Portugal occupies the part the west of the Iberian Peninsula. The country has land borders with Spain and only limits the south and the east with the Atlantic Ocean. Portugal is divided administratively in several provinces in addition has the sovereignty of the archipelago of Azores (1,220 km to the west of Portugal) and of the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo (990 km to the southwest of Lisbon) in the Atlantic Ocean. The rivers Duero, Tajo and Guadiana enter from Spain, cross the country of this a the west and end at the Atlantic. The north is mountainous; the center around Lisbon is flat and the coast of the south has enormous beaches that arrive until the region of the Algarve in the most southern zone of the country.

Political System
Republic from 1910. Chief of State: President Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio (from 1996). Head of the Government: Prime minister Jose Muddy Durao (from 2002). Language: The official language is the Portuguese. Religion: Most of the population she is catholic Roman. Hour Reference: GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from the last Sunday of March to the last Saturday of October).

Climate
The northwest invier to us is calm with abundant rain, and the summers are quite short. In the northeast invier to us they are longer and the hottest summers. In the south, the spring and the summer (of March to October) are warm and rain is little, except in the principle of the spring and autumn. In Estoril the high temperatures (July and August) are alleviated by the permanent breeze of the Atlantic.

Gastronomy
The fish and the seafood are the main delights of the Portuguese culinario art. The soup is one of fundamental plates. The Portuguese typical gastronomy includes: soup of seafood, green broth (made with col green cut very fine), and bacalhau (the dry codfish, cooked in more than one hundred different forms). The Caldeirada is a stew done with nine types different from fish, cooked with onions and tomatos. Also the meat of porco is typical á Alentejana (pieces of meat of fried pig, place setting with a sauce of clams estofadas with tomato and onions). In desserts they emphasize rice twelve (rice with milk), dessert of Madeira and nuvens (they flan of egg). Also it is worth the trouble to prove the carrot jam. The restaurants usually have service of waiters. Drink: The Portuguese wines of the table have a good reputation. The most popular marks of the regional broths are Dão for the red wine, and Bucelas and Colares for the target. The rose'e wines of needle are produced mainly for the export. Mateus Rosé is a famous rose'e wine of average body. Brandis Portuguese also is good; the best ones take place around Oporto, from where the famous wine of Oporto comes.