eastern+area

  15,000-3,000 BCE Paleolithic cultures in western Portugal.

  400-200 BCE Greek and Carthaginian trade settlements on coast.

  202 BCE Roman armies invade ancient Lusitania.

  137 BCE Intensive Romanization of Lusitania begins.

  410 CE Germanic tribes — Suevi and Visigoths—begin conquest of Roman Lusitania and Galicia.

  714—16 Muslims begin conquest of Visigothic Lusitania.

  1034 Christian Reconquest frontier reaches Mondego River.

  1064 Christians conquer Coimbra.

  1139 Burgundian Count Afonso Henriques proclaims himself king of Portugal; birth of Portugal. Battle of Ourique: Afonso Henriques defeats Muslims.

  1147 With English Crusaders' help, Portuguese seize Lisbon from Muslims.

  1179 Papacy formally recognizes Portugal's independence (Pope Alexander III).

  1226 Campaign to reclaim Alentejo from Muslims begins.

  1249 Last Muslim city (Silves) falls to Portuguese Army.

  1381 Beginning of third war between Castile and Portugal.

  1383 Master of Aviz, João, proclaimed regent by Lisbon populace.

  1385 April: Master of Aviz, João I, proclaimed king of Portugal by Cortes of Coimbra. 14 August: Battle of Aljubarrota, Castilians defeated by royal forces, with assistance of English army.

  1394 Birth of "Prince Henry the Navigator," son of King João I.

  1415 Beginning of overseas expansion as Portugal captures Moroccan city of Ceuta.

  1419 Discovery of Madeira Islands.

  1425-28 Prince D. Pedro, older brother of Prince Henry, travels in Europe.

  1427 Discovery (or rediscovery?) of Azores Islands.

  1434 Prince Henry the Navigator's ships pass beyond Cape Bojador, West Africa.

  1437 Disaster at Tangier, Morocco, as Portuguese fail to capture city.

  1441 First African slaves from western Africa reach Portugal.

  1460 Death of Prince Henry. Portuguese reach what is now Senegal, West Africa.

  1470s Portuguese explore West African coast and reach what is now Ghana and Nigeria and begin colonizing islands of São Tomé and Príncipe.

  1479 Treaty of Alcáçovas between kings of Portugal and Spain.

  1482 Portuguese establish post at São Jorge da Mina, Gold Coast (now Ghana).

  1482-83 Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão reaches mouth of Congo River and Angola.

  1488 Navigator Bartolomeu Dias rounds Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, and finds route to Indian Ocean.

  1492-93 Columbus's first voyage to West Indies.

  1493 Columbus visits Azores and Portugal on return from first voyage; tells of discovery of New World. Treaty of Tordesillas signed between kings of Portugal and Spain: delimits spheres of conquest with line 370 leagues west of Cape Verde Islands (claimed by Portugal); Portugal's sphere to east of line includes, in effect, Brazil.

   King Manuel I and Royal Council decide to continue seeking all-water route around Africa to Asia.

   King Manuel I expels unconverted Jews from Portugal.

  1497-99 Epic voyage of Vasco da Gama from Portugal around Africa to west India, successful completion of sea route to Asia project; da Gama returns to Portugal with samples of Asian spices.

  1500 Bound for India, Navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral "discovers" coast of Brazil and claims it for Portugal.

  1506 Anti-Jewish riots in Lisbon.

   Battle of Diu, India; Portugal's command of Indian Ocean assured for some time with Francisco de Almeida's naval victory over Egyptian and Gujerati fleets.

   Afonso de Albuquerque conquers Goa, India; beginning of Portuguese hegemony in south Asia.

   Portuguese conquest of Malacca; commerce in Spice Islands.

  1519 Magellan begins circumnavigation voyage.

  1536 Inquisition begins in Portugal.

  1543 Portuguese merchants reach Japan.

  1557 Portuguese merchants granted Chinese territory of Macau for trading factory.

  1572 Luís de Camões publishes epic poem, Os Lusíadas.

  1578 Battle of Alcácer-Quivir; Moroccan forces defeat army of King Sebastião of Portugal; King Sebastião dies in battle. Portuguese succession crisis.

  1580 King Phillip II of Spain claims and conquers Portugal; Spanish rule of Portugal, 1580-1640.

  1607-24 Dutch conquer sections of Asia and Brazil formerly held by Portugal.

  1640 1 December: Portuguese revolution in Lisbon overthrows Spanish rule, restores independence. Beginning of Portugal's Braganza royal dynasty.

  1654 Following Dutch invasions and conquest of parts of Brazil and Angola, Dutch expelled by force.

  1661 Anglo-Portuguese Alliance treaty signed: England pledges to defend Portugal "as if it were England itself." Queen Catherine of Bra-ganza marries England's Charles II.

  1668 February: In Portuguese-Spanish peace treaty, Spain recognizes independence of Portugal, thus ending 28-year War of Restoration.

  1703 Methuen Treaties signed, key commercial trade agreement and defense treaty between England and Portugal.

  1750 Pombal becomes chief minister of King José I.

  1755 1 November: Massive Lisbon earthquake, tidal wave, and fire.

  1759 Expulsion of Jesuits from Portugal and colonies.

  1761 Slavery abolished in continental Portugal.

  1769 Abandonment of Mazagão, Morocco, last Portuguese outpost.

  1777 Pombal dismissed as chief minister by Queen Maria I, after death of José I.

  1791 Portugal and United States establish full diplomatic relations.

  1807 November: First Napoleonic invasion; French forces under Junot conquer Portugal. Royal family flees to colony of Brazil and remains there until 1821.

  1809 Second French invasion of Portugal under General Soult.

  1811 Third French invasion of Portugal under General Masséna.

  1813 Following British general Wellington's military victories, French forces evacuate Portugal.

  1817 Liberal, constitutional movements against absolutist monarchist rule break out in Brazil (Pernambuco) and Portugal (Lisbon, under General Gomes Freire); crushed by government. British marshal of Portugal's army, Beresford, rules Portugal.

   Liberal insurrection in army officer corps breaks out in Cadiz, Spain, and influences similar movement in Portugal's armed forces first in Oporto.

   King João VI returns from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and early draft of constitution; era of constitutional monarchy begins.

  1822 7 September: João VI's son Pedro proclaims independence of

   Brazil from Portugal and is named emperor. 23 September: Constitution of 1822 ratified.

   Portugal recognizes sovereign independence of Brazil.

   King João VI dies; power struggle for throne ensues between his sons, brothers Pedro and Miguel; Pedro, emperor of Brazil, abdicates Portuguese throne in favor of his daughter, D. Maria II, too young to assume crown. By agreement, Miguel, uncle of D. Maria, is to accept constitution and rule in her stead.

  1828 Miguel takes throne and abolishes constitution. Sections of Portugal rebel against Miguelite rule.

  1831 Emperor Pedro abdicates throne of Brazil and returns to Portugal to expel King Miguel from Portuguese throne.

  1832-34 Civil war between absolutist King Miguel and constitutionalist Pedro, who abandons throne of Brazil to restore his young daughter Maria to throne of Portugal; Miguel's armed forces defeated by those of Pedro. Miguel leaves for exile and constitution (1826 Charter) is restored.

  1834-53 Constitutional monarchy consolidated under rule of Queen Maria II, who dies in 1853.

  1851-71 Regeneration period of economic development and political stability; public works projects sponsored by Minister Fontes Pereira de Melo.

  1871-90 Rotativism period of alternating party governments; achieves political stability and less military intervention in politics and government. Expansion of colonial territory in tropical Africa.

   January: Following territorial dispute in central Africa, Britain delivers "Ultimatum" to Portugal demanding withdrawal of Portugal's forces from what is now Malawi and Zimbabwe. Portugal's government, humiliated in accepting demand under threat of a diplomatic break, falls. Beginning of governmental and political instability; monarchist decline and republicanism's rise.

   Anglo-Portuguese treaties signed relating to delimitation of frontiers in colonial Africa.

  1899 Treaty of Windsor; renewal of Anglo-Portuguese defense and friendship alliance.

  1903 Triumphal visit of King Edward VII to Portugal.

  1906 Politician João Franco supported by King Carlos I in dictatorship to restore order and reform.

  1908 1 February: Murder in Lisbon of King Carlos I and his heir apparent, Prince Dom Luís, by Portuguese anarchists. Eighteen-year-old King Manuel II assumes throne.

  1910 3-5 October: Following republican-led military insurrection in armed forces, monarchy falls and first Portuguese republic is proclaimed. Beginning of unstable, economically troubled, parliamentary republic form of government.

   May: Violent insurrection in Lisbon overturns government of General Pimenta de Castro; nearly a thousand casualties from several days of armed combat in capital.

   March: Following Portugal's honoring ally Britain's request to confiscate German shipping in Portuguese harbors, Germany declares war on Portugal; Portugal enters World War I on Allied side.

   Portugal organizes and dispatches Portuguese Expeditionary Corps to fight on the Western Front. 9 April: Portuguese forces mauled by German offensive in Battle of Lys. Food rationing and riots in Lisbon. Portuguese military operations in Mozambique against German expedition's invasion from German East Africa. 5 December: Authoritarian, presidentialist government under Major Sidónio Pais takes power in Lisbon, following a successful military coup.

  1918 11 November: Armistice brings cessation of hostilities on Western Front in World War I. Portuguese expeditionary forces stationed in Angola, Mozambique, and Flanders begin return trip to Portugal. 14 December: President Sidónio Pais assassinated. Chaotic period of ephemeral civil war ensues.

  1919-21 Excessively unstable political period, including January

  1919 abortive effort of Portuguese monarchists to restore Braganza dynasty to power. Republican forces prevail, but level of public violence, economic distress, and deprivation remains high.

  1921 October: Political violence attains peak with murder of former prime minister and other prominent political figures in Lisbon. Sectors of armed forces and Guarda Nacional Republicana are mutinous. Year of financial and corruption scandals, including Portuguese bank note (fraud) case; military court acquits guilty military insurrectionists, and one military judge declares "the country is sick."

   28 May: Republic overthrown by military coup or pronunciamento and conspiracy among officer corps. Parliament's doors locked and parliament closed for nearly nine years to January 1935. End of parliamentary republic, Western Europe's most unstable political system in this century, beginning of the Portuguese dictatorship, after 1930 known as the Estado Novo. Officer corps assumes reins of government, initiates military censorship of the press, and suppresses opposition.

   February: Military dictatorship under General Óscar Carmona crushes failed republican armed insurrection in Oporto and Lisbon.

   April: Military dictatorship names Professor Antônio de Oliveira Salazar minister of finance, with dictatorial powers over budget, to stabilize finances and rebuild economy. Insurrectionism among military elements continues into 1931.

  1930 Dr. Salazar named minister for colonies and announces balanced budgets. Salazar consolidates support by various means, including creation of official regime "movement," the National Union. Salazar engineers Colonial Act to ensure Lisbon's control of bankrupt African colonies by means of new fiscal controls and centralization of authority. July: Military dictatorship names Salazar prime minister for first time, and cabinet composition undergoes civilianization; academic colleagues and protégés plan conservative reform and rejuvenation of society, polity, and economy. Regime comes to be called the Estado Novo (New State). New State's constitution ratified by new parliament, the National Assembly; Portugal described in document as "unitary, corporative Republic" and governance influenced by Salazar's stern personality and doctrines such as integralism, Catholicism, and fiscal conservatism.

  1936 Violent instability and ensuing civil war in neighboring Spain, soon internationalized by fascist and communist intervention, shake Estado Novo regime. Pseudofascist period of regime features creation of imitation Fascist institutions to defend regime from leftist threats; Portugal institutes "Portuguese Youth" and "Portuguese Legion."

  1939 3 September: Prime Minister Salazar declares Portugal's neutrality in World War II. October: Anglo-Portuguese agreement grants naval and air base facilities to Britain and later to United States for Battle of the Atlantic and Normandy invasion support. Third Reich protests breach of Portugal's neutrality.

