Why is 70% of Portugal Empty

Portugal is the westernmost country in mainland Europe. But did you know that it has one of the most uneven population distributions in the world? In fact, up to 70% of the land in Portugal might be Empty! Want to know the factors that have caused this? Watch the video to find out!

Why is 70% of Portugal Empty
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[antoniodejesusviveiros]

As a Portuguese, I consider this video an exaggeration. I lived in Tras-os-montes for a few years and I still travel there and the truth is that I did not see that there were empty towns, nor that any language other than Portuguese was spoken, even though they had a close commercial relationship with the Spanish inhabitants. On the other hand, Yes, in Spain, there are populations and regions completely uninhabited since the 1960s, but in Portugal this case has never occurred.

[vladibalan]

I learned more about Portugal by reading the comments, lol.

[deuteros]

I don't see it as a bad thing. There is some land left for the animals and insects to live.

[dickielarue]

Greetings from Estoril...Been a legal resident of Portugal since 2016...Originally from Texas...Traveled and lived all over this beautiful country from Bragança to Tavira and Marvão to Ponta Delgada and everywhere in-between...I.M.H.O the interior is the best part of the country and it is not totally isolated...From smaller villages to larger towns that networked through regions...I lived for a year in Ponte de Lima...one of the oldest villages in Portugal...Absolutely gorgeous, reminded me of many small towns back in Texas...Yet close enough to Braga and Viana do Castelo with larger populations...There is a vibrant interior community with agriculture as well factories of various sorts in the interior of the country...To me the most authentic people in the country are in the interior with my favorite being Alentejo and Viana do Castelo regions...and while the bigger cities such as Braga, Coimbra, Porto, Lisboa in deed have better wages...the quality of life in the interior is superb and I go there often...Off to the Acores in early June...Will do Faial, Pico and São Miguel...but don´t do a video on the Acores Population...It does not need any more Cowboys...😉🤫🤠

[MrKlipstar]

Red zone isn't empty but have less inhabitants, it is a countryside rural landscape with less demographic density, between 10 and 25 residents per sq Km(km2).

[joaoreis]

Nice video! Just a small correction: although there is some regional proud (mainly between the North and Lisbon), Portugal and Portuguese people are not shaped by regional differences, even in the European context. Spain, Italy, Belgium, even Germany, these I would consider countries where regions play an important role in dividing society, what does not happen in here. In Portugal, although that speech exists, it is more in terms of jokes and it has no strong consequences socially speaking (ofc each region has its very own traditions and culture, but even though we like to point that out, when comparing with other countries it is very obvious that we have a very homogenous culture). Also, different regions don't speak different dialects, they just have different accents. The only dialect (or language) that exists in Portugal is "Mirandês", but it is spoken by very few people in the interior of the country, and then some "creolo" that came with the imigration of people from the ex-colonies (particularly around Lisbon).

[mejdrichj]

Spent a few weeks in Portugal in 2019…. The land is gorgeous, the people were very welcoming, and seemed very hardworking…. From Porto to the Algarve, it is a country with which one could fall in love. I cannot wait to visit again…

[Sergio_Loureiro]

Several things wrong here:
1. One of the reasons Portugal has concentrated population in the Coast and Lisbon is that historically, people could have higher wages, and salt extraction was particularly noticeable at make moving people away from interior.
2. It is not Duoro, but Douro
3. Alentejo is pronounced with the J like jet, not like an R
4. Serra de São Mamede is not on the Nort East, even the drawing contradicts what you say
5. In 1960's the government did not encourage immigration. What really happened, is people were fleeing away from the country, and did everything for the portuguese government to not know about it. This was a very common scenario. People wanted to escape the hungriness.
My own father was an example of this. He and his siblings commonly ate at lunch sardine divided by 3 when they were kids. When we was trying to flee to France, when he was already in Spain nearing France. Spanish guards took him to the Portuguese border, and he had to repeat the trip again. And then he was immigrated in Paris 17 years.
My uncle went to France disguised in a truck full of haze, in the middle of haze stacks, for discretion.

