Portugal Travel Overview
Important facts
Capital: Lisbon (See more on ITYPEJOB.COM)
Official language: Portuguese
Currency: Euro (exchange rates)
Continent: Southern Europe
Vacation in Portugal
According to Countryaah, Portugal lies in the west of the Iberian Peninsula. The capital Lisbon is also the largest city in Portugal and offers many sights for a city trip, such as the Torre de Belem and the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, both of which were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1983.
The national territory of Portugal also includes the Azores archipelago and Madeira island.
The Azores
The Azores are made up of nine islands. The island that is best developed for tourism is Sao Miguel. It is known as the ” Green Island ” because of its wide pastures and wooded mountain peaks. The landscape of Sao Miguel with its crater lakes and geysers is particularly inviting for hikes and excursions. There are also small sandy beaches here. The most beautiful beaches of the Azores, however, is found on the island of Santa Maria.
Madeira island
Madeira is located in the Atlantic about 700 km west of the Moroccan coast. The island is known as the flower island in the Atlantic because of its rich vegetation. It is therefore a popular destination for a vacation for nature lovers and hiking enthusiasts. Many tourists come to Madeira simply to relax because of its pleasant, mild climate and the colorful surroundings. The Austrian Empress Elisabeth also appreciated the beauty and tranquility of Madeira and so spent a few months on the island in 1860 in order to recover from a serious illness.
Algarve holiday region
Most of the tourists who come to Portugal spend their holidays in the Algarve. It is the southernmost region of Portugal. The Algarve is famous for its numerous fine sandy beaches and the rock sculptures in the west of the coast. With its beautiful beaches, warm sea water and year-round sun, it is a very popular holiday destination for tourists who want to spend their vacation by the sea. In addition, the Algarve is a very popular destination for golfers because of the many golf courses, some of which extend to the coast.
Currency
Currency (sub-unit)
Euro (100 cents)
ISO 4217 code
EUR / 978
Geography
Continent: Europe
Region: south
Geo coordinates: N 39 ° 23 ‘59.5 ” W -8 ° -13’ -28″
Highest mountain: Pico Alto (2,351 m)
Total area: 92,391 km²
Mainland: 91,951 km²
National border: 1,214 km
Coastline: 1,793 km
Politics
Dependency: independent since foundation
Dependent states: Brazil since 1822
Formerly dependent states: Angola until 1975
Cape Verde until 1975
Guinea-Bissau until 1973
Mozambique until 1975
Oman until 1650
São Tomé and Príncipe until 1975
UN member since: 1955
Other political affiliation: European Union since 1986
Form of government: Presidential Republic
Houses of Parliament: unikameral
Party system: Multi-party system
State building: centralized
Political culture: parochial
Economy
Export goods: Textiles, fish, wine
BSP: $ 178,399,000,000
GDP: $ 189,674,800,000
GDP purchasing power parity: $ 216.3 billion
Economic growth: 0.7%
GDP share of agriculture: 5.1%
GDP share of industry: 28.4%
GDP share of services: 66.5%
Inflation rate: 2.5%
Unemployment: 8.3%
State budget revenue: $ 4294967295
State budget expenditure: $ 4294967295
National debt: 64.6%
Export: $ 40.56 billion
Import: $ 63,228,000,000
Foreign debt: $ 302.4 billion
Gold and currency reserves: $ 8,790,000,000
Electricity consumption: 49,110 million KWh
Gas consumption: 3,370 million m³
Oil consumption: 337,600 million m³
Cultivation area: 24.72%
Bovine: 1,512,000 pieces
Pigs: 2,516,000 pieces
Sheep: 5,310,000 pieces
Fishing: 178,000 t
Demographic data
Residents: 10,605,900
Residents in cities: 7,020,000
Average age: 38.5 years
0-14 years: 16.5%
15-64 years: 66.3%
> 65 years: 17.2%
Population growth: 0.36%
Birth rate: 10.72 / 1,000 residents
Death rate: 10.5 / 1,000 residents
