Culture Smart! Portugal will help you to navigate this multifaceted society. It gives insights into different aspects of life, from sleepy seaside towns to modern, trendy cities, so that you can experience at first hand how this society, which protects family and privacy so fiercely, is eager and proud to show visitors everything the country has to offer. Portugal is a small country that has had a huge cultural and political impact on the modern world. Portuguese explorers were the first to sail round the Cape of Good Hope and open up the sea route to East. At its peak its vast maritime empire embraced colonies in South America, Africa, and Asia, and the Portuguese language is the fifth-most-spoken language in the world. Portugal is now on the radar of world travelers and multinational corporations alike, and this has made its people more receptive to change and more modern in their outlook. The 1974 Peaceful Revolution, which liberated Portugal from dictatorship, also launched it into decades of political and social instability, giving rise to a mood of inertia and pessimism. Today, it is once again living up to its legacy of discovery and invention. This adventurous spirit is evident in the urban and cultural renewal that has swept the country, in harmonious contrast with its historic and traditional backdrop. Portuguese idiosyncrasies can be both confusing and enchanting. The people are famous for saudade, a yearning for the past, a soulful trait that is at once charming and fatalistic. They are collectively proud and personally self-deprecating. They can be romantic, impulsive, set in their ways, resourceful, and loyal. While rising to the challenges of the times, they have managed to maintain their values intact, preserving the history and traditions that give their country its flavor.