Birth of a nation
Portugal became an independent kingdom in 1143, one of the oldest nation-states in Europe, with borders almost unchanged for centuries.
The Age of Discovery
In the 15th and 16th centuries tiny Portugal led the European exploration of the oceans. Navigators like Vasco da Gama opened sea routes to India, Africa and Brazil, building a global empire and a trading language still spoken by millions.
Earthquake and republic
The great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 reshaped the capital. Portugal became a republic in 1910 and, after the peaceful Carnation Revolution of 1974, a modern European democracy.