Portugal is one of the oldest nation states in Europe: its foundation in 1139 predates that of its neighbour, Spain, by nearly 350 years. The Romans who arrived in 216 BC, called the whole Peninsula Hispania, but the region between the Douro and Tagus rivers was called Lusitania after the Celtiberian tribe who lived there. When the Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century, Hispania was overrun first by Germanic tribes, then by Moors from North Africa in 711. Military reconquest by the Christian kingdoms of the north began in earnest in the 11th century and it was during this long process that Portucale, a small country of the kingdom of León and Castille, was declared independent by its first king, Afonso Henriques.
The new kingdom expanded southwards to the Algarve and Portuguese sailors began to explore the African coast and the Atlantic. Portugal's golden age reached its zenith in the reign of Manuel I with Vasco da Gama’s voyage to India in 1498 and the discovery of Brazil in 1500. Eastern trade brought incredible wealth, but military defeat in Morocco meant that the prosperity was short-lived. Spain invaded in 1580 and Spanish kings ruled for the next 60 years.
After Portugal regained independence, her fortunes were restored by the discovery of gold in Brazil. In the second half of the 18th century, the chief minister, the Marquês de Pombal, began to modernize the country and to limit the reactionary influence of the church. However, Napolean’s invasion in 1807 and the loss of Brazil in 1825 left Portugal impoverished and divided. Power struggles between Absolutists and Constitutionalists further weakened the country, and despite a period of stability from the 1850s, the debt crisis worsened. In 1910, a republican revolution overthrew the monarchy.
The economy deteriorated until a military coup in 1926 led to a long period of dictatorship. António Salazar, who held power from 1928 to 1968, rid the country of its debts but poverty was widespread and all opposition banned. The Carnation Revolution ended the dictatorship in 1974 and full democracy was restored in 1976.