Portugal - ricerca in inglese di Ruggero Oddo 2A

                                                           Portugal

Portugal has a much lower surface to Italy, about one-third . Has the form of a
rectangle elongated in north-south direction with the two sides on the border with Spain and the other two open Atlantic Ocean.

The territory is the terminal part of the Spanish Meseta . The Tagus River divides it into two parts with different characteristics .
- The northern region is mostly mountainous , because of the Meseta plateau reaches the Atlantic. The main chain is the Serra de Estrela, the highest peak of the whole country (1991 m).
- The southern region is more regular : low-lying areas are interspersed with gently rolling hills . On the southern end lie the low hills of the Algarve.

 The rivers of Portugal are the same people who run in the Spanish Meseta and have run their course here terminale.A north flows the Douro (in Spanish , Duero ), which cuts through the mountainous area , the center runs the Tejo (in Spanish, Tagus ) which describes a curve and ends with a big estuary . Instead, the Guadiana River is a border and flows from north to south .

 The weather is rainy in the north , where the humid winds invest the slopes of the mountains. The rest of the country instead has a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild winters. The natural environment is represented by extensive forests , which cover 35.7% of the territory. The slopes of the mountains are covered with pine and chestnut trees. Along the Atlantic coast there are pines , oaks and shrubs of the Mediterranean.

POPULATION

Portugal has about 10 million people, far fewer than in Italy. The official language is Portuguese , which is spoken throughout the territory . It , contrary to what some think , it is
very different from Spanish .
Portugal is divided into five regions : north and center form the northern part , is at the center of Lisbon , Alentejo eAlgarve form the south. The population is numerous in the north and in the Lisbon area , the southern part is almost deserted , with the exception of the Algarve. The weak economic growth in Portugal has prompted many people to emigrate more than one million Portuguese working in other countries, especially in Spain and France.
Portuguese territory are also the Azores , an archipelago in the Atlantic between Europe and America , and the island of Madeira, both autonomous regions.
In Portugal, the urban population constitutes 54.6% of the total, a low percentage . the large
are two cities : the capital Lisbon and Porto, both the Atlantic. For the rest, there are few cities of about 100 000 inhabitants and many towns and villages, especially along the coast.

ECONOMY

 Portugal is among the last on the list in the European Union for the wealth produced . Its economy is growing a bit ' in all areas , but rather slow pace .
 Agriculture shows the characters of backwardness with a high percentage of employees (12 %). it is
 still far from a true modernization , as evidenced by the presence of small plots of land to the north and to the south of the estate , in the Alentejo .
 The main crop is the grapevine , which provides products of international fame, such as Porto and Madeira.
 Discreet production of cereals, vegetables, fruit crops and olive trees , good to cork , which places
 Portugal ranks high in the world. Also important is the farming practiced in the north of the country. Fishing provides copious amounts of tuna and sardines for canning .
 The main mineral resources are tungsten and pyrites ( iron ore) , and it is good production
 hydropower . There are steel industries , metallurgical, chemical and mechanical properties, with a total employment of 34% , but even this sector remains rather statico.Attiva is instead the textile industry , which boasts ancient traditions.
 The tertiary sector , with 54 % of the workforce , Portugal relegates the last place in the ranking of EU countries by percentage of employees.
 However, in recent years , the tourism sector has assumed considerable importance in the economy of the country , especially in the presence of seaside resorts in the Algarve and in the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira.