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| Agustina Bessa-Luís |
Agustina Bessa-LuísAgustina Bessa-Luís is a Portuguese writer. She was born at Vila Meã, Amarante em 1922.
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Portugal
The Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa; pron. IPA /) is located on the west and southwest parts of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe, and is the westernmost country in continental Europe. Portugal is bordered by Spain to the north and east and by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south. In addition, Portugal includes two archipelagos in the Atlantic, Azores (Açores) and Madeira Islands.
Portugal has witnessed a constant flow of different civilizations during the past 3100 years. Iberian, Tartessian, Celtic, Phoenician and Carthaginian, Greek, Roman, Germanic (Suevi and Visigoth) and Moorish cultures have all made an imprint on the country. The naming of Portugal itself reveals most of the country's early history, stemming from the Roman name Portus Cale, a possibly mixed Greek and Latin name meaning "Beautiful Port", or even mixed Celtic and Latin or mixed Phoenician and Latin. During the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal was a major economic, political, and cultural power, its empire streching from Brazil to the Indies.
History
Lusitania
Main articles: Pre-Roman and Roman Lusitania
In the early first millennium BC, several waves of Celts invaded Portugal from Central Europe and intermarried with local peoples, the Iberians, forming the Celt-Iberians. Early Greek explorers named the region "Ophiussa" (Greek for "land of serpents") because the natives worshipped serpents. In 238 BC, the Carthaginians occupied the Iberian coasts. In this period several small tribes occupied the territory, the main tribes were the Lusitanians, who lived between the Douro and Tagus rivers, and the Callaeci who lived north of the Douro river among some other tribes. The Conii, influenced by Tartessos, were established in southern Portugal for a long time. The Celtici, a later wave of Celts, settled in Alentejo.
In 219 BC, the first Roman troops invaded the Iberian Peninsula, driving the Carthaginians out in the Punic Wars. The Roman conquest of Portugal started from the south, where they found friendly natives, the Conii. Over decades, the Romans increased their sphere of control. But in 194 BC a rebellion began in the north, the Lusitanians successfully held off the Romans, took back land and ransacked Conistorgis, the Conii capital, because of their alliance with Rome. Viriathus, the Lusitanian leader, drove the Roman forces out. Rome sent numerous legions, but success was only achieved by bribing Lusitanian officials to kill their own leader. During this period, a process of Romanization was carried out, leading Lusitania to gain Latin Right in 73 AD.
The kingdom
Main articles: Establishment and Consolidation of the kingdom
Consolidation of the kingdom, a national symbol, is known as the "Cradle of Portugal". The Battle of São Mamede took place nearby in 1128.]]
In the 5th century, Germanic tribes, most notably the Suevi and the Visigoths, invaded the Iberian peninsula, set up kingdoms, and became assimilated in the Roman culture of the peninsula.
An Islamic invasion took place in 711. Many of the ousted nobles took refuge in the unconquered north Asturian highlands. From there they aimed to reconquer their lands from the Moors. In 868, Count Vímara Peres reconquered and governed the region between the Minho and Douro rivers. The county became known as Portucale (i.e. Portugal), due to its most important city, Portucale (today's Porto) and founded a villa with his name - Vimaranes (today's Guimarães) where he chose to live.
While a dependency of the Kingdom of León, Portugal occasionally gained de facto independence during weak Leonese reigns, but it lost its autonomy in 1071 due to one of these attempts, ending the rule of the counts of the House of Vímara Peres. Then 20 years later, Count Henry from Burgundy was appointed Count of Portugal as a payment for military services to León, and with the purpose of expanding the territory southwards. The Portuguese territory included only what is now northern Portugal, with its capital in Guimarães.
Henry died and his son, Afonso Henriques took control of the county. The city of Braga, the Catholic centre of the Iberian Peninsula, faced new competition from other regions. The lords of the cities of Coimbra and Porto, together with the clergy of Braga, demanded the independence of the county.
Porto
Portugal traces its emergence as a nation to 24 June 1128, with the Battle of São Mamede by Afonso I. On 5 October 1143 Portugal was formally recognized. Afonso, aided by the Templar Knights, continued to conquer southern lands from the Moors. In 1250 the Portuguese Reconquista ended when it reached the southern coast of Algarve.
In an era of several wars when Portugal and Castile tried to control one another, King Ferdinand was dying with no male heirs. His only child, a single daughter, married King John I of Castile who would therefore be the King of Portugal after Fernando's death. However, the impending loss of independence to Castile was not accepted by the majority of the Portuguese people, which led to the 1383-1385 Crisis. A loyalist faction led by John of Aviz (later John I), with the help of Nuno Álvares Pereira, finally defeated the Castilians in Portugal's most historic battle of Portugal, the Battle of Aljubarrota. The victorious John was then acclaimed as king by the people.
In the meantime, the Black Death reached Portugal.
The Portuguese discoveries
Main articles: The discoveries and Portuguese Empire
Portuguese Empire, Portugal]]
In the following decades, Portugal created the conditions that would make it the pioneer in the exploration of the world, since most of the nobles had supported the King of Castile and with the victory of John I, the nobles either fled or were executed. Hence the Portuguese middle class who had supported and helped the victorious King suddenly rose up in the social ranks of Portugal, creating a new dynamic generation which allowed the discoveries to proceed. On 25 July 1415, the Portuguese Empire began when a Portuguese fleet, with King John I and his sons Duarte, Pedro, Henry the Navigator, and Afonso, along with the Portuguese supreme constable Nuno Álvares Pereira departed to besiege and conquer Ceuta in North Africa, a rich Islamic trade centre. On 21 August the city fell.
In 1418 two captains of Prince Henry the Navigator, were driven by a storm to an island which they called Porto Santo, or Holy Port, in gratitude for their rescue from the shipwreck. Also in early 15th century, Madeira Island and the Azorean islands were discovered. Henry the Navigator's interest in exploration, together with some technological developments in navigation, made Portugal's expansion possible and led to great advances in geographic knowledge. The discoveries were financed by the wealth of the Order of Christ, an order founded by King Denis for the Templar knights, who found refuge in Portugal after being pursued all over Europe. The Templars had their own objective, searching for the legendary Christian Kingdom of Prester John.
In 1434, Gil Eanes rounded Cape Bojador, south of Morocco. The trip marked the beginning of the Portuguese exploration of Africa. Before this voyage very little information was known in Europe about what lay beyond it. At the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th centuries, those who tried to venture there became lost, giving birth to legends of sea monsters. Fourteen years later, on a small island known as Arguim off the coast of Mauritania a castle was built, working as a feitoria (a trading post) for commerce with inland Africa thus, circumventing the Arab caravans that crossed the Sahara. Some time later, the caravels explored the Gulf of Guinea, leading to the discovery of several uninhabited islands and reaching the Congo River.
A remarkable achievement was the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope by Bartholomew Dias in 1487. By then the spices of India were nearby, hence the name of the cape. In the last decade of the 15th century, Pêro de Barcelos and João Fernandes Lavrador explored North America , Pêro da Covilhã reached Ethiopia, searching for the mythical kingdom of Prester John, and Vasco da Gama sailed to India. In 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral landed on the Brazilian coast. Ten years later, Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Goa, in India.
In 1578, the young King Sebastian decided to enlarge Portuguese possessions in northern Africa and, despite having no son and heir to the throne, decided to go into battle personally, where he was slain. Because Philip II of Spain was the son of a Portuguese princess, the Spanish ruler became Philip I of Portugal in 1581. Some men claimed to be King Sebastian between 1584 and 1598, originating the Sebastian myth. Portugal formally maintained its independent law, currency, colonies, and government, under a personal union between Portugal and Spain. New empires had emerged and started to assault the Portuguese Empire. The third Spanish king, Philip III tried to further enforce integration, openly attacking the Portuguese nobility that was not in his favour. In 1 December 1640, the Duke of Bragança, of the Portuguese Royal Family, John IV, was acclaimed after a revolutionary turmoil, and a Restoration War was fought for a few more years.
Braganza Dynasty
:Main articles: From the Restoration to the Earthquake, From the Napoleonic Invasion to Civil War and Portugal in the 19th Century
Portugal in the 19th Century, over big mountain top rocks, is a mixture of neo-gothic, neo-manueline, neo-islamic, and neo-renaissance styles. (courtesy IPPAR)]]
The 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than a third of the capital's (Lisbon was at that time one of the largest and most important cities of Europe) population and devastated the Algarve as well, had a profound effect on domestic politics and on European philosophical thought. From 1801, the country was occupied during the Napoleonic Wars. The Portuguese Court fled to Brazil. Shortly after, Brazil proclaimed its independence, under the rule of the Portuguese King Pedro IV (Emperor Pedro I of Brazil), who abdicated from the Portuguese Crown and left his daughter D. Maria II as Queen in a liberal regime.
Portuguese 19th Century is marked by the Liberalism. The divisions between king Pedro IV - liberal - and his brother, King Miguel, a conservative who overthrew Queen Maria II, led to the civil war between 1832 and 1834 and the signing of the new constitution in 1836. The political and social evolution in the late 19th century was marked by instability.
The republics
Main articles: The First Republic, New State and The Third Republic
In 1910 a republican revolution deposed the Portuguese monarchy starting the First Republic. Political chaos, strikes, harsh relations with the Catholic Church, and considerable economic problems aggravated by a disastrous military intervention in the First World War led to a military coup d'état (28th May 1926 coup d'état), that installed the Second Republic that would become the New State in 1933, led by António de Oliveira Salazar, an authoritarian right-wing dictatorship, which later evolved into a type of single party corporate regime. Later, Portugal became a founding member of NATO and EFTA, as well as OECD. India invaded Portuguese India in 1961. Independence movements also became active in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea, and a series of colonial wars started.
The burden of the many colonial overseas wars and the lack of political and civil freedoms led to the end of the regime after the Carnation Revolution in April 25 of 1974, an effectively bloodless left-wing military coup, that promised to install a new democratic regime. In 1975, Portugal had its first free multi-party elections since 1926 and granted independence to its colonies in Africa.
In 1976 Indonesia invaded and annexed the Portuguese province of Timor in Asia before legal recognition of its independence by Portugal. In 1999, the Asian dependency of Macau, was returned to Chinese sovereignty, a process considered a success by China and Portugal. After a UN sponsored referendum endorsed by Indonesia and Portugal, in 1999, East Timor voted for independence, which materialised in 2002.
In 1986, Portugal entered the EEC (and left EFTA), which was later transformed into the European Union.
Government and politics
The four main organs of Portuguese politics are the President of the Republic, the Parliament, the Council of Ministers (Government), and the Judiciary.
The President of the Republic, elected to a 5-year term by universal suffrage is also commander in chief of the armed forces. Presidential powers include appointing the Prime Minister, as advised by the Parliament which elects the Prime Minister, and the Council of Ministers, named by the Prime Minister. Some other major powers include dismissing the Government, dissolving the Parliament, and declaring war or peace. These have several constitutional restrictions, namely the need to consult the presidential advisory body. This is the Council of State, composed of six senior civilian officers, all former presidents elected since 1976, and ten citizens, five chosen by the President and the other five by the Parliament. The most commonly used power is that of approving or vetoing any legislation.
The Parliament, or Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República in Portuguese) is a unicameral body composed of 230 deputies. It is elected by universal suffrage according to a system of proportional representation to multi-member constituencies. Deputies serve terms of office of 4 years. The Assembly of the Republic is the main legislative body. The President of Parliament substitutes for the President of the Republic in the event of his absence.
The Government is headed by the Prime Minister, who names the Council of Ministers.
The Courts have several categories, including judicial, administrative and fiscal. The national Supreme Court is the court of last appeal. A nine-member Constitutional Tribunal reviews the constitutionality of legislation.
The national and regional governments are dominated by two political parties, the PS (Partido Socialista) – centre left and the PSD (Partido Social Democrata) - centre right, both with similar base politics: pro-European, and focusing on market economy and social issues. Within the Portuguese political culture, the PSD is described as centre-right and the PS is described as centre-left. Other parties with seats in the parliament are the PCP (Partido Comunista Português – Communists), PP (Partido Popular – Popular Party), BE (Bloco de Esquerda – Left Block) and PEV (Partido Ecologista Os Verdes – Ecologists). PCP, BE, and Os Verdes are left wing and the PP right wing. PCP and Os Verdes are coalited as CDU (Coligação Democrática Unitária, Democratic Unitary Coalition). As of 2005, José Sócrates is the prime minister for the Socialists, and the party also has an absolute majority in the parliament (121 MPs).
Portuguese public opinion and media tend to be Europhile. In the EuroBarometer's 2004 Spring survey, 60% of the Portuguese said they trusted the European Union.