Migration: 3.4 / 1,000 residents
Ratio men / women: 0.95
Fertility: 1.47 children / woman
Infant mortality: 4.98 ‰
Life expectancy men: 74.43 years
Life expectancy women: 81.2 years
Country codes and abbreviations
ISO 3166 Alpha 2: PT
ISO 3166 Alpha 3: PRT
ISO 3166 numeric: 620
Top Level Domain: pt
IOC country code: POR
UN / LOCODE: PT
Source: Abbreviationfinder
Communication
Telephone connections: 4,450,000
Cell Phones: 10,242,000
Radios: 3,250,000
TV: 7,140,000
Computer: 2,160,000
Internet users: 4,390,000
Transportation
Railway lines: 2,850 km
Paved roads: 64,298 km
of which expressways: 1,911 km
Cars: 5,270,000
Merchant fleet (ships over 1,000 GRT): 111
Pipelines: 1,273
Health
Number of doctors: 35,320
Daily food intake: 3,750 kcal / resident
HIV- infected people: 29,000
Education
Illiteracy: 6%
History
Foundation: 1139
Last sovereign since: 1139
Religion
Main religious group: Christians
Distribution of religions: 84.5% Roman Catholic; 2.2% other Christian, 3.9% none
Crime
Prison inmates: 13,600
Military
Armed forces (troop strength): 46,000
Main battle tank: 190
Battleships: 6th
Submarines: 2
Warplanes: 90
Helicopter: 30th
Defense Spending: $ 4,426,700,000
GETTING THERE
Arriving by plane
Portugal’s national airline TAP Portugal (TAP) (Internet: www.flytap.com) offers scheduled flight services from Germany’s international airports, from Vienna, Geneva and Zurich to Lisbon. TAP also flies direct to Porto and Faro from some cities. Lufthansa (LH) also operates a flight service to Faro several times a week and also flies to the other Portuguese airports. Air Berlin (AB) flies from most German international airports as well as from Salzburg, Linz, Vienna and Zurich to Faro, Lisbon and Porto.
Ryanair (FR) flies from Frankfurt Hahn to Faro, Porto, Lisbon and Ponta Delgada and from Frankfurt am Main to Faro.
Eurowings (EW) connects numerous major German cities as well as Vienna and Zurich with Faro and Lisbon.
Swiss (LX) flies from Geneva to Porto and Lisbon.
In addition, Faro is served by many German, Austrian and Swiss charter airlines as part of package travel.
Flight times
Frankfurt – Lisbon: 2 hours 5 minutes (non-stop); Frankfurt – Faro: 2 hours 10 minutes (non-stop); Frankfurt – Porto: 2 hours 35 minutes; Vienna – Lisbon: 5 hours 30 minutes; Vienna – Porto: 5 hours; Vienna – Faro: 5 hours; Zurich – Lisbon: 2 hours 25 minutes; Zurich – Porto: 2 hours 40 minutes; Geneva – Lisbon: 2 hours 25 minutes
Arrival by car
The cheapest border crossing for central and southern Portugal is Badajos – Elvas, the San Antonio / Ayamonte – Vila Real crossing via southern Spain to the Algarve is recommended, and the Fuentes de Oñoro – Vilar Formoso crossing for central Portugal, Coimbra. You are i. General Open 24 hours.
Vehicles can be imported for stays of up to six months (see Travel – National / Documents).
Long-distance bus: Eurolines buses (Internet: www.eurolines.com) travel from Germany to Portugal.
Arriving by train
From Germany and Austria you travel by train (Internet: www.cp.pt) via Paris and Irún to Lisbon, from Switzerland via Lyon. The travel time from Paris is around 20 hours ; from Geneva about 26 hours. The Sud-Expresso from Irún (on the French border) to Lisbon has 1st and 2nd class compartments, sleeping and dining cars. The hotel train Lusitania is also an international train that runs from Lisbon and Porto to Madrid (journey time: approx. 11 hours).
InterRail – Passes are also valid in Portugal.
Arrival by ship
Lisbon, Leixões (Porto), Albufeira (Faro), Funchal (Madeira), Setúbal and Portimão (Algarve) are the most important port cities.
They are used by Aida Cruises (Internet: www.aida.de), Royal Olympic Cruises (Internet: www.royal-olympic-cruises.com), Cunard (Internet: www.cunard.de) and Seabourn (Internet: www. seabourn.com).
From Rio Minho there are half-hourly connections to Spain from Caminha to Campos Ancos and from Vila Nova de Cerveira to Goyan. Ticket sales on the ship.