INTRODUCTION

Portugal officially the Portuguese Republic is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are also part of Portugal.

GDP: 232.3 Billion ($223,300,000,000) GDP - Per Capita (PPP): $21,800 (2007 Est.) Population: 10,707,924 (July 2009 est.)(also 2010) country comparison to the world: 76 GDP (purchasing power parity): $232.2 billion (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 50 $240.2 billion (2008 est.) $240.2 billion (2007 est.) note: data are in 2009 US dollars GDP (official exchange rate): $219.8 billion (2009 est.) GDP - real growth rate: -3.3% (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 168 0% (2008 est.) 1.9% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP): $21,700 (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 56 $22,500 (2008 est.) $22,600 (2007 est.) note: data are in 2009 US dollars GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 2.9% industry: 24.4% services: 72.8% (2009 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): -0.9% (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 7 2.6% (2008 est.) Age structure: 0-14 years: 16.3% (male 912,147/female 834,941) 15-64 years: 66.1% (male 3,525,717/female 3,554,513) 65 years and over: 17.6% (male 772,413/female 1,108,193) (2009 est.) Population growth rate: 0.275% (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 178 Birth rate: 10.29 births/1,000 population (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 191 Death rate: 10.68 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 51

Inflation:

The inflation rate in Portugal was 0.20 percent in February of 2010. Inflation rate refers to a general rise in prices measured against a standard level of purchasing power. The most well known measures of Inflation are the CPI which measures consumer prices, and the GDP deflator, which measures inflation in the whole of the domestic economy. This page includes: Portugal Inflation Rate chart, historical data and news.

Country Interest Rate Growth Rate Inflation Rate Jobless Rate Current Account Exchange Rate

Year

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

2010 2009 2008 2007

0.10 0.20 2.80 2.60

0.20 0.20 2.90 2.40 -0.40 3.10 2.30 -0.50 2.50 2.70 -1.20 2.80 2.50 -1.60 3.40 2.40 -1.50 3.10 2.30 -1.30 3.00 2.10 -1.60 3.10 2.10 -1.50 2.40 2.50 -0.60 1.30 2.80 -0.10 0.80 2.70

* The table above displays the monthly average. Manufacturing and construction together accounted for 29% of Portugal's GDP in 2001. The largest industries are clothing, textiles, footwear, and food processing, wood pulp, paper, and cork; metal working; oil refining; chemicals; fish canning; wine and tourism. Agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing employed 12.5% of the work force in 2000 (down from 26.2% in 1971) but contributed about 4% of the GDP. The percent of the labor force in services rose from 39% in 1971 to 52.4% in 2000, accounting for about 65% of GDP. Traditionally, productivity has been hampered by low investment and a lack of machinery and fertilizers. The economy has experienced robust growth since 1993, however, primarily due to increased investment and domestic consumption, both in turn traceable to advantages Portugal has gained through its entry into the European Community in 1986. In 1986, Portuguese income was about 52% of the EU average; by 2002, GDP per capita on a purchasing power parity basis had risen to over 70% of the EU average. From the end of 1973 through 1983, the energy crisis and insufficient liquidity jeopardized economic growth, which dropped still further following the overthrow of the Caetano regime in April 1974. GNP growth in 1974 fell to 2.3% from8.1% in the previous year. The decline was caused by a sharp drop in new offers of investment and credit from abroad (investors feared rising Communist influence and government takeovers of private firms), coupled with a decline in tourism and a massive increase in unemployment primarily resulting from the return of Portuguese settlers and soldiers from newly independent Angola. During the late 1970s, Portugal adopted an austerity program and succeeded in lowering inflation to 16.6% and increasing GDP growth to 5.5% in 1980. However, adverse interest and exchange rates and a severe drought during 198081 resulted in a resurgence of inflation (an estimated 22.5% in 1982) and sluggish economic growth (1.7% in 1981 and 2% in 1982). In mid-1983, the Soares government implemented an IMF stabilization plan of drastic internal tightening, which brought steady economic improvement. The persistent current-account deficits ended in 1985, partially as a result of the decline in world oil prices and entry into the EC. The Silva government's economic liberalization emphasized competitiveness and accountability. From 1987 to 1999 Portugal was the net recipient of financial inflow from the EU of about $27 billion, most disbursed through the European Regional Development Fund. The money was spent on infrastructural improvements, most notably the highway system. Through the 1990s, until the beginning of 2001, Portugal enjoyed strong economic growth generally above the EU average. The economy

