PORTUGAL, pOr'tfi-gal (Pbrt. por-too gin, the southwesternmost republic of Europe, on the Iberian or Pyrenean Peninsula, between Spain and the Atlantic Ocean. The Portuguese title is Republica Portuguese. No natural boundaries separate Portugal from Spain, eat cept on a small part of the frontier, the Minho River forming part of the northern boundary, and the Guadiana River part of the southeast ern. The shape of Portugal is nearly that of a parallelogram. Its greatest length, north to south, is 353 miles, greatest breadth 138 miles, extending respectively between latitudes 36° 55' to 42° 7' N., longitudes 6° 15' to 9° 30' W. The territory is divided into the three provinces of Minho, 2,790 square miles; Tras-os-Montes, 4,163 square miles; Beira, 9,208 square miles; Estremadura, 6,937 square miles; Alemtejo, 9,219 square miles; Algarve (Faro), 1,937. square miles; and, with the insular provinces, comprising the Azores, 922 square miles, and Madeira, 314 square miles, gives a total area of 35,490 square miles for the republic; but this does not include the colonies noted below. The only large cities are Lisbon (q.v.), the capital, and Oporto (q.v.), the chief port. Setubal, Funchal (Madeira), Braza and Coimbra have each over 20,000 population.
Colonies.— Besides the Azores and Madeira islands, mentioned above, the Portuguese African colonies are 823,3.34 square miles in area, with an estimated population of over 8,000,000. The largest of these is Portuguese West Africa, formerly called Angola; nearly as large is Portuguese East Africa (q.v.), formerly called Mozambique. There are also the Cape Verde Islands (q.v.), Portuguese Guinea (q.v.), Principe (or Prince's) and Saint Thomas islands. Their Asiatic colonies of 8,933 square miles have an estimated population of 950,000. Goa, Damio and Timor in India, and Maceo Island and some small islands in the Indian Archipelago complete the other dependencies.
Topography and Physical Features,— The coast-line, of great length in proportion to the extent of the whole surface, lies mainly north and south on the Atlantic, but extends some 50 miles westward to Cabo da Roca, the most westerly point of the peninsula and of con tinental Europe. Here it becomes somewhat irregular, forms two bays—that of Lisbon and that of Setubal—by the interjection of the re markable promontory which terminates in Cape Espichel, and again curves round in a south southwesterly direction till it reaches Cape Saint Vincent, where it suddenly turns east. This
direction it retains to its termination at the mouth of the Guadiana. It is occasionally bold and rises to a great height, particularly at Cabo da Roca, where it presents a range of precipi tous cliffs; but for the greater part is low and marshy, and not unfrequently lined by sands and reefs, which make navigation dangerous. It is indented by some 21 harbors; the only ones of importance, either from their excel lence or the trade carried on at them, are those of Lisbon, Oporto, Setubal, Faro, Figueira, Aveiro and Vianna. The interior is generally mountainous, a number of ranges stretching across the country, either in west, southwest or south-southwest directions, forming a suc cession of independent river basins, while their ramifications, penetrating in all directions, form the watersheds of numerous subsidiary streams and enclose many wild and beautiful valleys. The loftiest range is the Serra da Estrella, which may be considered as a continuation of the central chain which stretches across Spain between Old and New Castile, and between Leon and Estremadura. Near the town of Guarda it forms a sort of fork, one limb of which proceeds north and another southeast, while the main chain, running southwest, attains its culminating point of 6,537 feet about five miles west of the town of Covilhio, and ulti mately terminates in the lofty cliffs of Cabo da Roca. Nearly parallel to this chain, and at no great distance from it, are on the north the Serra de Alcoba, and on the south the Serra Moradal. In the north branches or continu ations of the Spanish mountains enter Portugal, and attain heights of 4,740 feet in Peneda, and of 5,180 in Larouco. At the opposite extremity the Serra Monhique, stretching across the country at a short distance behind the south shore, attains, at its western extremity in Mount Foia, the height of nearly 3,000 feet. The rugged nature of the surface makes the plains both few in number and of limited extent, but many valleys equally remarkable for beauty and fertility occur. The chief plains are those of Almedia and the Terra de Braganza, the former in the province of Beira and the latter in that of Tras-os-Montes; the chief valleys, those of Chaves, Villarica and Besteiros.