During Portugal's golden age, the 15th and 16th centuries, the small Portuguese nation built an overseas empire that stretched halfway around the globe. Prince Henry the Navigator (Henrique Navegador, 1394–1460) laid the foundations of the empire. Among the leaders in overseas exploration were Bartholomeu Dias (1450?–1500), the first European to round the Cape of Good Hope; Vasco da Gama (1469–1524), who reached India and founded Portuguese India in 1498; and Pedro Alvares Cabral (1460?–1526), who took possession of Brazil for Portugal in 1500. Ferdinand Magellan (Fernão de Magalhães, 1480?–1521) led a Spanish expedition, the survivors of which were the first to sail around the world, although Magellan himself was killed after reaching the Philippines. Afonso de Albuquerque (1453–1515) was foremost among the builders of Portugal's Far Eastern empire.

Famous literary figures of the golden age include the historians Diogo do Couto (1542–1616) and João de Barros (1496–1570); Portugal's greatest writer, Luis Vas de Camões (1524?–80), the author of Os Lusiadas, the Portuguese national epic, and of lyric and dramatic poetry; the dramatists Gil Vicente (1465?–1537?) and Francisco de Sá de Miranda (1482–1558); the poets Bernardim Ribeiro (1482?–1552) and Diogo Bernardes (1532?–96?); and the travel writer Fernão Mendes Pinto (1509–83). Portugal's leading painter was Nuno Gonçalves (fl.1450–80).

Among the noted Portuguese of more recent times are Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello, marquis de Pombal (1699–1782), the celebrated prime minister of King Joseph Emanuel (José Manuel, 1715–77); the novelists Camilo Castelo Branco, viscount of Correia-Botelho (1825–90), and José Maria Eça de Queiróz (1843–1900); the poets João Baptista da Silva Leitão, viscount of Almeida-Garrett (1799–1854), Antero Tarquinio de Quental (1842–91), João de Deus Nogueira Ramos (1830–96), Teófilo Braga (1843–1924), and Abilio Manuel Guerra Junqueiro (1850–1923); the satirist José Duarte Ramalho Ortigão (1836–1915); and the painter Domingos António de Sequeira (1768–1837). António Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz (1874–1955) won the Nobel Prize in physiology in 1949. António de Oliveira Salazar (1889–1970), prime minister for more than 30 years, was Portugal's best-known modern leader. Gen. (later Marshal) António Sebastião Ribeiro de Spínola (1910–96) played a key role in the revolution of April 1974. Gen. António dos Santos Ramalho Eanes (b.1935) became president in 1976 and was reelected in 1980. The main political leaders of the late 1970s and early 1980s were the Socialist Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares (b.1924), prime minister in 1976–78 and 1983–85 and became president in 1986 and was reelected in 1991; Francisco Sá Carneiro (1934–80), a leader of the Social Democratic Party and prime minister in 1979–80.

Under the Salazar and Caetano regimes, the cooperative movement was generally superseded by state-controlled groups called juntas nacionais. The principal current organizations are syndicates, the majority of which are linked to the national trade union confederation; residents' commissions; workers' commissions; and popular assemblies. Many of these associations, particularly in rural areas, are involved in local community improvement projects as well as political and cultural activities. There are four chambers of commerce and three main industrial organizations, the oldest of which, the Industrial Association of Porto, dates from 1849.

The Academy of Sciences Lisbon is primarily a scholarly and research organization. National youth organizations include Association of Young Farmers of Portugal, Communist Youth of Portugal, International Friendship League of Portugal, Monarchist Youth of Portugal, the Scout Federation of Portugal, and YMCA/YWCA. There are several sports associations in the country. The Kiwanis and Lion's Clubs also have active programs. Amnesty International and the Red Cross have national chapters.

Between 1974 and 1976, all of Portugal's overseas possessions in Africa—including Angola, the Cape Verde Islands, Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau), Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe—became independent countries in accordance with the Armed Forces Movement's decolonization policy. After the Portuguese withdrew from East Timor, in the Indonesian archipelago, the former colony was invaded by Indonesian forces in 1975 and became a province of Indonesia in 1976; East Timor became an independent nation in 2002. Macau, on the south coast of China, was a "Chinese territory under Portuguese administration" from 1975–99.