grew 4.2% in 1998, at 3.1% in 1999, and at 3.3% in 2000. Unemployment remains was at 5% in 1998, but then dropped to 4.5% in 1999 and then to 4% in 2000. Even as the growth slowed to 2.2% in 2001, unemployment in Portugal remained below most of its neighbors. at 4.2%. In 2002, growth is estimated to have slowed to 0.8% and unemployment increased to 4.7%. Inflation in Portugal has been moderate but growing, increasing from 2.4% in 1998 to 4.6% in 2000. Consumer prices rose 4.4% in 2002 and about 3.7% in 2002. The Socialist government pledged its dedication both to meeting the Maastricht monetary convergence criteria and to increasing social spending, including provision of a guaranteed minimum income. This policy bore fruit when Portugal qualified for the first round of entry into the European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999. As of January 2002, the euro became Portugal's only official currency. The government's privatization program reduced the public sector for 7.5% of GDP and 2.6% of employment by the end of 1999 from 19.7% of GDP and 5.5% of employment in 1988.

CORRUPTION:

Portugal is often considered an example of successful democratic consolidation. Yet it has not been exempt from corruption scandals. By the mid-1990s, transparency and the moralisation of political life had come to dominate parliamentary debates and reforms. The illegality surrounding party life must be seen against the background of dominant ethical standards in society. Voters appear tolerant of the unethical behaviour of political leaders, while parties are gradually becoming less responsive to their electorate. Representation and delegation rely more on tacit consent than on voice, thus encouraging complacency over corruption. Increasing concern about corruption since the 1980s in many Western European democracies must be understood with reference to the nature and activity of political parties. Party financing, in particular, has opened many opportunities for corruption. Some features of party life have helped illegality to expand -- such as clientelism, patronage and gerrymandering -- while some other developments have mitigated against it, notably the decline in electoral fraud and coercive tactics of voting, which are now associated with only a few local party bosses in rural and suburban areas. Contrary to developments in other southern European democracies, the Portuguese political class and the citizens have remained largely unmoved by the growing illegality surrounding party and electoral financing. The extension of illicit party financing in Portugal is not substantially different from that revealed elsewhere in Europe. But it is more tolerated. Since the early 1990s, legislative reforms have been undertaken to improve tra nsparency in public life, but the inadequacy of the controls that have been established shows that the political class has not yet developed a serious resolve to address the issue.

When one tries to assess the extent to which parties have been central to the expansion of corruption in Portugal, the link may, at first, appear weak. The reasons are twofold: on the one hand, most illicit party activities are not included in criminal statistics; on the other, most media allegations have failed to establish a close connection between corruption and the illicit financing of political parties and electoral campaigns. Certainly, not all forms of corruption during the last two decades have resulted directly or indirectly from party life. However, the systemic nature of today's corruption has to be understood with reference to the illicit mechanisms that parties have developed to finance their activities.

PARTIES, FINANCE AND THE STATE

Several factors are central to the understanding of party-related corruption: the nature of Portuguese political parties, both in terms of their organisational structures and recruitment; their growing financial difficulties; and the way parties operate within the state. What Kind of Parties? With the exception of the Communist Party (PCP), all Portuguese parties are post-1974 creations. The PCP was created in 1921, forced to go underground five years later and remained clandestine 'for 48 years, as long as authoritarianism lasted in Portugal. The PCP played a key role in the Revolution of 1974, which helped the party to become a major player in the present party system. In the aftermath of the Revolution, the PCP was able to build an extensive and solid organisation, superior to that of its adversaries, in terms of both material and human resources. [1] The PCP boasts the largest and territorially most developed party machine. The running of such a large party structure, payments of wages and pensions to permanent party activists, the need to maintain equipment and party branches, and the intensity of its electoral campaigns, proved an unsustainable financial burden on a party experiencing declining membership. By contrast, the Socialist Party (PS) has never been organisational structure and levels of affiliation similar democratic parties. Its core is dominated by liberal-left, notables, and its decentralised organisational structure between the national headquarters and local branches. able to develop a mass to other European social well-educated, bourgeois shows little co-ordination