Abortion law is restrictive, allowing for legal abortion under some circumstances, such as rape or a life-threatening situation for the mother or the fetus. In a referendum held in 1998 proposing almost free abortion until 12 weeks of gestation, the results were 51% against, 49% in favour. However, the turnout of this election was a scant 31% of the population. A new referendum is promised to be held soon. Possessing small doses of drugs for personal use is not a crime in Portugal, but it can be seen as a cause for civil disorder. Handing out or producing drugs is considered a crime. Gay rights are also upcoming as the sexual orientation is now protected by the Portuguese Constitution following EU's directives, and gay couples can form civil unions.
Foreign relations and military
Main articles: Foreign relations of Portugal and Military of Portugal
Foreign relations are essential to Portugal. The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, an alliance dating from 1294, has been retained throughout its history, making it the oldest alliance still in force in the world. This English–Portuguese alliance was renewed in 1386 with the Treaty of Windsor. The treaty established a pact of mutual support between the countries. This alliance was used in the successive expulsion of the Spanish kings and broke England's isolation from continental Europe during Napoleon's era. The alliance is kept through NATO, a military organization in which both countries are founders along with 10 other countries including the United States of America. Beyond the EU, the country has established a community with its former colonies, the CPLP, and today has very close and prosperous relations with all of them, including close relations with Cape Verde and East Timor. It has a friendship alliance and a dual citizenship treaty with Brazil. The new government has also prioritized relations with neighbouring Spain. It also has very good relations with China, due to Macau, a meeting-point of both nations, and century-old diplomatic ties with Morocco.
Portugal considers Olivença (Olivenza in Spanish, administrated by Spain) Portuguese territory de jure, based on agreements of both nations in the Vienna Treaty of 1815 , but there are not strong diplomatic actions to take it back. Yet, this issue has been discussed at the Portuguese Parliament as recently as 2004.
The Portuguese Armed Forces are divided into three branches: Army, Navy, and Air Force. In the 20th century, Portugal had only two major military interventions, the first one in the 1st World War and the other between 1961 and 1974. Portugal was involved in several peacekeeping missions abroad, namely in East Timor, Bosnia, and Kosovo. The government of Durão Barroso through its Minister of Defence, obtained new submarines and other equipment, professionalized the Armed Forces and, since 2003, military service became non-obligatory.
Subdivisions
Durão Barroso]
Durão Barroso]
Portugal has a complex administrative structure. The base is composed by 308 municipalities (concelho - singular, concelhos - plural), and these are divided into more than 4,000 parishes (freguesias, singular - freguesia). All these are grouped into several superior divisions, some purely administrative, some specify a given activity (i.e. tourist regions or judicial areas), others have a more technical feature, while other have historical or cultural backgrounds like the provinces (províncias, singular - província): Alentejo, Algarve, Beira, Douro Litoral, Estremadura, Minho, Ribatejo, and Trás-os-Montes.
The most important division, is from 1976, dividing the continental territory (Portugal continental) and the two island groups (Portugal insular), the Azores and Madeira Islands - the Autonomous regions (regiões autónomas, singular - região autónoma), the country keeps as an unitary republic.
The districts (distritos, singular - distrito), are being dismantled, but they keep as the most relevant sub-division of the mainland, serving several purposes: electoral areas or regional football championships. In 1976, the districts were dismantled in the islands.
There are five regions (regiões, singular - região) in mainland Portugal, and 28 subregions (subregiões, singular - subregião). These modern division was made in accordance with the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), being used today by the Instituto Nacional de Estatística and the Eurostat, having official status in the European Union. The regions are:
- Alentejo
- Algarve
- Centro
- Lisboa e Vale do Tejo
- Norte
A referendum was held in 1997 to create administrative regional autonomies in continental Portugal, but the proposal was rejected by a majority of voters. The need for a better organization led to a newer and urbanized administrative division. Thus they are continuous territorial units made by groups of municipalities.
There are three types of Urban areas:
- Grandes Áreas Metropolitanas - Greater Metropolitan Areas (more than 350,000 inhabitants)
- Lisbon - 2,547,665
- Porto - 1,509,958
- Braga, Minho - 754,830
- Aveiro - 460,157
- Coimbra - 430,845
- Faro, Algarve - 391,819
- Viseu - 354,162
- Comunidades Urbanas - Urban Communities (more than 150,000 inhabitants)
- Oeste, Vale do Sousa, Leiria, Lezíria do Tejo, Baixo Alentejo, Trás-os-Montes, Centro Alentejo, Baixo Tâmega, Douro, Médio Tejo, Beiras, Beira Interior Sul, and Alto Alentejo;
- Comunidades Intermunicipais - Intermunicipal Communities (less than 150,000 inhabitants)
- Pinhal and Vale do Minho.
Geography and climate
Continental Portugal is split in two by its main river, the Tagus (Tejo). To the north the landscape is mountainous in the interior areas with plateaus, cut by four breaking lines that allow the development of relevant agricultural areas. The south between the Tejo and the Algarve (the Alentejo) features mostly rolling plains with a climate somewhat warmer and drier than the cooler and rainier north. The Algarve, separated from the Alentejo by mountains, enjoys a Mediterranean climate comparable with Morrocco or Southern Spain, and is the southwesternmost tip of Europe (Sagres). Other major rivers include the Douro, the Minho and the Guadiana, similar to the Tagus in that all originate in Spain. Another important river, the Mondego, originates in the Serra da Estrela (the highest mountains in mainland Portugal - 1,991 m).
Serra da Estrela
The islands of the Azores and Madeira are located in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, some of the islands have had recent volcanic activity. Originally two islands, São Miguel Island was joined by a volcanic eruption in 1563. The last volcano to erupt was the Vulcão dos Capelinhos (Capelinhos Volcano) in 1957, in the western part of Faial Island, increasing the size of that island. Dom João de Castro Bank is a large submarine volcano that lies midway between the islands of Terceira and São Miguel and rises to 14 m bellow the sea surface. It last erupted in 1720 and formed an island, and it remained above the water for several years. A new island may be formed in a not so distant future. Portugal's highest point is Mount Pico in Pico Island, an ancient volcano, at 2,351 metres.
Pico Island
The Portuguese coast is extensive, it has 943 km for continental Portugal, 667 km for the Azores, 250 km for Madeira and the Savage Islands . The coast has fine beaches, the Algarve ones are world famous. In Porto Santo Island, a dune formation appeals to many tourists. An important feature on its coast is the Ria de Aveiro (near Aveiro), a delta 45 km in length and a maximum of 11 km in width, rich in fish and sea birds. There are four main channels, between them several islands and islets, and it is where four rivers meet the ocean. A sort of narrow headlands formed a lagoon, seen as one of the most remarkable hydrographic features of the Portuguese coast. Portugal possesses one of the largest exclusive economic zones (EEZ) in Europe, covering 1,727,408 km².