   6 June: On day of Allies' Normandy invasion, Portugal suspends mining and export of wolfram ore to both sides in war.

   8 May: Popular celebrations of Allied victory and Fascist defeat in Lisbon and Oporto coincide with Victory in Europe Day. Following managed elections for Estado Novo's National Assembly in November, regime police, renamed PIDE, with increased powers, represses opposition.

  1947 Abortive military coup in central Portugal easily crushed by regime. Independence of India and initiation of Indian protests against Portuguese colonial rule in Goa and other enclaves.

  1949 Portugal becomes founding member of NATO.

  1951 Portugal alters constitution and renames overseas colonies "Overseas Provinces." Portugal and United States sign military base agreements for use of air and naval facilities in Azores Islands and military aid to Lisbon. President Carmona dies in office, succeeded by General Craveiro Lopes (1951-58). July: Indians occupy enclave of Portuguese India (dependency of Damão) by means of passive resistance movement. August: Indian passive resistance movement in Portuguese India repelled by Portuguese forces with loss of life. December: With U.S. backing, Portugal admitted as member of United Nations (along with Spain). Air force general Humberto Delgado, in opposition, challenges Estado Novo's hand-picked successor to Craveiro Lopes, Admiral Américo Tomás. Delgado rallies coalition of democratic, liberal, and communist opposition but loses rigged election and later flees to exile in Brazil. Portugal joins European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

   January and February: Estado Novo rocked by armed African insurrection in northern Angola, crushed by armed forces. Hijacking of Portuguese ocean liner by ally of Delgado, Captain Henrique Galvão. April: Salazar defeats attempted military coup and reshuffles cabinet with group of younger figures who seek to reform colonial rule and strengthen the regime's image abroad. 18 December: Indian army rapidly defeats Portugal's defense force in Goa, Damão, and Diu and incorporates Portugal's Indian possessions into Indian Union. January: Abortive military coup in Beja, Portugal.

  1965 February: General Delgado and his Brazilian secretary murdered and secretly buried near Spanish frontier by political police, PIDE.

  1968 August and September: Prime Minister Salazar, aged 79, suffers crippling stoke. President Tomás names former cabinet officer Marcello Caetano as Salazar's successor. Caetano institutes modest reforms in Portugal and overseas.

  1971 Caetano government ratifies amended constitution that allows slight devolution and autonomy to overseas provinces in Africa and Asia. Right-wing loyalists oppose reforms in Portugal. 25 April: Military coup engineered by Armed Forces Movement overthrows Estado Novo and establishes provisional government emphasizing democratization, development, and decolonization. Limited resistance by loyalists. President Tomás and Premier Caetano flown to exile first in Madeira and then in Brazil. General Spínola appointed president. September: Revolution moves to left, as President Spínola, thwarted in his program, resigns.

   March: Military coup by conservative forces fails, and leftist response includes nationalization of major portion of economy. Polarization between forces and parties of left and right. 25 November: Military coup by moderate military elements thwarts leftist forces. Constituent Assembly prepares constitution. Revolution moves from left to center and then right.

   March: Constitution ratified by Assembly of the Republic. 25 April: Second general legislative election gives largest share of seats to Socialist Party (PS). Former oppositionist lawyer, Mário Soares, elected deputy and named prime minister.

  1977-85 Political pendulum of democratic Portugal moves from center-left to center-right, as Social Democratic Party (PSD) increases hold on assembly and take office under Prime Minister Cavaco Silva. July

  1985 elections give edge to PSD who advocate strong free-enterprise measures and revision of leftist-generated 1976 Constitution, amended modestly in 1982.

  1986 January: Portugal joins European Economic Community (EEC).

  1987 July: General, legislative elections for assembly give more than 50 percent to PSD led by Prime Minister Cavaco Silva. For first time, since 1974, Portugal has a working majority government.

  1989 June: Following revisions of 1976 Constitution, reprivatization of economy begins, under PS government.

   January: Presidential elections, Mário Soares reelected for second term. July: General, legislative elections for assembly result in new PSD victory and majority government.

   January-July: Portugal holds presidency of the Council of the European Economic Community (EEC). December: Tariff barriers fall as fully integrated Common Market established in the EEC.

