Portugal, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Portugal is a Western European country whose official name is the Portuguese republic and it came into existence in the 11^th century when all its current borders were actually demarcated arising from the former earldom  with almost all of the entire day borders having been established by 1249 AD. Portugal was a major economic and political power in the 15^th and 16^th centuries through its affiliation with its overseas territories in the form of its colonies in Africa Asia and South America. These served as the out provinces of Portugal that served to strengthen the country and give it other sources of materials and supplies that they needed for development. Portugal at one time united with Spain in the Iberian union which later broke and Portugal regained autonomy in the 1640s.

Portugal later ceded its foreign territories and consolidated its activities in the one territory. Eventually, Portugal moved from a monarchy to a democracy with elected leaders replacing the previous institutions of upon the establishment of a republic in 1910.  Portugal has therefore over time evolved into a well organized state with a stable economy as well as strong political institutions. The country also has a rich history as well as very well organized social structures that have seen it ranked in the top 14 most peaceful countries in the world. Portugal is a finely structured state with beautiful geographical features, a good healthcare system, rich history, a good government structure and a weakening economy.

History

The existence of Portugal as a legislative unit came into being in the 868 there was ‘Reconquista’ a conquest where the Iberian Peninsula was recaptured by Christians from the previous domination of the Moorish and Muslim domination.  Following this a county of Portugal was created which is currently known as First County of Portugal. Another battle ensued later on that was known as the battle of Ourique which many view as the occasion on which Portugal changed its status from a county to a country following another victory of the Christians over the Muslims. It’s at this point that the county ceased to be associated with the kingdom of Leon as a fief.

Portugal entered into what is regarded as longest standing alliance with the English. The decade starting 1390 saw Portugal undertake pioneer activity in world exploration and undertook this under the patronage of a son of King Joao named Henry. Portuguese explorers ventured into Africa and established trade liaisons with African traders with barter trade as the common mode of trade as they traded exchangeable goods. The eventual landing of Vasco Da Gama in India in 1498 heralded a period of economic prosperity in Portugal. Several revolutions and overthrows of government led to the last monarch being deposed in 1910. A subsequent coup led to the establishment of a dictatorship in 1926. The dictatorial establishment led till 1974 when a bloodless coup culminated in the formation of a democratic republic. Portugal joined European Union and is a founding member of Eurozone and it also an active member of NATO. There membership in the European community has also helped them open business frontiers that have helped them strengthen their economy.

Numerical Facts

Portugal is made up of two ethnic groups comprising of Portuguese who make up 97% of the population while legal immigrants, the bulk of who are from former colonies like Mozambique, Angola and Brazil make up 3%. The composition of the legal immigrants group also has a fraction of migrants from other European countries especially since Portugal is a member of European Union. The total land size of Portugal is 92,000 square kilometers which makes it the 110^th largest country in the world. The country has a small water mass of 0.5% which compares well with other countries such as Brazil which has 0.65%. By 2009 the country is estimated to have a total population of 10.7 Million people which gives it a population density of around 114 people per square kilometer. Hence Portugal is ranked among those countries that are considered to be medium density countries.

Geography

Portugal’s mainland has two zones that are nearly as distinct from each other as two regions of the same country can be. These zones are the northern and the southern parts of the country. While the northern part of the country has a rugged terrain of mountainous topography that is cris-crossed by rivers, the southern part is characterized by vast expanses of planes that roll into each other. This makes the southern climate much warmer though its rather drier that the northern side of the country. The climatic conditions of the country are also quite varied in the two different regions with annual temperatures ranging from 13?C in the colder north to 50?C in the warmer south (DanDan Weatherman.Web). This has highly influenced the social activities practiced in these two regions. The country enjoys a Mediterranean climate and records annual rainfall ranging from 600mm in the south to over 3000mm in the northern parts of the country. The southern side has a unique oceanic territory that has tropical climate due to influences gulf stream on the sea are and it records temperatures of 20? C and above irrespective of the season. Portugal has the largest sea zone territory in the entire European Union which is 1.7 million square kilometers.

Political Institutions

The Portuguese constitution is the major source of government structures and systems. The current constitution is the Lisbon constitution of 1976 upon on which the countries legislative, executive and judicial institutions are entrenched. The constitution does not recognize any state religion hence Portugal is a secular state similar to other European union states that are also secular. The constitution also provides for the countries capital city as Lisbon which is Portugal’s capital city.

The country is headed by a president elected on a five year term. The president is non executive and serves a supervisory function in the country. The country has a parliament that is elected and serves four year terms. The parliament is headed by a prime ministers who exercises executive powers in government. They have local governments whose mandate is based in various regions. Their judiciary administers its work through courts that are split into several categories to represent criminal civil as well as commercial functions of the courts. The judiciary enjoys a no interference relationship with the legislature and the executive. The courts of last appeal are called supreme courts while the constitutional court handles constitutional matters.