Portugal is one of the warmest European countries. In mainland Portugal, average temperatures are 13ºC in the north and 18ºC in the south. Madeira and Azores, due to their location in the Atlantic, are rainy and wet, and have a narrower range of temperatures. Spring and Summer months are usually sunny and the temperatures are very high during July and August, with highs in the centre of the country generally between 30°C and 35°C, sometimes even reaching highs of 45°C in the southern interior. Autumn and Winter are typically rainy and windy, yet sunny days are not rare either, the temperatures rarely fall below 5°C, usually staying at an average of 10°C. Snow is common in the mountainous areas of the north, especially in Serra da Estrela. Portugal's climate is classified as Atlantic-Mediterranean.
Flora and fauna
Aveiro
Human activity, diversity of climate, and geographical diversity have shaped the Portuguese Flora. There are almost 2,800 autochthonous species. For economic reasons, pine trees (especially the Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea species), the chestnut tree and the eucalyptus are very widespread.
The Peneda-Gerês National Park (mostly known as Gerês) is located in the extreme north-west of Portugal. The park has a wide variety of oaken and mixed forests, groves, peat bogs, and diverse bushes, including autochthonous and rare species. It is one of the last Iberian harbours of wolves, garranos, golden eagles and honey buzzards amongst many others. The Natural parks of Serra da Estrela, with its broad valleys and turf soils and the Arrábida with its Mediterranean character and the sand varieties of its beaches unveil the ecological variety of Portugal.
The Tapada Nacional de Mafra is conspicuous, due to its rich flora and fauna. The Tapada was created in the reign of King John V for royal delight, in an area of 8 square kilometres with deer, wild boars, foxes, birds of prey and several other species. Today, the Tapada is classified as an area of national hunting (Zona de Caça Nacional).
A large part of Portugal is covered by forest. Every year, during the hot and dry Summer months, large areas of forest are destroyed by fires, many of which (an estimated 40% in 2004) caused by arson. In 2005 this problem was aggravated by a severe drought affecting Mainland Portugal. In the year to September 2005, three quarters of Mainland Portugal saw less than half the normal rainfall, and the remaining quarter less than 60%.
Economy
Portugal is a market economy, its per capita output stands at 76% of EU-15 average.
Portuguese GDP grew by 1% in real terms in 2004. It was expected to grow 1.8% by the (IMF) in 2005. Overall, the country's recovery is gradual, although the financial sector has remained strong.
In the second quarter of 2005, the unemployment rate dropped to 7.2%, still lower than the EU average but converging(this was the first decrease since 2001). A new Labour Law published in December 2003 increased the flexibility of working arrangements, although it has yet to prove its role in decreasing unemployment, especially among the youngest and the oldest of working-age population. The current administration is committed to expand market liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and simplifying the admistrative burden on companies. It is also committed to promote investment in research and information technologies to improve productivity and competitiveness.
unemployment
Industrialization boomed in the 1950s with Salazar's regime, leading to an average of 6% annual growth of the GDP between 1959 and 1963, 7% between 1965 and 1967, after dropping to 5.2% in 1964. Due to international crisis, the growth largely stopped. Since 1985, the country started its modernization in a very stable environment (1985 - to the present day) and it joined the European Economic Community in 1986. Successive governments have implemented various reforms and privatised many state-controlled firms and liberalised key areas of the economy, including the financial and telecommunications sectors. Portugal developed an increasingly service-based economy and it was one of the eleven founding countries of the Euro in 1999, with very restrictive criteria, and began circulating the new currency on January 1, 2002 along with twelve other EU members.
A considerable part of continental Portugal is dedicated to agriculture, although it does not represent most of the economy. The south has developed an extensive monoculture of cereals and olive trees and the Douro Valley in vineyards. Olive trees (4,000 km²), vineyards (3,750 km²), wheat (3,000 km²) and maize (2,680 km²) are produced in vast areas. Portuguese wine and olive oil are especially praised by nationals for their quality, thus external competition (even at much lower prices) has had little effect on consumer demand, a situation that does not occur with other products. Portugal is a traditional wine grower, and has exported its wines since the dawn of western civilization; Port Wine and Vinho Verde (Green Wine) are the leading exporters. Portugal is also a quality producer of fruits, namely the Algarve oranges and Oeste region's Pera Rocha (a type of pear). Other exports are horticulture, floriculture, beet sugar, sunflower oil, and tobacco.
Natural resources such as copses cover about 34% of the country, namely pine trees (13,500 km²), cork oak (6,800 km²), holm oak (5,340 km²), and eucalyptus (2,430 km²). The large-scale growing of eucalyptus for the paper and woodchip industries has been controversial, as eucalyptus trees have very deep roots, and lead to a lowering of the water table. This has been a contributory factor in the high rate of arson, as failing farmers vent their frustrations. Cork is a major export, Portugal produces half of the world's cork. Significant mining resources are tungsten, tin, and uranium.
The major industries are the textile, footwear, leather, furniture, ceramics (highlighting the international popularity of Vista Alegre), and cork. Modern industries have developed significantly, including: oil refineries, petrochemistry, cement production, automotive and ship industries, electrical and electronics industries, machinery and paper industries. Portugal has an ambitious and well-planned complex of petrochemical industries in Sines where the biggest oil refinery of the Iberian peninsula will be built. Automotive and other mechanical industries are located in Setúbal, Porto, Aveiro, Braga, Santarém, and Azambuja.
Portugal's balance of trade is negative. It buys mostly in the European Union from: Spain, Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. It also sells most of its products within the union to: Germany, Spain, and France mostly.
Portugal is trying to develop a cultural and rustic tourism, rather than only beach tourism, in order to attract more affluent tourists often concerned in getting to know the real Portugal. The interior of the nation has a decreasing population, but exceptional touristic potential. The Algarve, with its different beaches has been the primary attraction for decades, but it has suffered from mass tourism, and the authorities have been working to recover the 1960's Algarve, namely recovering the coast and demolishing illegal urbanizations. Mass tourism has caused some ecological damage in the Algarve, for example water shortages. The Lisbon area has recently become a very popular destination, mostly due to the city of Lisbon urban historical attractions, but also due to Sintra's fabled palaces and castles located in very romantic and exotic scenery. The island territories of Madeira and the Azores have also a growing potential.