   November: Treaty of Maastricht comes into force. The EEC officially becomes the European Union (EU). Portugal is signatory with 11 other member-nations.

   October: General, legislative elections for assembly result in PS victory and naming of Prime Minister Guterres. PS replace PSD as leading political party. November: Excavations for Lisbon bank uncover ancient Phoenician, Roman, and Christian ruins.

   January: General, presidential elections; socialist Jorge Sampaio defeats PSD's Cavaco Silva and assumes presidency from Dr. Mário Soares. July: Community of Portuguese Languages Countries (CPLP) cofounded by Portugal and Brazil.

   May-September: Expo '98 held in Lisbon. Opening of Vasco da Gama Bridge across Tagus River, Europe's longest (17 kilometers/ 11 miles). June: National referendum on abortion law change defeated after low voter turnout. November: National referendum on regionaliza-tion and devolution of power defeated after another low voter turnout.

   October: General, legislative elections: PS victory over PSD lacks clear majority in parliament. Following East Timor referendum, which votes for independence and withdrawal of Indonesia, outburst of popular outrage in streets, media, and communications of Portugal approves armed intervention and administration of United Nations (and withdrawal of Indonesia) in East Timor. Portugal and Indonesia restore diplomatic relations. December: A Special Territory since 1975, Colony of Macau transferred to sovereignty of People's Republic of China.

   January-June: Portugal holds presidency of the Council of the EU; end of Discoveries Historical Commemoration Cycle (1988-2000).

   United Nations forces continue to occupy and administer former colony of East Timor, with Portugal's approval.

   January: General, presidential elections; PS president Sampaio reelected for second term. City of Oporto, "European City of Culture" for the year, hosts arts festival. December: Municipal elections: PSD defeats PS; socialist prime minister Guterres resigns; President Sampaio calls March parliamentary elections.

   1 January: Portugal enters single European Currency system. Euro currency adopted and ceases use of former national currency, the escudo. March: Parliamentary elections; PSD defeats PS and José Durão Barroso becomes prime minister. Military modernization law passed. Portugal holds chairmanship of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

   May: Municipal law passed permitting municipalities to reorganize in new ways.

   June: Prime Minister Durão Barroso, invited to succeed Romano Prodi as president of EU Commission, resigns. Pedro Santana Lopes becomes prime minister. European Parliament elections held. Conscription for national service in army and navy ended. Mass grave uncovered at Academy of Sciences Museum, Lisbon, revealing remains of several thousand victims of Lisbon earthquake, 1755.

   February: Parliamentary elections; PS defeats PSD, socialists win first absolute majority in parliament since 1975. José Sócrates becomes prime minister.

   January: Presidential elections; PSD candidate Aníbal Cavaco Silva elected and assumes presidency from Jorge Sampaio. Portugal's national soccer team ranked 7th out of 205 countries by international soccer association. European Union's Bologna Process in educational reform initiated in Portugal.

   July-December: Portugal holds presidency of the Council of the European Union. For reasons of economy, Portugal announces closure of many consulates, especially in France and the eastern US. Government begins official inspections of private institutions of higher education, following scandals.

  2008 January: Prime Minister Sócrates announces location of new Lisbon area airport as Alcochete, on south bank of Tagus River, site of air force shooting range. February: Portuguese Army begins to receive new modern battle tanks (Leopard 2 A6). March: Mass protest of 85,000 public school (primary and secondary levels) teachers in Lisbon schools dispute recent educational policies of minister of education and prime minister.

   Consisting of 10 main islands (Santiago, Maio, Boa Vista, Sal, Fogo, São Vicente, São Nicolau, Brava, Santo Antão, and Santa Luzia), the archipelago was sighted first by a Venetian navigator in Portuguese service, Alvise de Cá da Mosto, in the late 1450s. The islands' area is about 4,030 square kilometers (1,557 square miles). Prince Henry the Navigator gave the task of colonizing the islands to the Genovese António da Noli. Actual settlement began only in 1463, under King Afonso V. Captain-Donataries were granted charters to colonize and, in 1550, the city of Praia was established on the island of Santiago and became a principal center of activity. Slaves from West Africa were brought to work the islands' plantations, and millet and coconut trees were introduced as staple foods. Following attacks on the islands by French pirates, Portugal created the post of governor of Cape Verde in 1592. Until the middle of the 18th century and the reign of King José I, these islands were governed by the private captaincies. Thereafter, they were ruled directly by the king's representatives.

