Algeria | |
|---|---|
| Land Area | 2381741km² |
| Land Area + Seaarea | |
| Population | 40263711 |
| Population density | 16.9 / km² |
Algeria ( (listen) al-JEER-ee-ə, Arabic: الجزائر al-Jazā'ir), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. The capital and most populous city is Algiers, located in the far north of the country on the Mediterranean shore. With an area of 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), Algeria is the tenth-largest country on earth, and the largest by area from the African Union and the Arab world. With an estimated population of over 44 million, it is the eighth-most populous country in Africa. Algeria is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia, to the east by Libya, to the southeast by Niger, to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and the Western Saharan territory, to the west by Morocco, and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. The country has a semi-arid geography, with the majority of the populace living in the fertile north and the Sahara dominating the geography of the south. This arid geography makes the country very vulnerable to climate change.Pre-1962 Algeria has known many empires and dynasties, including early Numidians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines, Umayyads, Abbasids, Idrisid, Aghlabid, Rustamid, Fatimids, Zirid, Hammadids, Almoravids, Almohads, Zayyanids, Spaniards, Ottomans and finally, the French colonial empire. The majority of the populace is Arab-Berber, practicing Islam and using the official languages of Arabic and Berber. However, French functions as an administrative and education language in certain contexts, and Algerian Arabic is the primary spoken language. Algeria has a semi-presidential republic, with local constituencies comprising 58 provinces and 1,541 communes. Algeria is a regional and middle power. It has the highest human development index of all non-island African countries and one of the biggest economies on the continent, based mostly on energy exports. Algeria has the 16th largest oil reserves in the world and the second biggest in Africa, while it has the ninth largest reserves of natural gas. Sonatrach, the national oil company, is the largest company in Africa, supplying large amounts of natural gas to Europe. Algeria has one of the largest militaries in Africa and the largest defence budget. It is a member of the African Union, the Arab League, OPEC, the United Nations, and the Arab Maghreb Union, of which it is a founding member.
Source: WikipediaPortugal | |
|---|---|
| Land Area | 91470km² |
| Land Area + Seaarea | |
| Population | 10562178 |
| Population density | 115.5 / km² |
Portugal (Portuguese: [puɾtuˈɣal]), formally the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa [ʁɛˈpuβlikɐ puɾtuˈɣezɐ]), is a country located mostly on the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost autonomous state of mainland Europe, being bordered to the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and to the north and east by Spain. Its territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The national and official language is Portuguese. Portugal is the oldest nation state on the Iberian Peninsula and one of the oldest in Europe, its territory having been continuously settled, invaded and fought over since ancient times. Inhabited by pre-Celtic and Celtic peoples, visited by Phoenicians-Carthaginians, Ancient Greeks and ruled by the Romans, who were followed by the invasions of the Suebi and Visigothic Germanic peoples. After the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, most of its territory was part of Al-Andalus. Portugal as a nation was established during the early Christian Reconquista. Launched in 868, the County of Portugal gained prominence after the Battle of São Mamede (1128). The Kingdom of Portugal was later proclaimed after the Battle of Ourique (1139), and independence from León was recognized by the Treaty of Zamora (1143).In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global maritime and business empire, becoming one of the world's leading economic, military and political powers. In this period, today called the Age of Discovery, Portuguese explorers initiated marine exploration, especially under imperial patronage of Prince Henry the Navigator and King John II, with such notable voyages as Bartolomeu Dias' sailing beyond the Cape of Good Hope (1488), Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India (1497--98) and the European discovery of what could eventually become Brazil (1500). In this period Portugal monopolized the spice trade, divided the world into hemispheres of dominion with Castile, and the empire expanded with military campaigns in Asia. However, events like the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the country's occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence of Brazil (1822) erased to a wonderful extent Portugal's prior opulence.After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but shaky Portuguese First Republic was established, later being superseded by the Estado Novo authoritarian regime. Democracy was restored after the Carnation Revolution (1974), finishing the Portuguese Colonial War. Soon after, independence was granted to nearly all its overseas territories. The handover of Macau to China (1999) indicated the end of what can be considered one of the longest-lived colonial empires. Portugal has left a deep cultural, architectural and linguistic influence across the globe, with a heritage of around 250 million Portuguese speakers, and lots of Portuguese-based creoles. It is a developed nation with an advanced economy and high living standards. Additionally, it is highly placed in positions of moral freedom (2nd), peacefulness (3rd), democracy (7th), media freedom (10th), stability (15th), social advancement (18th), and prosperity (26th). A member of the United Nations, the European Union, the Schengen Area and the Council of Europe (CoE), Portugal was also one of the founding members of NATO, the eurozone, the OECD, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.
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