Portugal shares the Iberian Peninsula with Spain, although it is only about one-sixth as large as its neighbour. Including the Azores and Madeira, the country has a total area of 92,389 square kilometres. Portugal lies on the westernmost promontory of continental Europe. Portugal is bounded on the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and on the north and east by Spain.
Portugal is not a homogeneous country geographically. The physical environment varies enormously, creating several distinct geographic regions. Northern Portugal is a mountainous, rainy region, characterized by many small farms and vineyards. The central coastal region consists of dunes and pine forests, and many residents of the area earn their livelihood from fishing. The central eastern areas, known as the Beira, consist of mainly small and medium-sized farms, with some mining and light industry. The greater Lisbon area, including both the city and its suburbs, accounts for most of the nation's commerce and much of its industry.
Southern Portugal, known as the Alentejo is an area of gently rolling hills and plains dominated by extensive estates with large-scale agriculture and grazing. It was traditionally also a land of often embittered tenant farmers and peasants.
The extreme south of Portugal is known as the Algarve. It is a dry region of smallholdings, grazing, and fishing, and coastal towns. With its warm climate and Mediterranean sky, the Algarve has also become a centre for tourism and a home to many foreign retirees.
The mountainous regions of the north are considerably colder than the south. Winter snows in the Serra da Estrêla (which contains Portugal's highest peak at 1,986 meters) and the Serra do Gerês near the northern Spanish border. The weather along the northern coasts and in the centre of the country is milder; Lisbon has an average high temperature of 14°C in January and 27°C in August. Southern Portugal is warmer. The interior of the Alentejo can be quite warm, with temperatures sometimes above 40°C during the summer. Because of its Mediterranean climate, most of Portugal's rainfall occurs in the winter, the north receiving much more rain than the south.
In the South of the river Tagus, the land is more uniform, marshy and of scarce relief. The predominant vegetation, in this region, is limited to plants and shrubs (charnecas) or mediterranean trees (cork-trees, scarlet-oaks, fig-trees and olive-trees). In the northern mountains, pine, oak, poplar, and elm trees are prevalent. Vegetation is more varied in the central region and includes citrus trees and cork oak.
In addition to continental Portugal, the country's territory also includes the Azores and Madeira islands. The Azores consists of nine inhabited islands and several uninhabited rock outcroppings 1,280 kilometres west of the mainland in the Atlantic Ocean. The archipelago has an area of 2,278 square kilometres and a population of about 250,000. The Azores produce sufficient foodstuffs for internal consumption and some exports, but they remain even poorer than the mainland. The Madeira archipelago, located about 560 kilometres miles west of Northern Africa, consists of two inhabited and several uninhabited islands. With a total area of 788 square kilometres and a population of about 270,000 people, the archipelago is severely overpopulated.