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) is often labelled 'the most Portuguese of all parties'. The designation is not too inaccurate in the sense that it is a catch-all party, including representatives from the moderate left to the liberal and conservative right, from the rural to the urban middle classes, and from Catholic

to secular sections of society. The two major identifying elements cutting across the social diversity of its electorate are a common hostility towards the state and its administration and a general sympathy for market rules. Like the Socialists, the PSD has a weak and flexible organisational structure, allowing great autonomy to local branches. Finally, the Popular Party (CDS-PP) is essentially a party of notables, and has never been able to transform itself into a catch-all party of the right, as it set out to do in its earlier years of existence. Its resources are less plentiful than those of its adversaries. The party is continuously embroiled in leadership quarrels, and this is reflected in its changing electoral positioning. Thus, the party has swung from a Christian democrat to a liberal-conservative appeal, and sometimes to a 'populist' appeal, depending on its changing leadership. This often led the PP to enter short-lived tactical coalitions with the two major parties -- the PS and the PSD -- but the party's small electorate did not allow it to gain a pivotal position in government formation. What Kind of Leaders? With the exception of the Communists, who have traditionally recruited their cadres from dedicated activists, party leaderships are not representative of their electoral bases. Parties remain 'different arrangements of personalities', [2] attracting a multitude of interests and clienteles important to electoral success. This persisting feature in the recruitment of party elites has been central to party corruption in Portugal. Given the increasingly technical nature of legislative and regulatory processes, parties have increasingly felt the need to recruit personnel known for their professional expertise and first hand experience. [3] The proliferation of new party technocrats, appointed to senior positions and ministerial cabinets under a weak regime of incompatibilities inflicted considerable damage on an administration facing a difficult road to modernisation by reducing its capacity to check upon executive rule. Moreover, the newly appointed personnel have also become important inside mediators between pa rty and client interests and important fund raisers -- public office being no less than la place ideal des affaires. [4] Privatisation, the creation of new administrative establishments, notably public/private hybrids, such as foundations, institutes and agencies, and the growing regulatory functions of the state went hand-in-hand with the recruitment of people noted for their 'entrepreneurial capacity'. In a context where conflicts of interest were largely ignored, the opportunities for personal and party enrichment grew apace. Another feature common to all parties, with the exception of the Communists, is the continuous association of party leaderships with senior officials from the corporatist regime, who have been able to preserve and further their political careers in different parties. These 'backbenchers' were central to the reemergence of the clientelistic networks that proliferated during Caetano's technocrat interlude. But they were equally significant in accommodating the new arrivistes to an attitude of laxity towards conflicts of interest, which predominates in the Portuguese political and administrative culture. In short,

political parties acquired the reputation of being mechanisms allowing rapacious politicians to accede to office and subsequent wealth. As Rogow and Lasswell put it, 'If the membership of an institution does not collectively enforce rectitude standards, the tendency toward individual corruption is increased'. [5] Increased Political Costs The financial difficulties parties were facing by the late 1980s had largely to do with an increase in political costs. The maintenance of party offices, paid party officials and information activities contributed to an increase in political spending; but elections, in particular, caused a rise in expenditure. Although political parties enjoyed free access to public television and radio channels, increased American-style campaigning, with extensive use of private media, growing reliance on firms specialising in political marketing and campaigning, and the proliferation of elections at local and European levels, explain much of the growing party debts of the early 1990s. Conversely, membership fees, the core legal source of financing, were declining, even though the parties tended to conceal the exact figures, fearing a possible disclosure of their illicit practices. In the absence of an internal auditing of their accounts, political parties tended to overstate membership revenues. A large part of declared mem bership fees came from members that never existed. The PCP internal accounts, for example, showed that membership fees gradually contributed less to the total revenue than publicly stated. [6] Fund-raising activities, such as the annual Festa do Avante, could not cover the spiralling costs of electoral campaigns. It was against this background that the parties gradually sought alternative and clandestine ways of financing their activities. The mechanisms of illicit party and election financing varied according to the roles played by different parties in the central administration, their organisational nature and territorial representation. Both the Socialists and Social Democrats, who held office for long periods and were able to place their members strategically in the central administration, profited considerably from public financial instruments and public and semipublic companies. By contrast, the exclusion of the.

Attracting FDI to Portugal

Let me continue the discussion initiated by Pedro Pita Barros and Susana Peralta: How can we attract FDI flows into Portugal? I think Pedro is spot on. We can split the factors driving FDI flows into two main categories: (i) factors affecting the productivity of capital, and (ii) factors affecting the return to foreign investors. In (i) we have the factors both Pedro and Susana mentioned, such as human capital, infrastructure, and possibly agglomeration economies. In (ii) we have, in addition to taxes and subsidies, the fundamental issue of investor protection. That is, the laws that protect outside investors' interests against explicit or implicit expropriation of their returns by firm insiders (e.g. managers), and the enforcement of those laws. Even when the productivity of capital is high, and even when the right government incentives

are in place to attract FDI, FDI might not come at all if the institutions are weak. This can happen because the actual return to capital, as perceived by foreign investors once the institutional framework is factored in, may be quite low. My thoughts on this are very influenced by a study on the Portuguese economy I conducted recently with my co-author and good friend Gian Luca Clementi ("The economic effects of improving investor rights in Portugal"; free access here; sorry for the publicity!). Portugal has made a lot of progress since joining the EU regarding corporate governance and investor protection laws. We still have very poor law enforcement though, particularly the judicial system. Reforming the judicial system must be a top priority if Portugal is to further attract foreign capital