[thelusogerman]

Another cultural factor is that the Portuguese are VERY attached to the sea. It's very hard for people that live near the coastlin to got to the interior because we feel almost claustrophobic and dispriented without the great atlantic ocean by our side

[Morgarotg]

I was about to subscribe, but some mistakes stopped me to do it. But, what you say from 4:55 onwards, really left me amazed. You said almost the opposite of what really happened. The government at that time favoured all the territory of Portugal in Europe, building a lot of infrastructure, universities, dams, roads, thousands of schools, bringing electricity to the interior, hospitals, etc. In the last years, due to the overseas was in Africa, only then they started doing it more in Africa than in European Portugal.
Most of the people who left Portugal did it due to the war, not due to economics. During the late 50s, all 60s and the first half of the 70s, Portuguese economy was growing more than the European average. People ran from the war and censorship.
The worst this you said, at 5:34, is that the government promoted emigration... this is actually the opposite of what happened. The government under Salazar never, never promoted emigration from Portugal to other countries, never. This is a lie. They wanted people in. That's why, in order to escape, many had to do it during the night and travel on foot to the border and cross it to Spain.
Such mistakes really made me doubt everything else you say that I didn't know beforehand. Seriously, a simple 5-min read in Wikipedia is enough to understand that the government wanted people in, not out.
I hope next time you do a better research.

[portoferreira]

As Portuguese, I would just like to clarify that we don't have regions with dif dialects. We have different accents actually! In Spain, they have dif dialects, a sibling of Spanish let's say. For us, we all speak Portuguese but depending on where you are, the way we say the same word sounds different. And yes, regarding each region, we're very proud of our accents, futebol teams, food etc eheh but if you go to the biggest cities you'll find people from all corners of the country. Nice video though! ❤

P.s: I'm talking about ACCENTS, not languages so don't twist my words. There are no dialects in Portugal like there are in Spain. For those who clearly did not get my comment. And yes Spain has plenty of other languages. Guess what, so do we! It's still something diff than a freaking accent. That's what's less accurate in the video.

[thomperry]

A fair job on Portugal. The coastal areas vs interior regions was a bit redundant, but then that was the subject at hand. The pronounciation of Portuguese was also good, with the exception of words with NH which I didn't expect you to get, and the J, which I did expect you to get. After all, Portugueses is not Spanish.

[bobcaygeon]

I live in Canada and know/have met many people from Portugal. They are are great people and very hard working. Two very important traits in anyone.

[carlossaraiva]

Foreigners taking an interest in learning about my country never ceases to amaze me. Thank you (, Obrigado 😊)

[NayibBukelePortugal]

Portugal é muito lindo. Otimo lugar para viver ❤❤❤❤❤

[lastsousa]

Documentário sobre Portugal mais errado e confuso que vi até hoje!!!!

[NelsonRebelo]

At 1:01 you are mentioning that the country's interior is dominated by mountains terrain, while you are showing a video of a Vulcanic island in the middle of the atlantic, Madeira.

[howardsportugal]

We live in the Serra da Estrela & it is glorious - have posted a few vids! Yes, it can get cold in the winter, but a huge advantage of being up here is cool nights even in summer...the population is currently at around 1/10th of what it was in the 60's

[vmoses]

These kinds of videos are somewhat simplistic. The interior of Portugal does not have harsh weather and does not present insurmountable topographical challenges. See Canada for harsh weather and Switzerland for crazy terrain. It's just that the population hasn't grown enough for people to move to those lands and there is very little immigration into the country. This video is somewhat analogous to someone saying in 1750 why the 13 colonies on the east coast of the United States are so sparsely populated. It is simply because of a lack of people since now the eastern seaboard of the US is one of the most densely populated and productive in the world. And immigrants are responsible for that. People create cities and make opportunities even in the harshest places. Geography is at best a small impediment.