Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;

Extended economic zone: 200 nm;

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: Macau is scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China in 1999; East Timor question with Indonesia

Climate: maritime temperate; cool and rainy in north, warmer and drier in south

Terrain: mountainous north of the Tagus, rolling plains in south

Natural resources: fish, forests (cork), tungsten, iron ore, uranium ore, marble

Land use: 32% arable land; 6% permanent crops; 6% meadows and pastures; 40% forest and woodland; 16% other; includes 7% irrigated

Environment: Azores subject to severe earthquakes

Note: Azores and Madeira Islands occupy strategic locations along western sea approaches to Strait of Gibraltar