Transportation and communications
Main articles: Transportation in Portugal and Communications in Portugal
Communications in Portugal
Communications in Portugal disciple]]
Transportation was seen as a priority in the 1990s, pushed by the growing use of automobiles and industrialization. The country has a 68,732 km network of highways. 1,300 km is the total length of 44 freeways that connect most of the country.
Seaports are important due to Portugal's large coastline, and its strategic position in Europe and in the Atlantic ocean. The main seaports are Lisbon in the centre, Leixões (Porto) in the North, Setúbal and Sines in the south, Funchal and Ponta Delgada in the Atlantic. The most important airports are those of Lisbon, Faro and Porto, these last two had extensive development recently. There are also important airports in the islands, such has the airport of Funchal (Madeira Island), Porto Santo (Porto Santo Island), and Ponta Delgada (Azores).
The two principal metropolitan areas have subway systems: Lisbon Metro and Porto Metro, both with more than 35 km of commercial lines. Both systems are linked by sharing stations with High-speed Pendolino trains that link both cities. The South Tagus Metro system is in construction and will connect the urban areas south of Lisbon. Another metro system for Coimbra is intended.
The Pendolino lines (Alfa pendular) of Comboios de Portugal (CP) links Braga, Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon and Faro, linking the country in a vertical way. Intercity and regional trains link these cities with many other cities throughout the country. Construction of a high-speed TGV line connecting Porto and Lisbon, and Lisbon with Madrid will begin in 2008. The line between Porto and Lisbon will have five station (Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Leiria, Ota New Airport and Lisbon), but the trains in rarely stop in the intermediary stations. The New Airport for Lisbon will be built at the same time in Ota.
In the technology area, Portugal has one of the highest mobile phone possession rates in the world (over 100%), there have been more mobile phone subscribers than main line subscribers for several years now. Third generation mobile phones, UMTS, have been largely commercialized by operators since early 2004. The main telecom company is Portugal Telecom (PT), a telecommunications multinational, it dominates some markets, among them the national one. In the mobile section, the market is split between three operators: TMN (PT group), Vodafone, and Optimus (SONAE group), but competition is growing with the appearance of two promising national upstarts: Rede 4 and Uzo.
Strangely, while having such a high mobile phone rate, Portugal has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the EU. More than 8% (4th quarter, 2004) of the population use high-speed internet services, almost twice as much as the previous year. 41% of households in Portugal had a computer in the first quarter of 2004, only 26% of the population had Internet; an additional 4% also used it. 78% of companies with more than 10 employees had Internet access. Competition between the major broadband Internet providers of the PT and Clix groups has recently caused large increases in the available bandwidth provided to home users (from 512 kbit/s and 1 Mbit/s to 2 and 4 Mbit/s), speeds go up to 16 Mbit/s in Clix (SONAE group) lines and 8 Mbit/s in other companies, most notably PT Group cable and ADSL companies, where a 20Mbit/s service is expected to be launched in late 2005, to compete with the much lower-priced services of Clix, although PT group is the leader of the market. Main television broadcasters are the state-run RTP1 and RTP2 and the privately owned SIC and TVI. Most Portuguese see television through cable (by June 2004: 73.6% of households), where the major broadcasters have thematic channels. The main cable company TV Cabo (PT group) is trying to shift all of its customer's services to digital after an unsuccessful experience with Interactive TV.
Demographics
TV Cabo
Portugal is a fairly homogeneous country linguistically and religiously. Ethnically, the Portuguese people are a combination of several ethnicities: pre-Roman Iberian and Celtic tribes with Romans and Germanic tribes. Moors became a reduced influence, as essentialy they were expelled during the Reconquista. Jews comprised 10% of the population in the 16th Century until they were forced to move abroad or convert to Catholicism.
Portugal's biggest metropolitan cities are Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Aveiro, and Coimbra.
The first census in Portugal dates from 1864. But, in the 16th century, John III called for a population count in continental Portugal and between 1527 and 1532 there was a population of 1 to 1.4 million. In 1801, there were 2,913,000 inhabitants.
Between 1960 and 1970, more than one million Portuguese emigrated, mostly to other European countries, resulting in a negative population growth. Previously, Brazil has been the destination of many, especially since the 18th century. Since mid 1970s major changes started to influence the country's demographics as life expectancy went up; the infant mortality rate and the fertility rate broadly declined; and, with the decolonisation, many Portuguese returned from Africa.
In the 2001 Census, Portugal had 10,356,117 inhabitants (51,7% female). Currently, there are almost 10.6 million inhabitants. By the end of 2003, legal immigrants represented 4.2% of the population, and the largest communities were: Ukrainians (15%), Brazilians (14.8%), Cape Verdeans (14.4%), and Angolans (7.9%). There are also a significant number of illegal immigrants. Portugal still has 5 million emigrants abroad (mainly France and South Africa with one million each, and the rest spread among Venezuela, the Unites States, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg and other countries).
The great majority of the Portuguese population is a member of the Roman Catholic Church. Religious minorities include a little over 300,000 Protestants. There are also about 50,000 Muslims and 10,000 Hindus (most of whom came from Goa, a former Portuguese colony on the west coast of India). There are also about 1,000 Jews. Atheists and agnostics are increasing in number. Esoterism is also practised by small minorities as well the oriental philosophies as a modern trend.
The country is characterized by city, town or village cultural differentiation and there is small or no regional differentiation, unlike what happens in other European countries. Portuguese is spoken throughout the country, some of Terra de Miranda's Mirandese speaking villages and towns being the only linguistic minority. There are now increasing new immigrants from portuguese speaking countries which speak several different languages, especially from Cape Verde islands. Communities from Eastern europe are coming to Portugal, from Ukraine, Moldova and Romania.
Education
Romania]
Portugal's education system is divided into Pré-Escolar (children less than 6 years old), Ensino Básico (three phases in a total of 9 years), Ensino Secundário (three years, several areas) and Ensino Superior (Universities and Colleges grouped into Polytechnic Institutes). Education is free and compulsory for 9 years of study. A newly undertaken scheme will make education compulsory until the student becomes an adult (18 years old). The country still has a 6.7% illiteracy rate, almost exclusively among the elderly.
