Report about Portugal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Report about Portugal - Essay ExampleBy 868, the First County of Portugal with the Kingdom of Leon had been established. Re-conquest of the Christian kingdoms began by the 11th Century, and in the process Portucale was declared an independent kingdom by its ruler Afonso Henriques in 1139, and by 1147, Afonso took control of Lisbon. By the 1400s Portugal had built up a large empire with colonies across the mankind including Mozambique and Goa (Rough Guides, 2008), and Portugals Golden Age reached a peak with the discovery of Brazil in 1500, in which long amounts of wealth and trade were established in its new colonies. However, by 1580, Spain had invaded Portugal during a succession crisis, and ruled Portugal for the adjoining 60 years. Portugal started to regain independence in 1640, and by 1668 the Spanish vacated the hoidenish. Portugal re-established trading routes with Brazil, and its fortunes were restored by the trading in gold from Brazil until 1822, when Brazil declares i ndependence from Portugal. Napoleons invasion in 1807, combined with the personnel casualty of Brazil left Portugal impoverished and divided, until 1910 when a republican revolution overthrew the monarchy. However, the weakness of the economy led to some other military coup in 1926 and a long period of dictatorship by Salazar commenced until 1968, in which meagreness became widespread and all political opposition was banned. The country became a virtual recluse in the military man community until 1974, when the Carnation Revolution ended the dictatorship and restored democracy by 1976. Portugal joined the European residential district in 1986 (now known as the European Union (EU)), and enjoyed rapid economic growth and became a call member state in modern Western Europe. In 1999 it was one of the founding countries to adopt the Euro currency. However, the 2008 pecuniary crises resulted in a gross budget deficit in Portugal, and in 2011 it became the third EU country to ask