   Due to their geography, topography, and climate, the Cape Verde Islands lack good soil for agriculture or minerals and frequently suffer long, periodic droughts. The result of this, and until recently sparse Portuguese investment, has been that the islands have one of the poorest economies in the world. Emigration to work abroad has often been the only alternative for survival. As a result, large overseas communities of Cape Verdeans reside and work in the United States (especially in the eastern states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts) and in Portugal. In July 1975, Portugal granted independence to the Cape Verde Islands, now a republic.

    See also Empire, Portuguese overseas.

   Colony of Portugal from the 16th century to December 1975, with an area of 40,000 square kilometers (18,989 square miles). East Timor is located on the eastern portion of the island of Timor in the Indonesian archipelago. From 1975 to August 1999, when it was forcibly annexed and occupied by Indonesia, until May 2002, when it achieved full independence, East Timor was, in effect, a ward of the United Nations.

   In the 16th century, the Portuguese established trading posts on the island, but for centuries few Portuguese settled there, and the "colony" remained isolated and neglected. After the Dutch won control of Indonesia, there was a territorial dispute with Portugal as to who "owned" what on the island of Timor. In 1859, this question was decided as the Dutch and Portuguese governments formally divided the island into a Dutch portion (west) and the Portuguese colony (east) and established the frontier. From the late 19th century to World War I, Portugal consolidated its control of East Timor by means of military campaigns against the Timorese tribes. In addition to colonial officials, a few Portuguese missionaries and merchants occupied East Timor, but few Portuguese ever settled there.

   East Timor's geographic location close to the north coast of Australia and its sharing of one island in the Dutch colony catapulted it into world affairs early in World War II. To forestall a Japanese invasion of Timor, a joint Dutch-Australian expedition landed on 17 December 1941; the Portuguese authorities neither resisted nor cooperated. In February 1942, when Japanese troops landed in Timor, the small allied force fled to the hills and later was evacuated to Australia. Japan occupied all of Timor and the remainder of the Dutch East Indies until Japan's surrender in September 1945. Portugal soon reassumed control.

   After the Revolution of 25 April 1974, East Timorese nationalist parties hoped for rapid decolonization and independence with Lisbon's cooperation. But on 28 November 1975, before a preoccupied Portugal could work out a formal transfer of power, the Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor (FRETILIN), then in control of the former colony's capital, declared independence, and, on 7 December 1975, Indonesian armed forces swiftly invaded, occupied, and annexed East Timor. In the following years, a tragic loss of life occurred. Portugal refused to recognize Indonesia's sovereignty over East Timor and claimed legal sovereignty before the United Nations.

   As Indonesia persistently and brutally suppressed Timorese nationalist resistance, world media attention focused on this still remote island. Several sensational international and Indonesian events altered the status of occupied East Timor, following the continuation of FRETILIN guerrilla resistance. In November 1991, world media disseminated information on the Indonesian forces' slaughter of East Timorese protesters at a cemetery demonstration in the capital of Dili. In 1996, two East Timorese, Bishop Belo and José Ramos Horta, each a symbol of East Timorese resistance and the desire for independence, shared the Nobel Peace Prize. Then, in 1998, in Indonesia, the Suharto regime collapsed and was replaced by a more democratic government, which in January 1999 pledged a free referendum in East Timor. On 30 August 1999, the referendum was held, and nearly 80 percent of the East Timorese voters voted for independence from Indonesia.

   However, Indonesian armed forces and militias reacted brutally, using intimidation, murder, mayhem, and razing of buildings to try to reverse the people's will. Following some weeks of confusion, a United Nations (UN) armed forces, led by Australia, took control of East Timor and declared it a UN protectorate, to last until East Timor was secure from Indonesian aggression and prepared for full independence. East Timor had changed from a Portuguese colony to an Indonesian protectorate/colony to a fledgling nation-in-the-making.

