Map of Portugal.

This amazing country is a semi-enclave on the Iberian Peninsula. It's called a "semi-" and not just an enclave because, although it has no land borders other than with Spain, it does have its own (and quite extensive) ocean coastline. It's on this coastline that Europe's westernmost point is located – Cape RocaBut it's amazing for many, many other reasons. Let's try to list them.

The Last Empire

During the Age of Discovery, half the world was divided between two neighboring states – Spain and PortugalPortugal itself is almost six times smaller in area than Spain. Its main overseas territory, Brazil, gained independence and was lost by Portugal back in 1822. However, many other colonies remained, mostly in Africa. Only after the Carnation Revolution of April 26, 1974, did all the colonies gain independence. The dissolution of the empire was fully completed by the end of 1975. Of all its overseas acquisitions, Portugal retained only the island of Madeira and the Azores archipelago. Incidentally, the Carnation Revolution was the last revolution in Western Europe, and simultaneously the last military coup. The last, at least at the time of writing, but perhaps (one would like to believe) forever.

Portuguese is one of the most widely spoken languages ​​in the world.

Speakers of Portuguese are called Lusophones, named after the Roman province of Lusitania, which was located roughly where modern-day Portugal is located. The majority of Lusophones live not in Portugal, but in Brazil—around 80%. There are approximately 200 million Lusophones worldwide—incidentally, more than Russophones (around 170 million). Portuguese is officially recognized as an official language in nine countries in Africa and Oceania. These countries are: Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Equatorial Guinea.

The land of seafaring pioneers

The world owes the widespread use of the Portuguese language to to seafaring travelers and, of course, to the rulers who understood that the country, hemmed in on the mainland by the vast Spain, needed to actively seek overseas lands and goods. Everyone knows the name of the famous  Vasco da Gama, whose ships, having rounded Africa, reached the shores of India and were the first to return home by sea with a cargo of goods (1497-1499). And a year later, in 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral On the way to the same India, he deviated significantly to the west and came to the shores of present-day Brazil, which later became the largest Portuguese colony.

The Great Lisbon Earthquake

One of the most deadly and destructive natural disasters in human history occurred here. On the morning of November 1, 1755, in a matter of minutes, Lisbon Around 80 people died. The capital of Portugal was reduced to ruins. This is precisely what The Great Earthquake The earthquake spurred the emergence of a new field of science—seismology. The destruction was exacerbated by the fact that the epicenter was located in the ocean. Enormous tsunamis were generated, which soon engulfed the city devastated by the tremors. What was not destroyed by the earthquake and water was tested by fire: fires raged in the city for nearly a week. And all this horror, including the destruction of churches, occurred on November 1st, a Catholic holiday—All Saints' Day. The earthquake had a profound influence on the minds of scientists and philosophers of the Enlightenment.

About 10 million tourists per year.

You'll agree that with a country's population of around 10 million, a similar number of tourists per year is quite a good sign. What attracts travelers here?

There are many different reasons to visit Portugal. It's a southern country, the sun is high above, but the cool Atlantic coast avoids the sweltering heat and offers plenty of comfortable resorts.

These places have long been famous for their wines: here, among other things, you can try the best varieties port winePortugal ranks first in the world in cork processing, producing more than half of the world's natural cork.

Many come here to find and listen to authentic fado – a distinctive genre of traditional Portuguese music and singing, listed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

It boasts beautiful nature, an ocean, and about a fifth of the country's territory is covered by forests. The architecture is equally fascinating: numerous beautiful medieval castles and monasteries. In 2014, the Spanish edition of Condé Nast Traveler magazine named Portugal the best country for tourism. Discover this amazing country! Incidentally, Portuguese is phonetically and pronounceably very similar to Russian: people who don't speak either language often confuse them.

Map of Portugal.