stretches along the Atlantic coast of the iberic peninsula in south western Europe. In the east and north it makes border with Spain and in the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic ocean.Portugal owns a total area of about 92 400 square km, which makes up 16% of the Iberic peninsula; and it is populated by ± 10.4 millions of people. Despite being a small country it has got a great geographical variety ranging from flat grasslands to mountainous regions.Until the 1970's the Cape Verde Islands, the islands São Tomé and Príncipe, Portuguese Guinea, Angola and Moçambique (all in Africa), Macau (Asia) and Timor (Oceania) belonged to the Portuguese colonies overseas. By the end of the 20th century only Macau was left over.As a member of the European Union and the NATO Portugal plays a more decisive role in European and world politics than you would think according to its size.