Located on Conception Bay, it is the site of a ferry terminal which provides daily access to and from Bell Island, and dozens of people commute from this tiny island to work in and around the capital city, daily.

The Portugal Cove area has historically been predominantly Roman Catholic.

The Roman Catholic population was served by Holy Rosary Church until it closed in 2022.

It was attacked and burned by the French in 1696, was the site of the first road built outside the capital St. John's, it was also here that the giant squid or kraken of legend was discovered and documented.

Settled by fishermen from the West Country of England and Ireland it also has a small settler tradition from Jersey in the Channel Islands.