Culture of Portugal

A 19th century Portuguese couple with typical rural clothes from Minho province, in a Singer sewing machine advertisement card, distributed at World Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893. The culture of Portugal is the result of a complex flow of different civilizations during the past millenia. From prehistoric cultures, to its PreRoman civilizations (such as the Lusitanians, the Gallaeci, the Celtici, and the Cynetes, amongst others), passing through its contacts with the Phoenician-Carthaginian world, the Roman period (see Hispania, Lusitania and Gallaecia), the Germanic invasions and consequent settlement of the Suevi and Buri (see Suebic Kingdom of Galicia) and the Visigoth (see Visigothic Kingdom), and, finally, the Moorish Umayyad invasion of Hispania and the subsequent Reconquista, all have made an imprint on the country's culture and history.

Architecture

Jeronimos Monastery is Portugal's best example of its Manueline architecture. Main article: Architecture of Portugal Since the 2nd millennium BC, there has been important construction in the area where Portugal is situated today. Portugal boasts several scores of medieval castles, as well as the ruins of several villas and forts from the period of Roman occupation. Modern Portuguese architecture follow the

most advanced trends seen in European mainstream architecture with no constraints, though preserving some of its singular characteristics. The azulejo, and the Portuguese pavement are two typical elements of Portuguese-style architecture. Portugal is perhaps best known for its distinctive Manueline architecture with its rich, intricate designs attributed to Portugal's Age of Discoveries.

Dance
Folk dances include: Circle dance, Fandango (of the Ribatejo region), Two Steps Waltz, Schottische (Chotia), Corridinho (of the Algarve and Estremadura regions), Vira (of the Minho region), Bailarico, Vareirinha, Malho, Vareira, Maneio, Vira de Cruz, Vira Solto, Vira de Macieira, Sapatinho, Tau-Tau, Ciranda, Z que Fumas, Regadinho, O Pedreiro and Ti Tirititi. There are also variations of these dances called the Xama-Rita in the Azores. Dance apparel is highly varied, ranging from work clothes to the Sunday best, with rich distinguished from the poor.

Cinema
In the 1990s around 10 full length fictional works were produced per annum, Portugal's filmmakers tending to be artisans. Financing of Portuguese cinema is by state grants and from television stations. The internal market is very small and Portuguese penetration of international markets is fairly precarious. A film is considered a success when it draws an audience of more than 150.000, which few Portuguese films manage to achieve. Director Manoel de Oliveira is the oldest director in the world, and continues to make films at the age of 100. Since 1990 has made an average of one film per annum. He has received international recognition awards and won the respect of the cinematography community all over the world. Retrospectives of his works have been shown at the Los Angeles Film Festival (1992), the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC (1993), the San Francisco Film Festival and the Cleveland Museum of Art (1994). Despite his international recognition, the films of Oliveira (and that of other Portuguese directors) are neglected locally.

Comedy
A Cano de Lisboa: (lit. Lisbon Song) is a Portuguese film comedy from 1933, directed by Jos Cottinelli Telmo, and starring Vasco Santana and Beatriz Costa. Manoel de Oliveira had a minor role in this film. It was the second Portuguese sound feature film (the first was A Severa, a 1931 documentary by Manoel de Oliveira, was originally filmed without soundtrack, which was added afterwards), and still is one of the best loved films in Portugal. Several of its lines and songs are still quoted today!

O Pai Tirano: (lit. The Tyrant Father) is a Portuguese film comedy from 1941, directed by Antnio Lopes Ribeiro, starring Vasco Santana, Francisco Ribeiro and Leonor Maia. Its one of the best known comedies of the Golden Age of Portuguese Cinema. Still popular six decades after its release.

