^Mirandese, spoken in some veelages o the municipality oMiranda do Douro, wis offeecially recognised in 1999 (Lei n.° 7/99 de 29 de Janeiro),[7] awarding it an official right-of-use.[8]Portuguese Sign Leid is an aa recognised.
Portugal, offeecially thePortuguese Republic (Portuguese:República Portuguesa[ʁɛˈpuβlikɐ puɾtuˈɣezɐ]),[note 1] is asovereign state locatit maistly on theIberian Peninsula in soothwastren Europe. It is the wastrenmaist kintra o mainland Europe, mairchit tae the wast an sooth bi the Atlantic Ocean an tae the north an east bi Spain. Its territory an aw includes the Atlanticairchipelagaes o theAzores anMadeira, baithautonomous regions wi thair awn regional govrenments.
In the 15t an 16t yeirhunners, Portugal established thefirst global empire, becomin ane o the warld's major economic, poleetical an militar pouers.[11][12][13] In this period, the day referred tae as theAge o Diskivery, Portuguese explorers pioneered maritime exploration, notably unner ryal patronage o PrinceHenry the Navigator an KingJohn II, wi sic notable voyages asBartolomeu Dias' sailin ayont theCape o Guid Howp (1488),Vasco da Gama's diskivery o the searoute tae Indie (1497–98) an the European diskivery o Brazil (1500). In this time, Portugal monopolised thespice tred, an the empire expandit wi militar campaigns in Asie. Houiver, events sic as the destruction oLisbon in a1755 yirdquauk, the kintra's occupation in theNapoleonic Wars, an theunthirldom o Brazil (1822), left Portugal crippelt frae war an diminished in its warld pouer.[14]
