Portugal

Portugal was a human nation that existed in the region of Southwestern Europe on Earth in the Sol System. It was bordered by Spain.

Portugal was one of the oldest nation-states in Europe by the late 20th century, its territory having been continuously settled, invaded and fought over since prehistoric times. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global maritime and commercial empire, becoming one of the world's major economic, political and military powers. During this period, today referred to as the Age of Discovery, Portuguese explorers pioneered maritime exploration with the discovery of what would become Brazil. However, events such as the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the country's occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence of Brazil erased to a great extent Portugal's prior opulence.

Constitutional reforms allowed the Portuguese monarchy to survive until the late 20th century. In 1910 Portugal made its first manned suborbital spaceflight. This was followed by a successful manned orbital spaceflight in 1912.

Portugal remained neutral during the Great War between 1914 and 1916 and was not attacked by either side. However, the post-Great War global economic depression greatly suppressed Portuguese economic growth for several decades after 1916. In addition, Portugal quickly became overwhelmed by millions of refugees from war-devastated parts of Europe, further straining the government's limited finances. After the war, pro-independence movements in the colonial empires of Great Britain and France also spread to the empires of other European nations including Portugal. By the end of the 1920s, Portugal had granted independence to most of its remaining colonies in Africa, which formed several independent African nations including Angola and Mozambique.

Portugal became a founding member of the League of Nations in 1919.

Along with Spain, Portugal joined the European Union in 1964.

In 1968 the European Union was merged with the Commonwealth of Nations to form the United Commonwealth.

The government of the United Commonwealth federalised in 1988. The Portuguese government was therefore effectively absorbed into the United Commonwealth Government in 1988, and Portugal is largely regarded to have ceased to exist as a separate nation-state on that date.