Recent films
O Crime do Padre Amaro: (lit. The Crime of Father Amaro) is a Portuguese film (2005) adapted from a book of Ea de Queiroz, directed by Carlos Coelho da Silva. This was a low quality production sponsored by Sociedade Independente de Comunicao (television channel). Even so this film beat all the records of box- office of all the Portuguese films in Portugal. The main characters are Jorge Corrula as Padre Amaro and Soraia Chaves as Amlia, and the main ingredients of this film are the sex and the nudity. Zona J: is a Portuguese drama/romance film directed by Leonel Vieira in 1998, starring Slvia Alberto as Ftima, Ana Bustorff as Conceio. Sorte Nula: (lit. The Trunk) directed by Fernando Fragata, starring Helder Mendes, Antnio Feio, Adelaide de Sousa, Rui Unas, Isabel Figueira, Bruno Nogueira, Carla Matadinho, Tnia Miller and Z Pedro. Meu Querido Ms de Agosto is a documentary film that achieved some visibility at the Cannes Film Festival.

Cuisine
Main article: Portuguese cuisine

A dish of cozido portuguesa.

Food
Each region of Portugal has its traditional dishes, including various kinds of meat, seafood, fresh fish, dried and salted cod (bacalhau), and the famous Cozido Portuguesa, a stew.

Alcoholic beverages

Portugal is a country of wine lovers and winemakers, known since the Roman Empire-era; the Romans immediately associated Portugal with its God of Wine Bacchus. Today, many Portuguese wines are known as some of the world's best: Vinho do Douro, Vinho do Alentejo, Vinho do Do, Vinho Verde, and the sweet: Port Wine (Vinho do Porto, literally Porto's wine), Madeira wine, Moscatel of Setbal and Moscatel of Favaios. Beer is also widely consumed, with the largest national beer brands being Sagres and Super Bock. Liqueurs, like Licor Beiro and ginjinha, are popular.

Literature
Portuguese literature has developed since the 12th century from the lyrical works of Joo Soares de Paiva and Paio Soares de Taveirs. They wrote mostly from Portuguese oral traditions known as "cantigas de amor e amigo" and "cantigas de escrnio e maldizer" which were sung by troubadours. Following chroniclers such as Ferno Lopes after the 14th century, fiction has its roots in chronicles and histories with theatre following Gil Vicente, whose works was critical of the society of his time. Classical lyrical texts include Os Lusadas, by Lus de Cames with other authors including Antero de Quental, Almeida Garrett and Camilo Pessanha.

Portuguese writer Jos Saramago. Portuguese modernism is found in the works of Fernando Pessoa. Following the Carnation Revolution in 1974, the Portuguese society, after several decades of repression, regained freedom of speech. Jos Saramago received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.

Music
Main articles: Music of Portugal and Music history of Portugal Portuguese musical traditions are diverse and dynamic, they reflect multifarious historical, cultural, and political processes with influences

from non-European cultures from both North and sub-Saharan Africa and Brazil. Polyphonic music, employing multiple vocal parts in harmony, was developed in the 15th century. The Renaissance fostered a rich output of compositions for solo instruments and ensembles as well as for the voice. The 1960s started a period of expansion and innovation with pop, rock and jazz introduced and evolving, political song developed, the fado of Lisbon and the Coimbra were revitalized. Music from the former African colonies and Brazil occupied an increasingly important place in the capitals musical life and local styles of rap and hip hop emerged.

Fado

A Portuguese female fado singer - Dbora Rodrigues. Fado (translated as destiny or fate) is a music genre which can be traced from the 1820s, but possibly with much earlier origins. It is characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor. The music is usually linked to the Portuguese word saudade, a unique word with no accurate translation in any other language. (Home-sickness has an approximate meaning. It is a kind of longing, and conveys a complex mixture of mainly nostalgia, but also sadness, pain, happiness and love). Some enthusiasts claim that Fado's origins are a mixture of African slave rhythms with the traditional music of Portuguese sailors and Arabic influence.

Portuguese rock
The Portuguese rock started to be noted in 1980 with the release of Ar de Rock by Rui Veloso, which was the first popular Portuguese rock song. Before that, Portugal had a vibrant underground progressive rock scene in the 1970s. Among the numerous bands and artists which followed its genesis, are Xutos & Pontaps, GNR, UHF and Moonspell.

Popular music

The 1980s and 1990s were marked by the search for a new musical discourse in urban popular music, the increase, commodification and industrialization of musical production, and the mediatization and expansion of music consumption. The boom in Portuguese musical production was accompanied by both the diversification of the musical domains and styles produced and consumed in Portugal and the emergence of new styles which are increasingly taking the global market into account. The denominated Pop music uses melodies easily to memorize, becoming very popular and commercial; its also characterized by the amount of publicity made (through videos, magazines, appealing clothing, etc). It is possible to note two stylistic tendencies in the popular music of the 1980s and 1990s:

A musical discourse created by Portuguese musicians that is integrated within the major international developments experienced by commercial popular music; A new musical style that vindicates its Portugueseness by both drawing upon various musical elements which musicians and audiences alike identify as Portuguese and emphasizing the Portuguese language.