The first Portuguese university – The Estudo Geral (General studies, Today's University of Coimbra) - was created on March 1st, 1290 in Lisbon with the document Scientiae thesaurus mirabilis by King Denis. The university was transferred to Coimbra in 1308, though the university moved several times between the two cities until 1537. In 1559, the University of Évora was founded in Portugal by Cardinal Henry, future king of Portugal and Pope Paul IV and it was delivered to the Society of Jesus. In the 18th century, Sebastião de Melo, Marquis of Pombal closed the University of Évora, because he wanted to exterminate the Jesuit power in Portugal and in its empire. He also reformed the University of Coimbra, as it was divorced from the true exact sciences. The 19th century - the industrialization era - created the need for new education institutions in the country, the "industrial studies". In 1837, the Escola Politécnica (Polytechnic School) in Lisbon and the Academia Politécnica opens. The rhetorical behaviour of these new institutions led the Prime-Minister of the Kingdom Fontes Pereira de Melo in 1852 to create the Instituto Industrial de Lisboa (Institute of Industry, today's IST and ISEL) in Lisbon and the Escola Industral (School of Industry, today's ISEP) in Porto. In 1825, the Lisbon Royal School of Surgery and Porto Royal School of Surgery had also opened.
With the advent of the republic, the polytechnic and surgery schools were incorporated as faculties into the newly created University of Lisbon and the University of Porto. The Lisbon Institute of Industry led to the creation of IST (the Institute of Technology) which was grouped with other colleges in the Technical University of Lisbon in the 1930s. In the 1960s the first non-governmental institution opened, the Portuguese Catholic University.
The 1970s marked a new era in Portugal's higher education with many universities and polytechnics opening in many cities, such as the University of Aveiro and the University of Minho in the universitary subsector, and the Lisbon Polytechnic and Porto Polytechnic in the polytechnic subsector. Subsequently, several private universities opened.
Culture
WriterThe term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. Skilled writers demonstrate skills in using language to portray ideas and images, whether producing fiction or non-fiction.
A writer may compose in many different forms, including (but not limited to): poetry, prose, music. Accordingly, a writer in specialist mode may rank as a poet, novelist, composer, lyricist, playwright, mythographer, journalist, film scriptwriter, etc. (See also: creative writing, technical writing and academic papers).
Writers' output frequently contributes to the cultural content of a society, and that society may value its writerly corpus -- or literature -- as an art much like the visual arts (see painting, sculpture, photography), music, craft and performance art (see: drama, theatre, opera, musical).
Alternative uses of "writer"
Practitioners within some specialized fields also use the term "writer" to describe their arts. For instance, advertising creatives, gag-writers and graffiti artists also refer to themselves as "writers." In these contexts, "writer" may be considered an alternative use of the term, rather than describing a so-called "literary" or "serious" writer as discussed above.
A "writer" can also be mechanic. For example, court reporters often refer to their stenotype machine as a writer.
Similarly, some word processors are called "writer", such as OpenOffice.org Writer and Nisus Writer.
See also
- author - a closely-related and overlapping concept
- language
- lists of authors
- List of women writers
- style guide
- writing
- hack writer
- List of writers' conferences
- International PEN
- PEN American Center
External links
- [http://www.wga.org Writers Guild of America, west]
- [http://www.wgae.org Writers Guild of America, east]
- [http://www.writersguild.org.uk Writers' Guild of Great Britain]
- [http://www.writersguildofcanada.com/ Writers' Guild of Canada]
- [http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/ International PEN]
- [http://www.authorssociety.org/ Authors Society.org]
- [http://www.Writing.Com/ Writers]
Category:Media occupations
Category:Literature
ja:著作家
ko:작가
th:นักเขียน
1922
1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar).
Events
- January 7 - Dáil Éireann, the extra-legal parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64-57 votes.
- January 10 - Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann.
- January 11 - First successful insulin treatment of diabetes.
- January 12 - British government releases remaining Irish prisoners captured in the War of Independence.
- January 13 - Flu epidemic has claimed 804 victims in Britain.
- January 15 - Michael Collins becomes Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government.
- January 24 - Christian K. Nelson patents the Eskimo Pie.
- January 29 - Union of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador is dissolved
- February 1 - William Desmond Taylor, Hollywood director, is shot in his home
- February 2 - Ulysses (novel) by James Joyce is published in Paris on his fortieth birthday by Sylvia Beach.
- February 5 - DeWitt and Lila Wallace publish the first issue of Reader's Digest.
- February 6 - Achille Ratti becomes Pope Pius XI.
- February 6 - Five Power Naval Disarmament Treaty signed between United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy
- February 8 - President of the United States, Warren G. Harding introduces the first radio in the White House.
- February 8 - Cheka becomes GPU, a section of NKVD
- February 14 - Finnish Minister of the Interior Heikki Ritavuori is assassinated by Ernst Tandefelt.
- February 25 - Murderer Henri Désiré Landru's head is chopped off by the guillotine.
- February 27 - A challenge to the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing women the right to vote, is rebuffed by the Supreme Court of the United States.
- February 28 - The United Kingdom accepts the independence of Egypt.
- March 1 - Ice mass breaks the Oder dam in Breslau
- March 1 - The British Civil Aviation Authority is established.
- March 11 - Mohandas Gandhi is arrested in Bombay for sedition
- March 15 - Egypt having gained nominal independence from the United Kingdom, Fuad I becomes King of Egypt.
- March 18 - In India, Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for sedition. He would serve only two years.
- March 20 - The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
- April 7 - Teapot Dome scandal: United States Secretary of the Interior leases Teapot Dome oil reserves in Wyoming.
- April 7 - First air collision between Daimler Airways DH 18 ja Grands Express Farman Goliat collide over Poix
- April 10 - The historic Genoa Conference commences in Genoa. The representatives of 34 countries convened to speak about monetary economics in the wake of World War I.
- April 13 - State of Massachusetts opens all public offices to women
- April 16 - The Treaty of Rapallo marks rapprochement between the Weimar Republic and Bolshevist Russia.
- May 5 - In The Bronx, construction begins on Yankee Stadium.
- May 12 - 20-ton meteorite lands near Blackstone, Virginia, USA
- May 19 - Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union is established.
- May 29 - British Liberal MP Horatio Bottomley jailed for 7 years for fraud
fraud
- May 30 - In Washington, D.C., the Lincoln Memorial is dedicated.
- June 1 - Official founding of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
- June 1 - Bolshevik forces defeat Asmachi troops under Enver Pasha
- June 22 - IRA rebels assassinated British field marshal Henry Wilson in Belgravia - assassins are sentenced to death July 18.
- June 24 - Assassination of Weimar Republic foreign minister Walter Rathenau - murderers are captured July 17
- June 26 - Louis Honoré Charles Antoine Grimaldi becomes Reigning Prince Louis II of Monaco.
- June 28 - The Irish Civil War begins
- August 12 - Death of Arthur Griffith, President of Dáil Éireann
- August 22 - Death of General Michael Collins - President of the Irish Provisional Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Provisional Army, killed in an ambush.
