The Portuguese railway system has been improved, and the enterprise Rede Ferroviária Nacional (REFER) was established in 1997 to manage it. In the 1990s and early 21st century, Lisbon’s metro system was extended outside the city limits with the addition of several new stations. Among them was the Gare do Oriente, a main station located in the Parque das Nações (Park of Nations), on land east of the city centre, that was designed by renowned architect Santiago Calatrava. Porto also has developed a light rail system, parts of which run underground. Lisbon’s 25th of April Bridge, once Europe’s longest suspension bridge, has been adapted to include a railway line.
Portugal’s main international airport is Lisbon’s Portela Airport. There are also international airports in Faro and Porto, and airports in Madeira and the Azores receive flights from international destinations. Small airports for domestic flights are located near several other cities. The country’s flagship airline is TAP Portugal. There are several other Portuguese airlines, and the country is also served by numerous international carriers that provide both passenger and cargo services.
Portugal’s ports have received considerable investment to improve and expand their ability to handle cargo and containers and to provide other services. Major Portuguese ports include Lisbon, the Port of Leixões (serving Porto), Setúbal, and Sines. The northern Douro is now navigable. River transport includes both pleasure cruisers and commercial barges.
Advances in technology and telecommunications have speeded the transformation of Portugal’s finance and business sector. Historically, the extension of fixed telephone lines in Portugal was slow; as a result, many individuals have adopted cellular phones, making Portugal among Europe’s early leaders (by the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the country had 1.4 mobile phone subscriptions per person) in per capita mobile phone use. The cellular phone market is intensely competitive. Portugal has implemented reforms in its telecommunications sector that favoured liberalization and privatization. Internet use grew dramatically in the late 1990s and early 21st century, though computer use in Portugal remained low compared with that of most other EU countries. Ilídio Melo Peres do Amaral Walter C. Opello Marion Kaplan The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Government and society Constitutional framework
Portugal has been a republic since the overthrow of King Manuel II and the house of Bragança in 1910. From 1910 to 1926, the era of Portugal’s First Republic, a parliamentary democracy was established, though monarchists attempted to overthrow it, and factions quickly arose among republicans. In 1926 a bloodless military coup overthrew the republic, replacing it with an authoritarian government. In 1932 António de Oliveira Salazar established a corporative dictatorship—the so-called Estado Novo (New State)—that lasted until 1974, four years after Salazar’s death. During the dictatorship, democratic-like institutions existed but were merely a facade, stacked with supporters of Salazar; political freedoms were suppressed, sometimes ruthlessly. Since the Revolution of the Carnations on April 25, 1974, Portugal has had a democratic republic. Its postrevolutionary constitution, first adopted in 1976 and modified several times since, established a semipresidential system whereby executive power was divided between a president and a prime minister. The constitution was revised in 1982, when ideological elements were minimized, and again in 1989, when the way was paved for privatization and a transition to a free-market economy.
Portugal’s chief of state is the president, who is directly elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term and may be elected to only two consecutive terms. The president is responsible for guaranteeing Portugal’s independence and national unity. Presidential duties also include serving as chief commander of the armed forces, appointing and dismissing the prime minister (who must be able to command majority support in the legislature), appointing and dismissing other members of the government at the proposal of the prime minister, sending messages to parliament and convening or dissolving it as necessary, and setting the dates of elections after consultation with the Council of State.
The constitution designates the Council of Ministers, the cabinet, as Portugal’s chief policy-making body. The cabinet consists of the prime minister, who presides over its meetings, the ministers of government departments, and some secretaries of state (ministers without portfolios). The prime minister is simultaneously responsible to the president (regarding the overall functioning of governmental institutions) and to parliament (regarding the content of public policy). The prime minister directs, coordinates, and implements government policy. By tradition the prime minister is the head of the civil service.
The parliament comprises the unicameral Assembly of the Republic, which has 230 deputies. Its duties include debating and voting upon legislation, authorizing the government to raise revenues, and approving the laws passed by the legislatures of the autonomous regions. The parliament may also dismiss the government by rejecting a vote of confidence requested by the government or by passing a motion of censure against the government. Local government
Portugal has three tiers of government below the national level. The lowest tier comprises the parishes (freguesias), of which there are about 4,000. Each parish has a directly elected assembly (assembleia de freguesia), which appoints its own executive body, the parish board (junta de freguesia). The second tier consists of the municipalities (concelhos), which number some 300. Municipalities include rural and urban areas within their territorial limits. Each municipality has a municipal assembly (assembleia municipal), made up of the presidents of the boards of the constituent parishes and an equal number plus one of directly elected members; a municipal chamber (câmara municipal), which is the executive of the municipality; and a municipal council (conselho municipal), a consultative organ through which the views of social, cultural, professional, and economic organizations within the municipality are transmitted to the municipal chamber. Above the municipalities are 18 districts (distritos)—20 including Madeira and the Azores—each with an appointed civil governor.
The constitution of 1976 called for the establishment of administrative regions (regiões administrativas), and the government created plans to subdivide the country, but by the early 21st century such a scheme had yet to be implemented (and had been rejected in a national referendum in 1998). Nevertheless, to simplify the implementation and administration of EU programs, the government devised a system consisting of five regions for the mainland: North (Norte), Central (Centro), Lisbon and the Tagus Valley (Lisboa e Vale do Tejo), the Alentejo, and the Algarve. The archipelagoes of Madeira and the Azores are autonomous regions (regiãos autónomas), a special status granted in the 1976 constitution, in recognition of their geographic, economic, social, and cultural uniqueness and their historical aspirations for greater independence. Each autonomous region has its own government (cabinet and president), legislature (regional assembly), and administration. Justice