Student festivals
Festivals organised by students of several higher education institutions, take place every year across the country, being the one held at Coimbra the oldest and most traditional of all, copied and adapted by other universities. These include the music festivals of Queima das Fitas and Semana Acadmica (Aveiro, Braga, Coimbra, Covilh, Faro, Lisbon, Porto, etc.) and Festa das Latas (Coimbra).

Summer musical festivals

Summer festivals include: Vilar de Mouros Festival, Festival Sudoeste, Rock in Rio Lisboa, Super Bock Super Rock, Festival de Paredes de Coura, Ilha do Ermal Festival, etc.

Painting

Detail of the Saint Vincent Panels, by Nuno Gonalves. See also: List of Portuguese painters Portuguese art was very restricted in the early years of nationality, during the reconquista, to a few paintings in churches, convents and palaces. It was after the 15th century, with national borders established and with the discoveries, that Portuguese art expanded. Some kings, like John I already had royal painters. It is during this century that Gothic art was replaced by a more humanistic and Italian-like art. During the reign of King Alfonso V, an important Portuguese artist Nuno Gonalves shaped Portuguese art, leading it to gain local characteristics (Escola Nacional, National School). His influence on Portuguese art continued after his death. He was the royal painter for the famous Retbulo do Altar das Relquias de So Vicente in the Cathedral of Lisbon (S de Lisboa). The painting caught fire and was replaced by a Baroque structure. Parts of his work still exist and can be found in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga National (Museum of Ancient Art).

Theater

Gil Vicente, 16th century Portuguese playwright. Portugal never developed a great Dramatic theatre tradition due primarily to the fact that the Portuguese were more passionate about lyric or humorous works than dramatic art. Gil Vicente is often seen has the father of Portuguese theatre - he was the leading Portuguese playwright in the 16th century. During the 20th century, theatre found a way to reach out to the people, specially the middle class, through what in Portugal is known as "Revista" - a form of humorous and cartoonish theatre designed to expose and criticize social (and political) issues, but in a way that entertains and amuses the audience. Gil Vicente (1435-1536) is considered the first great Portuguese playwright. Frequently called the father of Portuguese theatre, he portrays the society of the 16th century. Anticipating the seventeenth-century French writer Santeuil's well-known phrase "castigat ridendo mores", Gil Vicente became famous for his satirical plays such as the "Triologia das Barcas" ("Auto da Barca do Inferno" (1517), "Auto da Barca do Purgatrio" (1518); "Auto da Barca da Glria" (1518)). In these plays, he creates some characters who are representative of their social group. This results in not only comical, but also strong critical situations. Gil Vicente also wrote other important plays such as "Auto da ndia" (1509), "Auto da Fama" (1510), and "Farsa de Ins Pereira" (1523). Another relevant playwright of the 16th century is Antnio Ferreira (15281569), who wrote "A Castro" (1587), a well-known tragedy about the forbidden love between D. Pedro I and D. Ins de Castro. Antnio Ferreira is considered the father of Renaissance culture in Portugal.

Festivities and holidays

Carnival in Portugal. Carnival is also widely celebrated in Portugal, some traditional carnivals date back several centuries. Loul, Alcobaa, Mealhada, Funchal, Torres Vedras, Ovar and Figueira da Foz, among several other localities, hold several days of festivities, with parades where social and political criticism abound, along with music and dancing in an environment of euphorya. There are some localities which preserve a more traditional carnival with typical elements of the ancient carnival traditions of Portugal and Europe. However, several parades in most localities have adopted many elements of the tropical Brazilian Carnival. On January 6, Epiphany is celebrated by some families, especially in the North and Center, where the family gathers to eat "Bolo-Rei" (literally, King Cake, a cake made with crystallized fruits); this is also the time for the traditional street songs - "As Janeiras" (The January ones). Saint Martin Day, is celebrated on November 11. This day is the peak of three days, often with very good weather, it is known as Vero de So Martinho ("Saint Martin summer"), the Portuguese celebrate it with jeropiga (a sweet liqueur wine) and roasted Portuguese chestnuts (castanhas assadas), and it is called Magusto.

National holidays
Date Name Remarks New Year's Day. Beginning of the year, marks the traditional end of "holiday season".