- August 23 - Revolt against the Spanish in Morocco
- August 28 - Japan agrees to withdraw its troops from Siberia
- September 9 - Turkish forces pursuing withdrawing Greek troops enter Smyrna
- September 11 - One of the Herald Sun of Melbourne, Australia's predecessor papers The Sun News-Pictorial is founded.
- September 13 - 15 - Fire, probably started by Turkish troops, destroys most of Smyrna. Death toll estimated 100,000
- September 18 - Hungary joins the League of Nations
- October 9 - Sir William Horwood, London Metropolitan Police Service commissioner is poisoned by arsenic-filled chocolates
- October 23 - German army occupies Saxony and crushes Soviet Republic of Saxony
- October 25 - The Third Dáil enacts the Constitution of the Irish Free State.
- October 28 - In Italy, with the March on Rome, Fascism obtains power and Benito Mussolini becomes prime minister
- October 28 - Red Army occupies Vladivostok
- October 31 - Benito Mussolini becomes the youngest Premier in the history of Italy.
- September 23 - Gdynia Seaport Construction Act passed by the Polish parliament.
- November 1 - Ottoman Empire is abolished and its last sultan Mehmed VI Vahdettin abdicates.
- November 1 - The broadcasting license fee of ten shillings introduced in the United Kingdom
- November 4 - In Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men find the entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
- November 14 - The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) begins radio service in the United Kingdom. 2LO became the first radio station in the United Kingdom.
- November 17 - Former Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI leaves for exile in Italy.
- November 19 - Abdul Mejid II, Crown Prince of the Ottoman Empire is elected Caliph.
- November 21 - Rebecca Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first woman United States Senator.
- November 24 - Popular author and Irish Republican Army member Robert Erskine Childers is executed by an Irish Free State firing squad for illegally carrying a revolver.
- November 26 - Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Egyptian King Tutankhamun in over 3000 years.
Tutankhamun
- December 5 - British parliament enacts the Irish Free State Constitution Act, by which it legally sanctions the new Constitution of the Irish Free State.
- December 6 - The Irish Free State officially comes into existence. George V becomes the Free State's monarch. Tim Healy is appointed first Governor-General of the Irish Free State and W.T. Cosgrave becomes President of the Executive Council.
- December 14 - Assassination of Gabriel Narutowicz, the president of Poland
- December 30 - Russia and allied Soviet republics form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
Exact month/day of event unknown
- Invention of Vegemite by Australian Fred Walker
- Kurd Istigdul Djemijetin, the Kurdish Independence Committee, founded
- Ring Magazine first published
- Molly Pitcher Club formed to promote the repeal of prohibition in United States
- Raymond Pearl founds Quarterly Review of Biology.
- Thompson Webb founds The Webb Schools
Births
January-March
- January 1 - Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, U.S. Senator from South Carolina
- January 7 - Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flutist (d. 2000)
- January 9 - Har Gobind Khorana, Indian biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- January 13 - Albert Lamorisse, French film director (d. 1970)
- January 16 - Ernesto Bonino, Italian singer
- January 17 - Nicholas Katzenbach, American politician
- January 17 - Betty White, American television actress
- January 19 - Guy Madison, American actor (d. 1996)
- January 21 - Paul Scofield, English actor
- January 22 - Leonel Brizola, Brazilian politician
- January 28 - Robert W. Holley, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1993)
- January 30 - Dick Martin, American comedian
- February 1 - Renata Tebaldi, Italian soprano (d. 2004)
- February 6 - Patrick Macnee, British actor
- February 6 - Bill Johnston, Australian cricketer
- February 6 - Denis Norden, British television and radio scriptwriter and personality
- February 7 - Hattie Jacques, British actress (d. 1980)
- February 9 - Kathryn Grayson, American actress
- February 15 - John Bayard Anderson, U.S Congressman and Presidential candidate
- February 17 - Marshall Teague, American race car driver (d. 1959)
- February 18 - Helen Gurley Brown, American editor and publisher
- February 24 - Richard Hamilton, British painter
- February 24 - Steven Hill, American actor
- March 1 - William Gaines, American publisher of MAD Magazine (d. 1992)
- March 1 - Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1995)
- March 5 - Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian film director
- March 8 - Mizuki Shigeru, Japanese author
- March 9 - Tommy Cooper, British comedian and magician (d. 1984)
- March 12 - Jack Kerouac, American author (d. 1969)
- March 12 - Lane Kirkland, American union leader (d. 1999)
- March 18 - Egon Bahr, German politician
- March 20 - Carl Reiner, American film director, producer, actor, and comedian
- March 21 - Russ Meyer, American film director and producer (d. 2004)
- March 27 - Stefan Wul, French writer (d. 2003)
- March 28 - Felice Chiusano, Italian singer (Quartetto Cetra)
- March 28 - Joey Maxim, American boxer (d. 2001)
- March 31 - Richard Kiley, American actor and singer (d. 1999)
April-June
- April 1 - William Manchester, American writer (d. 2004)
- April 3 - Maurice Riel, Canadian Senator
- April 4 - Elmer Bernstein, American composer (d. 2004)
- April 5 - Sir Tom Finney, English footballer
- April 5 - Christopher Hewett, British actor (d. 2001)
- April 5 - Gale Storm, American singer and actress
- April 7 - Mongo Santamaria, Cuban jazz musician (d. 2003)
- April 13 - Julius Nyerere, President of Tanzania (d. 1999)
- April 16 - Sir Kingsley Amis, English novelist (d. 1995)
- April 22 - Charles Mingus, American musician (d. 1979)
- April 28 - Alistair MacLean, Scottish writer (d. 1987)
- May 7 - Darren McGavin, American actor
- May 14 - Franjo Tuđman, President of Croatia (d. 1999)
- May 15 - Setouchi Jakucho, Japanese writer and Buddhist nun
- May 18 - Kai Winding, Danish-born musician (d. 1983)
- May 21 - James Lopez Watson, American judge (d. 2001)
- May 22 - Quinn Martin, American television producer (d. 1987)
- May 25 - Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (d. 1984)
