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Portugal, Algarve

On 24 June 1128, the Battle of So Mamede occurred near Guimares. At the Battle of So Mamede, Afonso Henriques, Count of Portugal, defeated his mother, Countess Teresa, and her lover, Ferno Peres de Trava, in battle thereby establishing himself as sole leader. Afonso Henriques officially declared Portugal's independence when he proclaimed himself king of Portugal on 25 July 1139, after the Battle of Ourique, he was recognized as such in 1143 by Afonso VII, king of Len and Castile, and in 1179 by Pope Alexander III.Afonso Henriques and his successors, aided by military monastic orders, pushed southward to drive out the Moors, as the size of Portugal covered about half of its present area. In 1249, this Reconquista ended with the capture of the Algarve on the southern coast, giving Portugal its present day borders, with minor exceptions. . In 1373, Portugal made an alliance with England, which is the longest-standing alliance in the world.

According to this system, Portugal is divided into 7 regions ( Aores , Alentejo , Algarve , Centro , Lisboa , Madeira , and Norte ), which are subdivided into 30 subregions.

The northern landscape is mountainous in the interior areas, with plateaus indented by river valleys. The south, between the Tagus and the Algarve (the Alentejo), features mostly rolling plains and a climate somewhat warmer and drier than in the cooler and rainier north. The Algarve, separated from the Alentejo by mountains, has a climate much like southern coastal Spain. is a sea zone over which the country has special rights of exploration and use of marine resources.

Tourism is also important, especially in mainland Portugal's southernmost region of the Algarve and in the Atlantic Madeira archipelago.

There are seven Greater Metropolitan Areas (GAM): Algarve, Aveiro, Coimbra, Lisbon, Minho, Porto and Viseu.

Source: Wikipedia > Portugal