Portugal
Following its heyday as a global maritime power during the 15th
and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status
with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation
during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence of its wealthiest
colony of Brazil in 1822. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy;
for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the
country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic
reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all
of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and
entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986. In January 2011, Portugal assumed
a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2011-12 term.
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