January 1 Ano Novo

Tuesday, date Carnaval varies

Carnival. (Also called Mardi Gras). Not an official holiday, but declared by the government as a non-working day. Very ancient festival celebrating the end of the winter. It gained Christian connotations, and now marks the first day of a period of 40 days before Easter Week (Semana Santa, Holy Week), thus also known as Entrudo.

Friday, date varies

Sexta-Feira Santa Good Friday. Easter. Used for family gathering to eat Po-deL and "Folar" (an Easter cake) and Easter eggs. In the North, a sort of church members processions (compasso) visits and blesses every home with an open door, thus meaning they are Catholics. Traditionally, this is the second visit of children and non-married youngsters to their godparents, receiving an Easter gift. The first visit is on Palm Sunday, 7 days before, where children give flowers and palms to their godparents.

Sunday, date varies

Pscoa

April 25 May 1

Literally, "Freedom Day". Celebrates the Dia da Liberdade Carnation Revolution, marking the end of the dictatorial regime. Event of 1974. Dia Trabalhador do Labour Day. Corpus Christi. Christian feast celebrating the Eucharist.

Thursday, date Corpo de Deus varies

June 10

Portugal Day. Marks the date of Cames death. Dia de Portugal, Cames wrote The Lusiads, Portugal's national de Cames e das epic. Event of 1580. Celebrated in many of Comunidades Portuguese communities in the United States of Portuguesas America, such as the Ironbound in Newark, NJ Assumption of Mary. da Implantation of the Republic, or Republic Day. Event of 1910. All Saints Day. Day used for visiting deceased relatives. Implantao Repblica

August 15 Assuno October 5

Novembe Todos os Santos r1

Decembe Restaurao da Restoration of Independence. Event of 1640. r1 Independncia Decembe Imaculada r8 Conceio Decembe Natal r 25 Immaculate Conception. Patron Saint of Portugal since 1646. Christmas Day. Celebrated in the 24th to the 25th as a family gathering to eat codfish with potatoes and cabbage, roasted kid and turkey;

seasonal sweets and dry fruits; drink Port wine; and share gifts.

Sports and games

Football is the most popular and practiced sport in Portugal. Football started to become well known in Portugal in the final decades of the 19th century, brought by Portuguese students who returned from England. The first person responsible for its implementation would have been Guilherme Pinto Basto (according to some people, his brothers Eduardo and Frederico would have brought the first ball from England). It was he who had the initiative to organise an exhibition of the new game, which took place in October 1888, and it was also him who organized the first football match in January of the following year. The match, played where today the Campo Pequeno bullring is located, involved opposing teams from Portugal and England. The Portuguese won the game 2-1. Consequently, football started attracting the attention of the high society, being distinguished by the Luso-British rivalry. Later, the game spread, being practised in colleges and leading to the foundation of clubs all over the country. Until the end of the century, associations such as Clube Lisbonense, Carcavelos, Brao de Prata, the Real Ginsio Clube Portugus, the Estrela Futebol Clube, the Futebol Acadmico, the Campo de Ourique, the Oporto Cricket, and the Sport Clube Vianense were founded to practise this sport or created sections for competing. The first match, between Lisbon and Porto, took place in 1894, attended by King D. Carlos. The Clube Internacional de Futebol (founded in 1902) was the first Portuguese team to play abroad defeating, in 1907, the Madrid Futebol Clube in the Spanish capital. Currently, of the most important teams of the sport in Portugal, the oldest is the Boavista Futebol Clube, which was founded in 1903. The Futebol Clube do Porto, after an unsuccessful attempt in 1893, appeared in 1906, stimulated by Jos Monteiro da Costa, among others. The Sporting Clube de Portugal was founded in 1906 by the Viscount of Alvalade and his grandson Jos de Alvalade. Sport Lisboa e Benfica, was born in 1904 (the club maintained the foundation date of Sport Lisboa, founded in 1904, when in 1908 assimilated the Grupo Sport Benfica, founded in 1906). They are all clubs that traditionally have several sports activities but they give great distinction to football, making use of teams of professional players, which frequently participate in European competitions.

