Portugal

Portugal lies in the southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is the westernmost nation that is situated in the mainland Europe. On its east and north, Portugal is surrounded by Spain and on its west it is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean.

It is a high Human Development Index and it is also the fourteenth most peaceful nation in the world. Even though the Gross domestic product or GDP of Portugal is not high, it is ranked 19th nation in the world with a high quality of life.

The people in Portugal are mostly Roman Catholics, with more than 80% of the population following Roman Catholicism. The language that is spoken in the country is Portuguese.

In fact, Portugal has one single religion (Catholicism) and it also has one single language. Of course, foreign languages are also spoken by some of the population.

The automobile industry, the software industry and the service industry are important for the country’s economy. Fishing is considered to be an important activity in the country.

Portugal is also a popular tourist destination and in the year 2006, it attracted 12.8 million tourists from all around the world. In fact, the tourism industry of Portugal accounts for 5% of its GDP.

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    Monastery of Santa Cruz, Coimbra

    The Santa Cruz Monastery (English: Monastery of the Holy Cross, Portuguese: Mosteiro de Santa Cruz), best known as Igreja (Church) de Santa Cruz, is a National Monument in Coimbra, Portugal.

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    Palatine Chapel, Sintra National Palace

    Palatine Chapel founded by Dom Dinis and redecorated by Manuel I, presents a magnificent Mudejar ceiling interlacing rare Moorish ceramic flooring and frescoes patterned of pigeons from the 15th century. Palatine Chapel, Sintra National Palace.

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    Pena National Palace

    The Pena National Palace is a Romanticist palace in Sao Pedro de Penaferrim, in the municipality of Sintra, Portugal. The palace stands on the top of a hill in the Sintra Mountains above the town of Sintra, and on a clear day it can be easily seen from Lisbon and much of its metropolitan area.

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    Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of the Coa Valley

    The Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites of the Coa Valley are open-air Paleolithic archaeological sites located in a region of northeastern Portugal, along the Portuguese-Spanish border.

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    Roman Temple of Evora

    The Roman Temple of Evora, also referred to as the Templo de Diana (albeit wrongly, after Diana, the ancient Roman goddess of the moon, the hunt, and chastity) is an ancient temple in the Portuguese city of Evora (civil parish of Se e Sao Pedro).

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    Sintra National Palace

    The Sintra National Palace, also called Town Palace is located in the town of Sintra, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. It is a present-day historic house museum.

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    Sintra Old Town

    Sintra is known for its many 19th-century Romantic architectural monuments, which has resulted in its classification as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although its heritage in buildings and nature is the most visible face of the historic individuality of Sintra, a whole literary heritage has made the area a legendary reference in Portuguese culture.

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    Swan Hall, Sintra National Palace

    Swan Hall (Sala dos Cisnes) is the original Grand Hall of royal residence of Joao I, built at the begining of the 15th century. During the reign of Manuel I it was designated "Hall of the Princes".

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    University of Coimbra

    The University of Coimbra is a Portuguese public university in Coimbra, Portugal. Established in 1290 in Lisbon, it went through a number of relocations until it was moved permanently to its current city in 1537, being one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the world, the oldest university of Portugal, and one of its largest higher education and research institutions.