix da Costa, Filipe Albuquerque, Pedro Lamy, Armindo Araújo and others in a range of varied motorsports.

Annually, the country hosts one of the stages of the World Surf League men's and women's Championship Tour, the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal at the Supertubos in Peniche.