Coastline:

1,793 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Climate:

maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in
south

Terrain:

mountainous north of the Tagus River, rolling plains in south

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Ponta do Pico (Pico or Pico Alto) on Ilha do Pico in
the Azores 2,351 m

Natural resources:

fish, forests (cork), iron ore, copper, zinc, tin, tungsten, silver,
gold, uranium, marble, clay, gypsum, salt, arable land, hydropower

Land use:

arable land: 17.29%
permanent crops: 7.84%
other: 74.87% (2005)

Irrigated land:

6,500 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

73.6 cu km (2005)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 11.09 cu km/yr (10%/12%/78%)
per capita: 1,056 cu m/yr (1998)

Natural hazards:

Azores subject to severe earthquakes

Environment - current issues:

soil erosion; air pollution caused by industrial and vehicle
emissions; water pollution, especially in coastal areas

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical
Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Environmental
Modification

Geography - note:

Azores and Madeira Islands occupy strategic locations along western
sea approaches to Strait of Gibraltar

People
Portugal

Population:

10,676,910 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 16.4% (male 912,995/female 835,715)
15-64 years: 66.2% (male 3,514,905/female 3,555,097)
65 years and over: 17.4% (male 764,443/female 1,093,755) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 39.1 years
male: 37 years
female: 41.3 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.305% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

10.45 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

10.62 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

3.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
unde