The name Portucale evolved into Portugale during the 7th and 8th centuries, and by the 9th century, that term was used extensively to refer to the region between the rivers Douro and Minho. By the 11th and 12th centuries, Portugale, Portugallia, Portvgallo or Portvgalliae was already referred to as Portugal.
In Latin, the Portuguese language is known as lusitana or (latina) lusitanica, after the Lusitanians, a Celtic tribe that lived in the territory of present-day Portugal and Spain that adopted the Latin language as Roman settlers moved in. This is also the origin of the luso- prefix, seen in terms like "Lusophone".
Hispania, in Roman times, region comprising the Iberian Peninsula, now occupied by Portugal and Spain. The origins of the name are disputed.
Spain and Portugal occupy the Iberian Peninsula, which is separated at its southern tip from North Africa by only a narrow strait situated at the juncture of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. This key geographical position played an important part in Iberia's history.
Around 200 BC, the Romans took the Iberian Peninsula from the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War, and in the process conquered Cale and renamed it Portus Cale (Port of Cale). During the Middle Ages, the region around Portus Cale became known by the Suebi and Visigoths as Portucale.
Legacy of the name
As with the Roman names of many European countries, Lusitania was and is often used as an alternative name for Portugal, especially in formal or literary and poetic contexts.
In the 8th century, Muslims sailed from North Africa and took control of what is now Portugal and Spain. Known in Arabic as al-Andalus, the region joined the expanding Umayyad Empire and prospered under Muslim rule.
The name Portucale evolved into Portugale during the 7th and 8th centuries, and by the 9th century, that term was used extensively to refer to the region between the rivers Douro and Minho. By the 11th and 12th centuries, Portugale, Portugallia, Portvgallo or Portvgalliae was already referred to as Portugal.
On June 7, 1494, the governments of Spain and Portugal agreed to the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided their spheres of influence in the "New World" of the Americas.
Following Christopher Columbus' first voyage, the rulers of Portugal and Spain, by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), partitioned the non-Christian world between them by an imaginary line in the Atlantic, 370 leagues (about 1,300 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands.
From 1139 until 1260, when it was replaced by Lisbon, the city of Coimbra was the capital of Portugal.
Ponte de Lima, at Northern Portugal, is the country's oldest town.
Portugal is the oldest country in Europe
Lisbon is said to be four centuries older than Rome. Due to its excellent trading location, the Phoenicians settled in Lisbon around 1200 BC.
The threat of losing their limited control over local affairs ignited widespread opposition among Brazilians. José Bonifácio de Andrada, along with other Brazilian leaders, convinced Pedro to declare Brazil's independence from Portugal on September 7, 1822.
Brazil's first colonizers were met by Tupinamba Indians, one group in the vast array of the continent's native population.
Brazil was briefly named "Land of the Holy Cross" by Portuguese explorers and crusaders before being named "Land of Brazil" by the Brazilian-Portuguese settlers and merchants dealing with Brazilwood.
The Portuguese are a Southwestern European population, with origins predominantly from Southern and Western Europe. The earliest modern humans inhabiting Portugal are believed to have been Paleolithic peoples that may have arrived in the Iberian Peninsula as early as 35,000 to 40,000 years ago.
When King Philip II of Spain (Philip I of Portugal) seized the Portuguese crown in 1580 there began a 60-year union between Spain and Portugal known to subsequent historiography as the Iberian Union.
In the 1st millennium bce the Celtic Lusitani entered the Iberian Peninsula and settled the land, and many traces of their influence remain.
The official name of Portugal is the Portuguese Republic. Portugal is the oldest country in Europe. It has had the same defined borders since 1139. It's no surprise that Portuguese is the official language of 9 countries with over 236 million people speaking it around the world.
The borders of Portugal were defined in 1139 CE, meaning it is officially the oldest nation in Europe. Before the country was acknowledged as Portugal, the area had passed through the hands of many empires and civilizations. Its capital city Lisbon is known to be much older than Rome.
France: 486 AD. San Marino: 301 AD. Portugal: 900 Years Old. Greece: 4500 BC.
Yes. The Iberian peninsula was conquered by the Arabs ”moors” for almost 200 years. There's a lot of words in both Spanish and Portuguese that have Arabic roots. Regarding Ancestry 200 years of Arab control and culture left a footmark.
Prior to Moorish rule, the Iberian Peninsula was ruled by the Visigoths. The Moors, under Tariq ibn Ziyad, the Muslim ruler of Tangier, invaded Portugal and Spain in the year 711 AD. Troops “mostly formed by Moors from northern Africa led the Umayyad conquest” of the Iberian Peninsula.
From the 8th to the 13th century, much of what is now Portugal and Spain was under Muslim control. Known as al-Andalus, the region became a hub for cultural exchange, where science, architecture and art thrived.