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The history of Portugal dates back to the Early Middle Ages. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it ascended to the status of a world power during Europe's "Age of Discovery" as it built up a vast empire, including possessions in South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Over the following two centuries, Portugal kept most of its colonies, but gradually lost much of its wealth and status as the Dutch, English, and French took an increasing share of the spice and slave trades by surrounding or conquering the widely-scattered Portuguese trading posts and territories. Signs of military decline began with two disastrous battles: the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in Morocco in 1578 and Spain's abortive attempt to conquer England in 1588 by means of the Spanish Armada – Portugal was then in a dynastic union with Spain and contributed ships to the Spanish invasion fleet. The country was further weakened by the destruction of much of its capital city in an earthquake in 1755, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars and the loss of its largest colony, Brazil, in 1822. From the middle of the 19th century to the late 1950s, nearly two million Portuguese left Portugal to live in Brazil and the United States. In 1910, there was a revolution that deposed the monarchy. Amid corruption, repression of the church, and the near bankruptcy of the state, a military coup in 1926 installed a dictatorship that remained until another coup in 1974. The new government instituted sweeping democratic reforms and granted independence to all of Portugal's African colonies in 1975. Portugal is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). It entered the European Community (now the European Union) in 1986. == Etymology == The word Portugal derives from the Roman-Celtic place name ''Portus Cale''. Cale was the name of an early settlement located at the mouth of the Douro River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the north of what is now Portugal. 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 Dark Ages, the region around ''Portus Cale'' became known by the Suebi and Visigoths as ''Portucale''. 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, the Minho flowing along what would become the northern Portugal-Spain border. By the 11th and 12th century, ''Portugale'' was already referred to as Portugal. The etymology of the name ''Cale'' is somewhat mysterious, as is the identity of the town's founders. The most plausible origin points to Cale is a Celtic name, like many others found in the region. The word ''cale'' or ''cala'' meant "port," an "inlet" or "harbour," and implied the existence of an older Celtic harbour. This sounds like a plausible origin as for instance the Gaelic word for harbour is indeed "Cala".〔http://www.faclair.com/?txtSearch=Cala〕 Others argue it is the stem of Gallaecia. Another theory claims it derives from the word ''Caladunum''. In any case, the particle ''Portu'' in the word ''Portucale'' was used as the basis of ''Porto'', the modern name for the city located on the site of the ancient city of Cale at the mouth of the Douro River. And ''port'' became the name in English of the wine from the Douro Valley region around Porto. The name ''Cale'' is today reflected in ''Gaia'' (Vila Nova de Gaia), a city on the left bank of the river. == Early history == 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Portugal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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