Portugal Government

What is the capital of Portugal?

Country Name Portugal
Full Country Name Portuguese Republic
Local - Long Republica Portuguesa
Local - Short Portugal
Etymology- history of name name derives from the Roman designation "Portus Cale" meaning "Port of Cale"; Cale was an ancient Celtic town and port in present-day northern Portugal
Government Type semi-presidential republic
Capital Name Lisbon
Capital - geographic coordinate 38 43 N, 9 08 W
Capital Time Difference UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

time zone note: Portugal has two time zones, including the Azores (UTC-1)
Daylight Savings Time +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Independence 1143 (Kingdom of Portugal recognized); 1 December 1640 (independence reestablished following 60 years of Spanish rule); 5 October 1910 (republic proclaimed)
National Holiday Portugal Day (Dia de Portugal), 10 June (1580); note - also called Camoes Day, the day that revered national poet Luis DE CAMOES (1524-80) died
Constitution proposed by the Assembly of the Republic; adoption requires two-thirds majority vote of Assembly members; amended several times, last in 2005

Portugal Capital City Map

Source: Google Maps

Portugal Government and Politics

Who is the president of Portugal?

Executive Branch: chief of state: President Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA (since 9 March 2016)

head of government: Prime Minister Antonio Luis MONTENEGRO (since 2 April 2024)

cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister

elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 24 January 2021 (next to be held in January 2026); following legislative elections the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president

election results:

2021: Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA reelected president in the first round; percent of vote - Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA (PSD) 60.7%, Ana GOMES (ran as an independent but is a member of PS) 13%, Andre VENTURA (CH) 11.9%, João FERREIRA (PCP-PEV) 4.3%, other 10.1%

2016: Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA elected president in the first round; percent of vote - Marcelo REBELO DE SOUSA (PSD) 52%, António SAMPAIO DA NOVOA (independent) 22.9%, Marisa MATIAS (BE) 10.1%, Maria DE BELEM ROSEIRA (PS) 4.2%, other 10.8%



note: there is also a Council of State that acts as a consultative body to the president
Citizenship Criteria: citizenship by birth: no

citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Portugal

dual citizenship recognized: yes

residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years; 6 years if from a Portuguese-speaking country
Legal System: civil law system; Constitutional Court review of legislative acts
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Legislative Branch: description: unicameral Assembly of the Republic or Assembleia da Republica (230 seats; 226 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed-list proportional representation vote and 4 members - 2 each in 2 constituencies representing Portuguese living abroad - directly elected by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 10 March 2024 (next to be held on 30 September 2028); note - early elections were called after Prime Minister Antonio Luis Santos da COSTA resigned on 7 November 2023

election results:

percent of vote by party - AD (PSD, CDS-PP, PPM) 28.8%, PS, 28%, Enough 18.1%, IL 4.9%, BE 4.4%, L 3.2%, CDU 3.2%, other 9.4%; seats by party - AD (PSD, CDS-PP, PPM) 80, PS 78, Enough 50, IL 8, BE 5, L 4, CDU 4, other 1; composition as of March 2024 - men 155, women 75, percentage women 32.6%
Judicial Branch: highest court(s): Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de Justica (consists of 12 justices); Constitutional Court or Tribunal Constitucional (consists of 13 judges)

judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court justices nominated by the president and appointed by the Assembly of the Republic; judges appointed for life; Constitutional Court judges - 10 elected by the Assembly and 3 elected by the other Constitutional Court judges; judges elected for 6-year non-renewable terms

subordinate courts: Supreme Administrative Court (Supremo Tribunal Administrativo); Audit Court (Tribunal de Contas); appellate, district, and municipal courts
Regions or States: 18 districts (distritos, singular - distrito) and 2 autonomous regions* (regioes autonomas, singular - regiao autonoma); Aveiro, Acores (Azores)*, Beja, Braga, Braganca, Castelo Branco, Coimbra, Evora, Faro, Guarda, Leiria, Lisboa (Lisbon), Madeira*, Portalegre, Porto, Santarem, Setubal, Viana do Castelo, Vila Real, Viseu
Political Parties and Leaders: Democratic Alliance or AD (2024 electoral alliance in the Azores, includes PSD, CDS-PP, PPM)

Democratic and Social Center/People's Party (Partido do Centro Democratico Social-Partido Popular) or CDS-PP [Nuno MELO]

Ecologist Party "The Greens" or "Os Verdes" (Partido Ecologista-Os Verdes) or PEV [Heloisa APOLONIA]

Enough (Chega) [Andre VENTURA]

Liberal Initiative (Iniciativa Liberal) or IL [Rui ROCHA]

LIVRE or L [Ru TAVARES & Teresea MOTA]

People-Animals-Nature Party (Pessoas-Animais-Natureza) or PAN [Ines SOUSA REAL]

People's Monarchist Party or PPM [Gonçalo DA CAMARA PEREIRA]

Portuguese Communist Party (Partido Comunista Portugues) or PCP [Paulo RAIMUNDO]

Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata) or PSD [Luis MONTENEGRO] (formerly the Partido Popular Democratico or PPD)

Socialist Party (Partido Socialista) or PS [Pedro Nunes SANTOS]

The Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) or BE or O Bloco [Mariana MORTAGUA]

Unitary Democratic Coalition (Coligacao Democratica Unitaria) or CDU [Paulo RAIMUNDO] (includes PCP and PEV) (2024)
International Law Organization Participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
International Organization Participation: ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BIS, CD, CE, CERN, CPLP, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club (associate), PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNOOSA, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic Representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Francisco Antonio DUARTE LOPES (since 7 June 2022)

chancery: 2012 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036

telephone: [1] (202) 350-5400

FAX: [1] (202) 462-3726

email address and website:

info.washington@mne.pt

https://washingtondc.embaixadaportugal.mne.gov.pt/en/

consulate(s) general: Boston, Newark (NJ), New York, San Francisco

consulate(s): New Bedford (MA), Providence (RI)
Diplomatic Representation from US: chief of mission: Ambassador Randi Charno LEVINE (since 22 April 2022)

embassy: Avenida das Forcas Armadas, 1600-081 Lisboa

mailing address: 5320 Lisbon Place, Washington DC 20521-5320

telephone: [351] (21) 727-3300

FAX: [351] (21) 726-9109

email address and website:

conslisbon@state.gov

https://pt.usembassy.gov/

consulate(s): Ponta Delgada (Azores)
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