World Country Portugal

About the world country Portugal, its location, size, population, and who is in power.

NATIONS OF THE WORLD

PORTUGAL

Location: West coast of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, plus the Madeira and Azores islands in the Atlantic. Size: 35,553 sq. mi. (92,082 sq. km.). Population: 10,038,000.

Who Really Rules: Political power is divided among the parliament (run by coalitions of the four major parties), the president (who is elected directly by the entire adult population), and the military Revolutionary Council (an outgrowth of the 1974 "Captains' Coup"). The major question in Portuguese politics is whether the nationalization of banks and industries and the land reform following the 1974 revolution will be reversed. Supporting reversal is the International Monetary Fund, which has forced Portugal to accept austerity policies, while the well-organized left-wing labor movement fights to maintain the status quo.

Portugal is a member of NATO, providing the U.S. with important military bases on the Azores Islands, and most political factions hope to win Portuguese admission to the Common Market by 1983.

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