Portugal is Europe’s oldest country. Its openness to the ocean and its many navigators led to the Great Discoveries. These enabled Portugal not only to enrich its culture, but also to “deposit” its culture in the 4 corners of the world: African, American, Asian influences… The traces of Portugal in the world are therefore inevitable.

Today, as an echo of my last article about the 10 world records in Portugal, I’ve decided to share a few light-hearted anecdotes about Portugal around the world.

1: The Portuguese introduced chillies to India and Thailand

Although Portuguese cuisine uses relatively few chillies in its cooking, it was the Portuguese who introduced chillies to two of the world’s spiciest cuisines: Indian and Thai.

In fact, India’s famous “vindaloo” has its origins in the famous Portuguese sauce “vinha d’alho”, made with garlic and vinegar.

Left: Portuguese vinha d’alho sauce, right: Indian vindaloo sauce

2: The Portuguese introduced tea to England: the land of tea time

For those of you who follow me on the Facebook “Amoureux du Portugal”, I’ve already shared this astonishing information with you. 84% of English people drink tea on a daily basis…until now… No big surprise! And yet, the history of the famous English “tea” is intimately linked to Portugal!

In 1662, Catarina de Bragança (daughter of Portuguese King D. João IV) married English King Charles II. In Portugal, Catarina was accustomed to drinking tea (“chà” in Portuguese), but in England, tea was only consumed for “medicinal” purposes. The young queen decided to create the custom of “tea time” in England.

She had tea imported from Portugal to England in large boxes bearing the acronym “T.E.A”, which in Portuguese stands for “Transporte de Ervas Aromáticas” (transport of aromatic herbs). The English word “tea” therefore comes from Portuguese!

Crate of teas

3: Portuguese cobblestones come from a rhinoceros

On May 20, 1515, King Dom Manuel I of Portugal received a gift of a rhinoceros from the founder of the Portuguese empire in the East: Afonso de Albuquerque.

In Lisbon, the appearance of Ganga the rhinoceros was a special event, as it was the first rhinoceros to be seen in Europe since the 3rd century.

Ganga, the rhinoceros, became a major attraction and a household name in Lisbon. During his birthday celebrations, the king would travel to the Portuguese capital with the animal. However, as the enormous 2-tonne animal made its way through the streets of Lisbon, it ended up with mud on its feet. Faced with this, the king ordered that the streets be paved with granite stones to solve a problem: the first “calçadas”, the famous Portuguese street pavements, appeared.

Calçadas

4: Estoril, world spy center

During the Second World War, the seaside town ofEstoril, some 20 minutes from Lisbon, was a hotbed of conspiracy and espionage. Numerous crowned heads and public figures: kings, princes, actors, writers and spies met here.

While the war raged on, Estoril in Portugal was a time of festivities, glitter and exuberance. Disguised as diplomats, secret agents from both sides crossed paths with rich and famous refugees.

Among the celebrities present were Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Leslie Howard, who collaborated with the Allies. Juan Pujol Garcia, “Garbo” for MI5, working for the German and British secret services and playing a decisive role in the Allied landings in Europe, and more.

Estoril

5 : Portuguese, 6th most spoken language in the world

Although Portugal is a small country with 10 million inhabitants. Its language, Portuguese, is widely spoken throughout the world. It’s even the 6th most widely spoken language, with 230 million native speakers. It is the official language of 10 countries on 5 continents: America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

Portuguese in the world

6: Half the world once belonged to Portugal

The Portuguese empire was the first world empire in history, and one of the longest to maintain dominance over its colonies. This is partly due to the era of the Great Discoveries, dominated by the Portuguese people.

In 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed, dividing the “New World” between the two great colonial powers of the time: Spain and Portugal. Portugal obtained almost half of the “New World”, including Brazil, Africa and Asia.

7: One of the world’s oldest universities

You’ve probably already heard of the city of Coimbra and its university. If you’re a regular reader, don’t worry, I’ve already mentioned it several times!

What you may not have known is that the famous University of Coimbra is one of the oldest universities not only in Europe, but in the world!

Founded in 1290 in Lisbon and definitively transferred to Coimbra in 1537, the University of Coimbra is one of the oldest in Europe and the world. Its importance was recognized by UNESCO in 2013 when it was declared a “universal heritage site”.

For the curious, I urge you to discover the surprising bat mission of the University of Coimbra in the article here.

8: One of the world’s great gold reserves

Despite its small size, Portugal is one of the states with the world’s largest gold reserves. Portugal ranks 14th out of 100 countries with the world’s largest gold reserves, with gold reserves valued at 12,000 million euros, or 383 tonnes.

These gold reserves stem mainly from the colonial era (mining in Brazil and Angola). Portugal sold half its gold stocks in the years following the Carnation Revolution, dropping from almost 800 tonnes in 1970 to 400 tonnes in the early 1990s.

Gold reserves. Source : tradingeconomics.com

In conclusion

Portugal, seen by many as a “small country”, is indeed small, but not in terms of its influence in the world. Portugal has nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to the world, as it competes with the best in many fields.

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