The domestic telegraph and telephone systems are wholly government-operated. In 1998 there were 5.3 million main line telephones in Portugal with 3 million mobile cellular phones. Direct radiotelephone service connects Portugal with its former and current overseas provinces in Africa and Asia. The government broadcasting network, Radiodifusão Portuguesa, and Radio Renascenca, a religious network, operate AM and FM stations. The state-owned television network, Radiotelevisão Portuguesa, offers color broadcasts on two channels. In 1998, there were 47 AM and FM 172 radio stations, as well as 62 television stations. In 2000, there were 304 radios and 630 television sets for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were about 299 personal computers in use for every 1,000 people, with 16 Internet service providers serving about 2 million users in 2001.

During the factional struggles of 1975, the press became a battleground between Communists and other left-wing factions. The most noteworthy episode was the takeover of the Socialist República by Maoist printers in May 1975. Communist influence in the press was abruptly curtailed after the nation's press was closed down by the new center-left coalition government in November 1975 and subsequently reorganized. Nearly all the newspapers had reappeared by the end of the year, in more moderate guises. In 1976, the government nationalized several newspaper publishing groups. The circulations of state-owned newspapers decreased during the late 1970s. The constitution of 1976 guaranteed freedom of the press.

Education has been compulsory since 1911. For the year 2000, adult illiteracy was estimated at 7.8% (males, 5.2%; females, 10.0%). Primary level education, which lasts for six years, is compulsory. Secondary level education is in two stages of three years. In 1996, primary schools enrolled 867,253 pupils. At the secondary level during 1996, there were 947,478 pupils. The pupil-teacher ratio at the primary level was 13 to 1 in 1999.

Coimbra University, founded in 1290, is Portugal's oldest institution of higher learning, and the universities of Lisbon and Porto are two of the largest. In 1996, total enrollment in institutions of higher learning was 319,525. There are also art schools, music schools, and a school of tropical medicine. Approximately 11.7% of the annual government budget was spent on education in the latter part of the 1990s. As of 1999, public expenditure on education was estimated at 5.7% of GDP.

The leading libraries of Portugal are the National Library, founded in 1796 (about 2.3 million volumes) and the Library of the Academy of Sciences (400,000) in Lisbon, the University Library in Coimbra (one million), and the Municipal Library in Porto (1.27 million). In 1997 the country had 168 public libraries with 4.8 million volumes.

There are some 300 museums in Portugal. Most feature exhibits relating to Portuguese history. Lisbon has the National Museum of Ancient Art, the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, and the Center for Modern Art, as well as the National Museum of Natural History. The Abbey of the Friars of St. Jerome in Belém and the Battle Abbey in Batalha contain some of the finest examples of Portuguese art. There are dozens of municipal ethnographic and historic museums, as well as many finely restored castles and manors.

The government-run social security system provides old-age, disability, sickness, and unemployment benefits, family allowances, and health and medical care. The system is funded by payroll contributions from employers and employees. The government subsidizes social pensions for those persons not employed. Retirement is set at age 50 for miners, age 55 for fishermen and seamen, and age 65 for other professions. Medical benefits are provided to all residents, and cash sickness and maternity benefits are provided to employees. Maternity benefits of 100% of earnings and benefits are paid for 120 days for all employed persons. Paternity and adoption benefits are also available. There is a income based family allowance, a special education allowance, and a funeral grant.

Women have full rights and protections under both the constitution and civil code. According to law, women must receive equal pay for equal work. In practice, however, a salary gap still exists between men and women. Spousal abuse and other violence against women are widespread problems and remain underreported. Sexual harassment in the workplace is considered a crime, but only if committed by a superior.

Immigrants from Portugal's former African colonies face social prejudice and discrimination. There were reports in of right-wing groups carrying out racially motivated attacks against immigrants and other non-ethnic Portuguese.

Human rights are generally respected in Portugal. Prison conditions are poor, but the government is engaging in dialogue with human rights organizations on this and other issues.