Portugal emerged as a country in 1143, after a 15 year rebellion by Dom Afonso Henriques (Afonso I). Afonso Henriques defeated his mother Countess Teresa of Portugal, regent of the County (Condado) of Portugal and loyal to the Kingdom of Leon, at the battle of Sao Mamede (Batalha de Sao Mamede) near the town of Guimaraes, in June of 1128. Countess Teresa was imprisoned and exiled by her son, and died in 1130. Guimaraes is therefore known as the birthplace city of Portugal.

However, the true test of an independent nation did not happened until 1385. Joao Mestre de Avis (John of Avis), with the help of legendary supreme constable Nuno Alvares Pereira, defeated the Castilians at the epic Aljubarrota battle, where the Castilians outnumbered the Portuguese 6:1. John I (Dom Joao I) was crowned King of Portugal. John I along with his sons, Duarte (to became the king in succession), Henry The Navigator, and Afonso started the "Golden Decades" of worldwide discoveries (15th and 16th centuries).

A 1911 revolution deposed the monarchy with the assassination of King Manuel I and his son. For most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. Antonio Salazar a right wing fascist ran the country with an iron fist and a austere economic plan which slowly buried Portugal deeper and deeper in its third world status within Europe. Salazar also held on to the colonies of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea, which contributed not just to the deplorable state of those countries, but also to a colonial war which killed hundreds of thousands of Portuguese men.

In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms, which had the opposite effect. Too much freedom, too quickly, placed the country in total "democratic chaos". Union bosses, corrupt politicians, and left-wing and right-wing extremists took turns plundering the country, with disastrous economic and labor plans. Starting in 1976, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies, and a wave of refugees were poorly assimilated into a society that does not value ethnicity to this day.

Successive governments led by communists, socialists and social-democrats continued their mismanagement of Portugal. At last, the social-democratic government of Prime-minister Cavaco da Silva brought prosperity and double digit economic growth in the late 80's and early 90's. It helped that Portugal joined the EC in 1986. Joining the EC gave the country a boost, with a flurry of grants and investments that contributed to new roads and an overall upgrade of a dilapidated infrastructure.

The mismanagement of the Socialist government of Prime-minister Antonio Guterres, the Social-democratic government of Prime-minister Jose Manuel Barroso (promptly promoted to President of the European Commission), and his successor, Santana Lopes was disastrous. The country embarked on a 0% growth rate with a growing economic deficit. Added to this, was the cessation of funds from the EC without a source of replacement.

In 2005, President Sampaio dismissed the government and called new elections. The Socialists were brought to power with a majority of the vote, and new Prime-Minister Jose Socrates' impact remains to be seen. Portugal is currently in an economic crisis with the 0% economic growth rate and projections that, if accounting for the fluctuation of interest rates set by the central bank, growth will be negative in 2006.

In 2006, Mario Soares, a popular Prime-Minister and President decades ago, came out of retirement to run for President against his political nemesis Cavaco da Silva. Cavaco da Silva soundly beat Soares becoming the current president of Portugal.