EXTREMISM

Terrorist Groups
Since the transition to democratic rule was completed in 1976, the country has been relatively free from subversive or terrorist activity threatening the maintenance of constitutional authority. The only significant terrorist group, the Popular Forces of the 25th of April (Foras Populares do 25 Abril--FP25 ), carried out a number of attacks between 1980 and 1986, but at no time did it pose a major threat to the security of the state. Effective counterterrorism measures and the absence of public support sharply curtailed the ability of FP-25 to sustain its campaign of violent operations against the Portuguese government and Western and NATO missions in Portugal. FP-25 claimed to be a workers' organization dedicated to a struggle against exploitation, misery, and repression. Its stated goals were to defeat "imperialism," to lead a "workers' assault on bourgeois power," and to achieve the violent overthrow of the Portuguese government. The FP-25 also bitterly opposed the United States and NATO. No evidence of direct ties to other European terrorist groups existed, although Portuguese authorities asserted that some financial support had come from Libya. Between 1980 and 1984, most FP-25 actions involved assassinations, bombings, and bank robberies. Beginning in 1984, the group focused its attacks on United States and NATO targets. Mortars were fired at the compound of the Embassy of the United States, at NATO's IBERLANT headquarters, and at NATO ships anchored in Lisbon harbor. Bombs destroyed a number of cars owned by West German air force personnel. FP-25's ability to wage its terrorist campaign was curtailed by the arrest of a large number of its adherents in June 1984, including Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, who had become a popular hero in Portugal after playing a key role in the Revolution of 1974 (see The Military Takeover of 1974 , this ch.). Other obscure radical groups claimed responsibility for subsequent minor bombing attacks, but such acts of terrorism abated in 1987. As of early 1992, Carvalho was free on a conditional basis, and the issue of a general amnesty for members of FP-25 had aroused wide public interest. Separatist independence movements have long existed in the Azores and Madeira archipelagoes. The main group, the Azorean Liberation Front, has been responsible for many demonstrations but has not been associated with clandestine activities and violence. A newer group, the Azorean Nationalist Movement, was regarded as illegal because Portuguese law prohibited any association advocating the independence of the Azores. The existing system of autonomy recognized by the constitution of 1976 and subsequent legislation have endowed the regional governments with considerable rights and greatly reduced the appeal of the separatist movements.

Criminal Activities
Criminal activities are very risky thing for any country. Because criminal activities can ruin a countrys future. Under criminal activities so many organized crimes occur. Organized crime act like any structural organization. They are not actually involved in petty crime. It is very hard to estimate how much people are involved in that group. Though Portugal is a rich country but at the same time it is risky too. So many criminal activities are happening . In the larger urban centres of Lisbon and Porto, pick-pocketing and bag snatching occur, especially at tourist attractions, restaurants, public transportation, train stations, and airports. In Lisbon, particular caution should be exercised on electric tram number E28 to the Castle of So Jorge and number E15 to Belem, at the train stations of Santa Apolonia, Oriente, Rossio, and Cais do Sodre, as well as in the districts of Alfama, Bairro Alto, and Intendente. Exercise caution if going to the suburb of Queluz to visit the palace, and avoid the northeast suburb of Amadora. If visiting the Estoril coast, be careful at Guincho Beach near the town of Cascais, at the Mouth of Hell tourist site, as well as in the village of Sintra, and at its castle and palace.

Racism
Crime was a major source of discontent, and sentiment that Portugal was becoming increasingly unsafe since the country turned a destination to several thousand emigrants from non-white locations around the globe after 1990, led to the dismissal of Internal Administration Minister Fernando Gomes in the early 2000s on the heels of gang violence that made headlines. Along with the gang crime wave, which involved large groups of non Portuguese youths, many of them descendants of immigrants from the former Portuguese colonies in Africa who live in several neighbourhoods around Lisbon, wreaking havoc on commuter train lines and robbing gasoline (petrol) stations, the country was also shocked by attacks on nightclubs, and a rise of violent crime related with local and international organized crime which includes a number of gangs particularly active in Greater Lisbon and Greater Porto areas. A large proportion of convicts by violent crime are foreigners and many people tend easily to blame immigrants or ethnic minorities, sometimes with a great amount of reason or evidence, for that type of crime which used to be rare before their arrival

Drug Related Crimes

Drug trafficking is an increasing issue for Argentina. Traveling back roads is highly discouraged, especially when unfamiliar with the area. Drug use is becoming more common in middle-class youth. Argentina's government is putting a great deal of effort into thwarting drug related crime. Visitors to Argentina are strongly advised not to use, purchase, sell or otherwise involve themselves in drug related activity.

Criminal Penalties
Persons violating Argentina's laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Argentina are strict, and convicted offenders can expect lengthy jail sentences and fines.

Conclusion
The country risk reflects the average level of short term non-payment risk associated with companies in a particular country. It reflects extend to which a countrys economic political and financial outlook influences financial commitments of local companies. However international trade actors know that sound companies can operate in risky countries and unsound companies in less risky countries and that overall that risk will depend only on a companys quality but also on those of the country in which it operates. In assessing overall risk associated with a particular operation. Country rating are thus complementary to rating credit opinions on companies.