The president serves as the commander in chief of the armed forces. He is in charge of appointing the prime minister as well as the cabinet. He can also veto legislation and also dissolve the national election as well as declare a war. The president is aided in executing his duties by a national body called council of state. It is made up of ten members five each elected by the president and the national assembly as well as former presidents who have served under the current constitution. The government defines its policy which the assembly debates and if they do not reject it the governments mandate in office is confirmed. The assembly is single tier and its made up of two hundred and thirty members also called deputies. These deputies serve office for period of four years after which they can seek re-election. The assembly is made up through fair representation of all the areas in a proportionate manner.

The country is divided into 308 municipalities which are also made up of parishes. The municipalities are combined into 18 districts. The country has two main categorizations which are split into the mainland and the other two regions namely Madeira and Azores. The Portuguese use the civil law system with influences from the French law first and later on the German law. The law is sourced from the constitution, the penal code as well as the civil code. Their laws are also sourced from the commercial code and also another code that constitutes civil procedure code. Their police forces are headed by the public ministry and they have both the public security and criminal investigation arms.

Economy

Portugal’s economic growth has seen them span a quite good berth as they have been spurred by the current economic challenges and they have moved from being a local producer based economy to one that is primarily focused on exports and technology brought up by private investors. The tourism industry is also quite vibrant despite facing serious competition form the neighboring countries. This is particularly informed by the fact that Portugal enjoys a warm climate on its southern sides which make it quite attractive as a tourist destination. Research has placed Portugal quite high in the quality of life index coming at 19^th world wide. They are however currently plagued by low GDP as well as high unemployment rate increases. This is also a major concern since their GDP is the lowest in Western Europe (The Economist 2007). This sudden decline in fortunes has seen Portugal move down the scales of competitiveness in the latest rankings.

Due to a fast growth in the economy Portugal has seen the need to development transport system to spur on the economic growth. They manage a large bit of their public road transport through a concessionaire and they have also well developed national railway system. This has seen them develop. They have three major international airports one in the capital Lisbon and the other two in Porto and Faro. These transport facilities were a major factor in the rapid economic growth witnessed in the decade to the 1976 coup that unfortunately marked the end of that bright period of economic growth.

Education, Science, Technology and Health Care

The education system is comprised of a compulsory nine year stage called basic education which is broken into three stages. This is followed by secondary education which normally lasts three years and finally there is higher education which comprises of universities as well as polytechnics. The country has a stunning adult literacy of 95%. The universities have a rich history with some having started as early as 1200 AD. The Portuguese universities are normally organized into faculties and schools. The higher institutions are state run and they are offered on competitive basis through a national database.

The state has several research and development institutions that it uses for research and development purposes. There are also several such units of the public universities that are involved in research. The ministry of science technology and higher education is in charge of supervision for these research activities. The public universities form the largest research efforts and their research is mainly on biosciences specifically molecular biology, nanotechnology and neuroscience. There is an Iberian institute that is funded through a joint effort between Portuguese and Spanish governments and its geared towards nanotechnology research. Portugal is a notable member of several European research entities such as the European space agency. Their aquarium is the largest in Europe as well as having several other organizations that have interest in exhibition. These exhibitionist sciences have led to the emergence of technological businesses. This has also created businesses in these technological parks in the form of legal services as well as logistics.

Portuguese life expectancy was in the year 2007 rated at 78 years. The healthcare system is a coexistence of three different systems. One is the National Health Service which is state backed. There is also a special health subsystem that is made up of schemes of certain professions. The third is the voluntary private health insurance. Through the national health services the populace gets universal health cover.  This provider of universal healthcare is funded through general state taxes while the subsystems are funded through employer’s funds and contributions. The cause of most deaths in the Portuguese population is non communicable diseases with cancer and heart diseases leading the tally. The country has the highest mortality rate for diabetes in the Euro-A zone. The infant mortality in the country has dropped significantly to as low as 3 deaths per 1000 newborns in 2009. This has been associated with the good healthcare systems in the country.

Conclusion

Portugal is a country that has enjoyed international reputation that was brought by their forays into Africa and India helping them gets good outlets for their trade items especially in their traditional crafts such as textile products. Portugal’s colonies in Africa South America and Brazil helped them stamp their position in the international scene. The political history of Portugal is not unlike several other European states with the precursor being a monarch.  The Roman empires influence on their language also helped them integrate well as a republic which also played a key role in their national integrity. The country has however not done as well in the economic front with its economic figures comparing badly with those of the other European Union members. This however has not dimmed the good image of their healthcare system which has done very well hence their life expectancy is quite good. They have also managed to take care of their population in terms of health. The current situation of Portugal is that they need to have a fresh look at their economic policies to help them raise their GDP and put them back on the path to prosper which will help them cub the increasing unemployment rates.

Works Cited

CIA — The World Fact book.  Appendix B – International Organizations and Groups: developed countries (DCs),— (Portuguese) Portal do Governo. 2007

Dan the Weatherman. Portugal and its weather. Web. Available < http://www.dandantheweatherman.com/wortrivaug.htm> Grande Enciclopédia Universal, Portugal p. 10543.

A new sick man of Europe. The Economist. 2007- Vol 4 Pg14. Available <http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9009032>