- May 27 - Christopher Lee, English actor
- May 28 - Lou Duva, American boxing trainer
- May 29 - Iannis Xenakis, Greek composer (d. 2001)
- May 30 - Hal Clement, American writer (d. 2003)
- May 31 - Denholm Elliott, English actor (d. 1992)
- June 1 - Povel Ramel, Swedish musican
- June 2 - Charlie Sifford, American golfer
- June 10 - Judy Garland, American singer and actress (d. 1969)
- June 18 - Claude Helffer, French pianist (d. 2004)
- June 19 - Aage Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- June 24 - Tata Giacobetti, Italian singer and lyricist (Quartetto Cetra)
- June 29 - Vasko Popa, Yugoslavian poet (d. 1991)
July to December
- July 15 - Leon M. Lederman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- July 18 - Thomas Kuhn, American philosopher of science (d. 1996)
- July 19 - Tuanku Jaafar ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman, King of Malaysia
- July 31 - Bill Kaysing, American writer
- August 15 - Lukas Foss, German-born composer
- August 17 - Agostinho Neto, Angolan politician (d. 1979)
- August 22 - Sosuke Uno, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1998)
- August 23 - George Kell, baseball player
- September 1 - Vittorio Gassmann, Italian actor and director (d. 2000)
- September 3 - Salli Terri, Canadian mezzo-soprano (d. 1996)
- September 8 - Sid Caesar, American actor and comedian
- September 9 - Hans Georg Dehmelt, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- September 12 - Jackson Mac Low, American poet (d. 2004)
- September 15 - Jackie Cooper, American actor and director
- September 22 - Chen Ning Yang, Chinese-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- September 25 - Hammer DeRoburt, first President of Nauru (d. 1992)
- October 1 - Burke Marshall, American lawyer and politician (d. 2003)
- October 5 - José Froilán González, Argentine race car driver
- October 15 - Luigi Giussani, Italian Catholic priest (d. 2005)
- October 22 - John Chafee, American politician (d. 1999)
- October 27 - Poul Bundgaard, Danish actor and singer (d. 1998)
- October 31 - Barbara Bel Geddes, film and stage actress (d. 2005)
- November 8 - Christiaan Barnard, South African surgeon (d. 2001)
- November 11 - Kurt Vonnegut, American novelist
- November 14 - Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Egyptian Secretary General of the United Nations
- November 14 - Veronica Lake, American actress
- November 16 - José Saramago, Portuguese author, Nobel Prize laureate
- November 17 - Stanley Cohen, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- November 19 - Yuri Knorosov, Russian linguist and epigrapher (d. 1999)
- November 26 - Charles M. Schulz American cartoonist (d. 2000)
- December 11 - Dilip Kumar, Indian actor
- December 14 - Nikolay Basov, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
- December 22 - Barbara Billingsley, American actress
- December 22 - Jack Brooks, American politician
- December 23 - Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician (d. 2001)
- December 23 - Donald Tennant, American advertising agency executive (d.2001)
- December 28 - Stan Lee, American comics creator
Deaths
- January 5 - Ernest Shackleton, Irish explorer (b. 1874)
- January 22 - Pope Benedict XV (b. 1854)
- January 22 - Fredrik Bajer, Danish politician and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1837)
- February 2 - William Desmond Taylor, Irish-born film director (b. 1872)
- March 1 - Rafael Moreno Aranzadi, Spanish footballer (b. 1892)
- March 24 - Walter Parr, British preacher (b. 1871)
- April 1 - Emperor Karl I of Austria (b. 1887)
- April 2 - Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychiatrist (b. 1884)
- May 18 - Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1845)
- May 19 - Son, Byong-Hi, Korean leader of the March 1st Movement (b. 1861)
- June 6 - Lillian Russell, American singer and actress (b. 1861)
- June 18 - Jacobus Kapteyn, Dutch astronomer (b. 1851)
- June 26 - Albert I of Monaco (b. 1848)
- July 20 - Andrey Markov, Russian mathematician (b. 1856)
- August 2 - Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born inventor (b. 1847)
- August 5 - Harry Boland, Irish republican (b. 1887)
- August 12 - Arthur Griffith, President of Ireland (b. 1871)
- August 22 - Michael Collins, Irish leader (assassinated) (b. 1890)
- September 4 - Sarah L. Winchester, builder of the Winchester Mystery House (b. 1837)
- October 30 - Géza Gárdonyi, Hungarian author (b. 1863)
- November 7 - Sam Thompson, baseball player (b. 1860)
Marriages
January-March
- January 27 - Bill Robinson & Fannie S. Clay
- February 4 - Pauline Frederick & Dr. C.A. Rutherford
- February 10 - Leslie Groves & Grace Hulbert Wilson
- February 14 - Douglas MacArthur & Louise Cromwell Brooks
- February 14 - Joan Lindsay & Sir Daryl Lindsay
- February 16 - Thelma Morgan & James Vail Converse
- March 3 - Sarah T. Hughes & George Ernest Hughes
April-June
- April 4 - Dorothy Cumming & Frank Elliott Dakin
- April 25 - Brooke Temple & Dana Alvina Turner
- May 2 - Isadora Duncan & Sergei Esenin
- May 20 - James Thurber & Althea Adams
- May 21 - Dorothy Cottrell & Walter MacKenzie Cottrell
- May 28 - Priscilla Bonner & Allen Wynes Alexander
- June 8 - Aleksandar Karagjorgjevic & Marija Karagjorgjevic
- June 8 - King Alexander of Yugoslavia & Princess Marie Hohenzollern
- June 8 - Marshall Neilan & Blanche Sweet
- June 14 - Bernard Freyberg & Barbara MacLaren
July to December
- July 12 - Ruth Etting & Moe Schneider
- July 18 - Edwina Mountbatten & Louis Mountbatten
- July 30 - Jack Pickford & Marilyn Miller
- August 18 - Al Jolson & Ethel Delmar
- August 26 - Jean Fonteyne & Andrée De Lannay
- August 26 - Barbara Bedford & Alan Roscoe
- September 2 - Margaret Mitchell & Red Berrien Upshaw
- September 28 - James Cagney & Mrs. James Cagney
- October 22 - Robert Crawley Sr. & Muriel Louise Westmore
- October 29 - Robert E. Sherwood & Mary Brandon
- November 5 - Kaiser Wilhelm II & Hermine Reuss-Greiz
- Physics - Niels Henrik David Bohr
- Chemistry - Francis William Aston
- Medicine - Archibald Vivian Hill, Otto Fritz Meyerhof
- Literature - Jacinto Benavente
- Peace - Fridtjof Nansen
Heads of state in 1922
- Albania -
- Xhafer Ypi, Prime Minister of Albania (acting, 1922).
- Ahmet Zogu, Prime Minister of Albania (acting, 1922 - 1924).
- Belgium - King Albert I of Belgium (1909 - 1934).
- Bolshevist Russia/Soviet Union - Mikhail Kalinin, President of the Soviet Union (1919/1922 - 1946).
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