Porto, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, being bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. The republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments.

Portugal is a developed country with a high-income advanced economy and high living standards. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government. It has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. It is a member of numerous international organizations, including the United Nations, the European Union, the eurozone, OECD, NATO and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. Portugal is also known for having decriminalized the usage of all common drugs in 2001, the first country in the world to do so. However, the sale and distribution of these drugs is still illegal in Portugal.

[Postcard came from Finland]

Guarda, Portugal

Guarda is a city and a municipality in Guarda District, Beira Interior Norte sub-region in Centro Region in Portugal. The city of Guarda was founded by King Sancho I in 1199.

Guarda is the highest city in continental Portugal (altitude 1,056 m), located to the northeast of Serra da Estrela (the largest mountain in mainland Portugal). The main attraction in Guarda is its cathedral, known as the Sé da Guarda. Guarda is a diocese of the same name.

Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal

Vila Real de Santo António is a city, civil parish, and municipality in the Algarve, Portugal. It is one of the few municipalities in Portugal without territorial continuity: its territory comprehends two parts, with the municipal seat located in the eastern part. Both the city and the municipality are the southeasternmost of Portugal. Vila Real de Santo António was founded after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, and largely expanded in 1774 using the same architectural and construction techniques employed in the reconstruction of Lisbon after the disaster.

The city is situated next to the Guadiana river. Before the construction of the Guadiana International Bridge (in its neighboring upstream municipality of Castro Marim) it used to be the easiest access to Portugal from Andalusia (via ferry from the Spanish city of Ayamonte across the river). Nevertheless, international movement of people and goods is still intense and much visible in the city.

Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal

Póvoa de Varzim, is a Portuguese city in Northern Portugal and sub-region of Greater Porto.  It sits in a sandy coastal plain, a cuspate foreland, halfway between the Minho and Douro rivers. It is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in Portugal and the third largest in Northern Portugal.

Porto, Portugal

Porto is the second-largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon, and one of the major urban areas in Southern Europe and the capital of the second major great urban area in Portugal.

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is the largest city and capital of Portugal. The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of over 3 million, making it the 11th most populous urban area in the European Union. Lisbon is the westernmost large city located in Europe, as well as its westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. It lies in the western Iberian Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean and the River Tagus.