   The status of East Timor as a ward of the UN was made official on 25 October 1999, as the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor began to prepare the country for independence. Appalling conditions prevailed: 70 percent of the country's buildings had been destroyed and nearly half of the population of 800,000 had been driven out of East Timor into uneasy refuge in West Timor, under Indonesian control. A territory without an economy, East Timor lacked police, civil servants, schools, and government records.

   With UN assistance, general elections were held in the spring of 2002; the majority of parliamentary seats were won by FRETILIN, and José "Xanana" Gusmão was elected the first president. On 20 May 2002, East Timor became independent. World luminaries adorned the independence celebrations: UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, and other celebrities attended. But East Timor's travails continued with civil strife and uncertainty.

    See also Empire, Portuguese overseas.

   Formerly a Portuguese colony, and all that remained of Portugal's Indian holdings of the 16th and 17th centuries, Goa, Damão, and Diu are located on the western coast of the Indian subcontinent. These three enclaves, comprising an area of about 2,473 square kilometers (1,537 square miles), were acquired by Portugal during the 16th century after the initial voyage of Vasco da Gama (1497-99), which discovered the sea route to the Indies from Portugal. Beginning in 1510, Goa was the capital of the Portuguese State of India, which had jurisdiction over Portugal's holdings in eastern Africa as well as in Asia. Goa became not only an administrative capital but a center for religion and education. Various Catholic religious orders, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits, used Goa as a base for missionary efforts in Asia. Most notable among them was St. Francis Xavier. Goa had a colonial golden age in the 16th and 17th centuries, as churches, seminaries, and colleges flourished. In time, Goa was bypassed, and the capital of Portuguese India was transferred first to Mormugao and then to Pangim.

   For religious and political reasons, not economic, Portugal held on to Portuguese India when confronted after World War II with Indian nationalism. Pressures to leave Goa, Damão, and Diu mounted throughout the 1950s, following the independence of India in 1947. In December 1961, after numerous alarms and efforts by Indian and Goan nationalists to employ passive resistance to oust Portuguese control, India's Nehru ordered the Indian army to invade, conquer, and annex Goa, Damão, and Diu and incorporate them as part of the Indian Union. With most of its armed forces in the African territories at the time and with Britain refusing to allow the use of British bases to reinforce Portugal's small garrison in Portuguese India, Portuguese armed forces resisted only briefly. Salazar's government dealt harshly with the forces that surrendered in India and were made prisoners of war. Lisbon negotiated their release without enthusiasm. Lisbon affected to ignore the facts of India's conquest, annexation, and absorption of former Portuguese India; refused to recognize the action's legality internationally; and continued to seat "deputies" from "Portuguese India" in the National Assembly of Portugal until the Revolution of 25 April 1974. Resentment against Salazar's treatment of the army in India was one of the stated reasons later for the military conspiracy and 1974 coup of the Armed Forces Movement.

metropolitan

A n

1 gen ( person) citadin/-e m/f ;

2 Relig ( also metropolitan bishop) ( of Catholic Church) métropolitain m ; ( of Church of England) archevêque m ; ( of Eastern churches) métropolite m.

B adj

1 ( of city) [area, park, population, organization] urbain ; [buildings, traffic, values] des grandes villes ; metropolitan New York/Los Angeles l'agglomération de New York/Los Angeles ;

2 ( home territory) metropolitan France la France métropolitaine ;

