Portugal, a country with a rich history of seafaring and discovery, looks out from the Iberian peninsula into the Atlantic Ocean.
When it handed over its last overseas territory, Macau, to Chinese administration in 1999, it brought to an end a long and sometimes turbulent era as a colonial power.
The roots of that era stretch back to the 15th century when Portuguese explorers such as Vasco da Gama put to sea in search of a passage to India. By the 16th century these sailors had helped build a huge empire embracing Brazil as well as swathes of Africa and Asia. There are still some 200 million Portuguese speakers around the world today.
Portugal's history has had a lasting impact on the culture of the country with Moorish and Oriental influences in architecture and the arts. Traditional folk dance and music, particularly the melancholy fado, remain vibrant.
Jeronimos Monastery: Portugal is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destinationFor almost half of the 20th century Portugal was a dictatorship in which for decades Antonio de Oliveira Salazar was the key figure. The dictatorship's stubborn refusal to relinquish its grip on the former colonies as demands for independence gained momentum there resulted in expensive wars in Africa.
This period was brought to an end in 1974 in a bloodless coup, picturesquely known as the Revolution of the Carnations, which ushered in a new democracy.
By the end of 1975 all of Portugal's former colonies in Africa were independent of Lisbon.
Since becoming a member of the then European Community in 1986, Portugal's traditionally largely agricultural economy became increasingly diversified and orientated towards the service sector.
It experienced solid growth in the 1990s, but GDP per head remains well under the EU average. The 2008 financial crisis left Portugal with a ballooning budget deficit, and in 2011 it became the third EU country after Greece and Ireland to ask for a financial bail-out.
Full name: Portuguese Republic Population: 10.7 million (UN, 2010) Capital: Lisbon Area: 92,345 sq km (35,655 sq miles) Major language: Portuguese Major religion: Christianity Life expectancy: 76 years (men), 83 years (women) (UN) Monetary unit: 1 euro = 100 centsMain exports: Textiles and clothing, wood products, electrical equipment GNI per capita: US $20,940 (World Bank, 2009) Internet domain: .pt International dialling code: +351President: Anibal Cavaco Silva
Anibal Cavaco Silvo: Former centre-right PM, now presidentAnibal Cavaco Silva won the January 2006 presidential poll, becoming the first centre-right president since the coup of 1974. He defeated two Socialist candidates to win a first round election victory.
The president's role is mainly ceremonial, but incumbents can appoint prime ministers, dissolve parliament and call elections.
Prime minister-elect: Pedro Passos Coelho
The day after Pedro Passo Coelho's centre-right Social Democrats (PSD) emerged as the victors in the June 2011 election, he was instructed by President Silva to begin work on putting together a coalition government.
Mr Passos Coelho has pledged to implement harsh spending cuts The final official election results were not due to be published until later in the month, and under Portuguese law, the prime minister cannot be appointed until after the results have been made official.
However, Mr Silva argued that it was important to speed up the handover of power so as to enable the next government to get on with the job of tackling the country's ruinous debt crisis.
Mr Silva said that he wanted to be able to swear in Mr Passos Coelho as prime minister in time for the European Union summit on 23 June. If this is not possible, Portugal will be represented by outgoing Socialist prime minister Jose Socrates, who lost the election after six years in power but remains in a caretaker role.
The Social Democrats, who won 39% of the vote, have begun talks with the smaller, conservative Popular Party - which took 12% of the vote - on forming a coalition government. Such a deal would give the two right-of-centre parties at least 130 of the 230 seats in parliament, securing it an overall majority.
Mr Passos Coelho is a former manager who has had no experience in government and has only led the Social Democrats since March 2010.
He now faces the daunting task of pushing through the austerity measures demanded as the price of an EU/IMF bailout of 78bn euros ($116bn; ?70bn). He is up against a tight deadline, as the first EU/IMF mission is due to arrive in Lisbon in August to assess progress made.
Outgoing prime minister: Jose Socrates
Mr Socrates' minority government collapsed in March 2011 when parliament refused to back new austerity measures aimed at bringing down the country's high level of public debt.
Mr Socrates' government collapsed after failing to avert an EU bailoutHis Portuguese Socialist Party lost at the polls in May 2011.
Jose Socrates first became prime minister in 2005 and led his party to another election victory in 2009.
After the party lost its overall majority in the 2009 election, Mr Socrates formed a minority government.
Ruling in a minority proved to be a tough challenge as Portugal struggled to contend with problems such as rising debt and unemployment, a growing budget deficit and a widening wealth gap with its European partners.
Tough austerity measures made little impact on what had become one of Europe's biggest budget deficits, and the government found itself caught up in a never-ending battle to maintain the country's international credibility in the face of market doubts about its solvency.
By the summer of 2010, Portugal - together with Greece and Ireland - had become one of the countries most severely affected by the eurozone crisis that succeeded the global financial crisis of 2008/9.
Bitter divisions over a new round of public sector cuts in March 2011 - the government's fourth set of proposals in a year - led to the collapse of the government and made a eurozone rescue look much more likely.
Acting in a caretaker capacity, Mr Socrates' government in April 2011 asked the European Union for financial assistance after admitting that it had missed its 2010 target for cutting its budget deficit.
Portugal's commercial TVs have a lion's share of the viewing audience, and provide tough competition for the public broadcaster.
Public TV is operated by RTP. The main private networks are TVI and SIC. Multichannel TV is available via cable, satellite, digital terrestrial and internet protocol TV (IPTV). Cable is the dominant platform.
Public radio is operated by RDP. The Roman Catholic Church owns the popular Radio Renascenca. There are some 300 local and regional commercial radios.
There were 5.2 million internet users by June 2010 (Internetworldstats).
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