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Portugal at a Glance

Moving to Portugal

Streets like these are a typical sight in Portugal.

Moving to Portugal: Country Overview

After moving to Portugal, you will find yourself in Europe’s westernmost country, bordered to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the north and east by Spain, and to the south – in the Algarve region, a popular place both for tourists and expats moving to Portugal – by the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the northern and eastern part of the elongate country, fairly evenly split in the middle by the Tagus River, is rather mountainous terrain.

As most of the population is concentrated in a densely populated stretch in the northwest, chances are that you might also want to move to Portugal’s Atlantic coast. Seeing how the two largest expat magnets and most significant cities of Portugal, namely Porto and Lisbon, are also located in this area, it has been the prime choice of most expats looking into moving to Portugal. You can find an overview of both cities below.

Move to Portugal: Portugal’s Islands

Two archipelagos in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea are also part of the national territory of Portugal, namely Madeira and the Azores. Both are fascinating destinations in their own right and world-renown tourist magnets, but not exactly the first thing that pops into an expat’s mind when thinking of moving to Portugal. Thus, our article series on living and working in as well as moving to Portugal focus solely on the mainland on the Iberian Peninsula.

Moving to Portugal: Lisbon

Moving to Portugal’s capital Lisbon has long been among the best options for expats and the city’s recent European City of the Year 2012 award could rekindle expat interest in moving to Portugal’s administrative heart. While the actual municipality of Lisbon is rather small in size – less than 600.000 inhabitants as of 2011 – you should not forget that you will be moving to Portugal’s largest metropolitan area with a population that borders on 3 million. With the city’s extensive public transportation system, spanning buses, a metro system, and trams, those of you who opt against moving to Portugal’s capital but would rather settle in its periphery should not have any problems getting to work and back again without much hassle. 

Unsurprisingly, chances are that expatriates moving to Portugal will probably take up employment in the tertiary sector – Lisbon’s city’s main economic driving force and also one of the main factors that helped make the region the wealthiest of the entire nation. Apart from economic considerations, there is, of course, also a cultural side to your move to Portugal. Apart from a wealth of museums, parks, and monuments, Lisbon exudes an aura of history. This is not only apparent in the beautiful architecture of the city, which combines elements of various schools and epochs, from baroque to postmodern.

Moving to Portugal: Porto

Porto, frequently and incorrectly also called Oporto, is probably the first city that springs to mind not only for tourists, but also a large number of people who could imagine moving to Portugal. Little wonder, as one of the nation’s most famous exports, port wine, originated in the area. Needless to say, however, that the city has a lot more in store than fortified wine.

Just like Lisbon, the actual city area and population numbers of Porto are relatively small. Again, just like Lisbon, Porto compensates for this fact with a huge metropolitan area, the second largest in the entire country. The city and its surroundings may even be the most interesting places for expats interested in moving to Portugal, as the economy in the northern part of the country, where Porto is located, arguably has the most diverse economic profile in terms of sectors, companies, and products. With the city as the unrivalled economic heart of the region, opportunities and incentives for expats to move to Portugal’s northwestern shore abound in Porto.

In the end, the city you will find yourself in after moving to Portugal will largely depend on the employment opportunities that are available to you, and less on personal preference. But, as expats who have made the move to Portugal before you will surely attest to, both Porto and Lisbon are global cities of world renown and will both make an equally great home away from home for expats!