3 Relig métropolitain.

SUBJECT AREA: Architecture and building

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Tralles was a wealthy city in ancient Greece. Ruins of the city are situated on a plateau above the present-day Turkish city of Aydin, in Asia Minor, which is near to Ephesus. In 334 BC Tralles was used as a base by Alexander the Great and later it was occupied by the Romans. After the collapse of the western half of the Roman Empire in the fifth century AD Tralles remained a part of the Byzantine Empire until its destruction in 1282. Anthemios was one of the great sons of Tralles and was probably educated in Alexandria. He is especially famed as architect (with Isodorus of Miletos) of the great Church of Santa Sophia in Istanbul. This vast building, later a Turkish mosque and now a museum, was built for the Emperor Justinian between 532 and 537 AD. It was an early and, certainly for many centuries, the largest example of pendentive construction to support a dome. This form, using the spherical triangles of the pendentives, enabled a circular-based dome to be supported safely upon piers that stood on a square plan below. It gradually replaced the earlier squinch type of structure, though both forms of design stem from Middle Eastern origins. At Santa Sophia the dome rises to 180ft (55m) above floor level and has a diameter of over 100ft (30m). Together with Isodorus, Anthemios also worked upon the Church of the Holy Apostles in Istanbul.

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SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Ports and shipping

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He studied in Alexandria, after which he returned to Syracuse where he spent most of the rest of his life. He made many mathematical discoveries, including the most accurate calculation of pi made up to that time. In engineering he was the founder of the science of hydrostatics. He is well known for the discovery of "Archimedes" Law', that a body wholly or partly immersed in a fluid loses weight equal to the weight of the fluid displaced. He thus made the first measurement of specific gravity.

Archimedes also proved the law of the lever and developed the theory of mechanical advantage, boasting to his cousin Hieron, "Give me a place to stand on and with a lever I will move the whole world." To prove his point, he launched one of the biggest ships built up to that date. During his time in Egypt, he devised the "Archimedean Screw", still used today in Middle Eastern countries for pumping water. He also built an astronomical instrument to demonstrate the movements of the heavenly bodies, a form of orrery.

He was General of Ordnance to Heiron, and when the Romans besieged Syracuse, a legionary came across Archimedes drawing geometrical diagrams in the sand. Archimedes immediately told him to 'Keep off and the soldier killed him. He also experimented with burning glasses and mirrors for setting fire to wooden ships.

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SUBJECT AREA: Civil engineering

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The third son of a merchant sea captain, he was at first educated in the village school. At the age of 17 he was working under a Mr Larmer, a civil engineer, constructing the Lancaster and Carlisle railway. He later moved to be a resident engineer on the Stockton \& Darlington Railway, and from 1849 was Engineer and Manager of the Edinburgh \& Northern Railway. In this last position he became aware of the great inconvenience caused to traffic by the broad estuaries of the Tay and the Forth on the eastern side of Scotland. The railway later became the Edinburgh, Perth \& Dundee, and was then absorbed into the North British in 1854 when Bouch produced his first plans for a bridge across the Tay at an estimated cost of £200,000. A bill was passed for the building of the bridge in 1870. Prior to this, Bouch had built many bridges up to the Redheugh Viaduct, at Newcastle upon Tyne, which had two spans of 240 ft (73 m) and two of 260 ft (79 m). He had also set up in business on his own. He is said to have designed nearly 300 miles (480 km) of railway in the north, as well as a "floating railway" of steam ferries to carry trains across the Forth and the Tay. The Tay bridge, however, was his favourite project; he had hawked it for some twenty years before getting the go-ahead, and the foundation stone of the bridge was laid on 22 July 1871. The total length of the bridge was nearly two miles (3.2 km), while the shore-to-shore distance over the river was just over one mile (1.6 km). It consisted of eighty-five spans, thirteen of which, i.e. "the high girders", were some 245 ft (75 m) long and 100 ft (30 m) above water level to allow for shipping access to Perth, and was a structure of lattice girders on brick and masonry piers topped with ironwork. The first crossing of the bridge was made on 26 September 1877, and the official opening was on 31 May 1878. On Sunday 28 December 1879, at about 7.20 pm, in a wind of probably 90 mph (145 km/h), the thirteen "high girders" were blown into the river below, drowning the seventy-five passengers and crew aboard the 5.20 train from Burntisland. A Court of Enquiry was held and revealed design faults in that the effect of wind pressure had not been adequately taken into account, faults in manufacture in the plugging of flaws in the castings, and inadequate inspection and maintenance; all of these faults were attributed to Bouch, who had been knighted for the building of the bridge. He died at his house in Moffat four months after the enquiry.

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