SOUTHERN PORTUGAL is mountainous in the south and east, but contains large areas of lowland in the west. Wheat is grown, but not in sufficient quantity to meet the home demand, and rice is cultivated, especially on the easily irrigated lands about the lower Tagus. The vine flourishes round Lisbon and in the vicinity of the Tagus, as well as in the south and south-east ; and red and white wines are made, largely for exportation to Brazil and the Portuguese colonies. The cork-tree is extensively grown throughout Southern Portugal, but the chief plantations are in the lowlands about the lower Tagus. The raw cork is collected at Lisbon where it is prepared for export, much of it being sent abroad in the form of bottle corks. Portugal now produces about one-half of the world's supply of cork. Among other crops are olives, lemons, and figs.
Copper, which is the most important mineral worked at present, is found in various parts of the Meseta, especially at Sao Domingos, Aljustrel, and Serra da Caveira. Lisbon is the chief port of the region. It has iron works, shipbuilding, and woollen manufactures. Setubal is actively engaged in the preservation and export of sardines, which are found in large numbers off the coast.
COMMERCE.—Wine, cork, fish, and copper, along with rubber and cacao obtained from the Portuguese colonies,' make up the bulk of the exports. The imports consist of coal from the United Kingdom, raw cotton from the United States and Brazil, wheat from the Argentine and the United States, iron and steel goods from Great Britain and Germany, and fish from Norway and the United Kingdom. The average official value of the exports for the years 1906-10 was £7,000,000, and of the imports, £14,000,000.
CONCLUSION.—Portugal is still in a very backward condition. The methods of agriculture are generally of a most primitive description, and much of the land is still uncultivated. Little has been done to develop the internal resources of the country. Iron ore, for example, is everywhere abundant, but up to the present has been worked only to a slight extent. The coastal towns alone, as a result of their long contact with the outside world, are more energetic, and there the chief manufactures of the country are settled.