The Country of Discoveries

[Donfuy]

Portugal once was a very important country, the country who once ruled the world, at the Age of Discoveries.

We had the most advanced sea equipment, we were ahead of everyone.

We sailed through seas no one sailed, we discovered the coast of Africa, we discovered America (not Cristovão Colombo, there are many who are sure that Portugal discovered America before him, and that Portugal did know that that place wasn't India, that being the reason why she refused to pay Colombo's trip to "India"), we discovered the maritime path to India (we doubled the Cape of Good Hope).

This is a small list of Portuguese achievements.


Why did I make this topic?

-I'm surprised how Portugal is so badly known in the world (in my way of vision, all people think of Portugal as a "minor" country);
-I want to know if and what you learn about Portugal in school.




Sounds like advertising? No. It's more frustration of one who lives on a country where everyone says "we live in such a little country, nobody cares about us, we're so unknown" <- pisses me off.

[MattKestrel]

That does piss me off. I've always regarded Portugal as a major country as I would call Spain a major country. Honestly, the cultural diversity warrants this imo. Also, you learn to appreciate the Portuguese playing Age Of Empires 3 online for a while :P

[otters~1]

My World History class stressed Portugal quite a bit, but also emphasized how Britain took over maritime dominance somewhat. Anyway, since the Vikings showed up in Newfoundland a good 500 years earlier, your point about discovery of America is moot.

And has it occurred to you that what you learn in school is biased? In America, it definitely is. We are basically taught to believe that the US is responsible for every good thing in the last 200 years.

[Skyling]

Portugal is very pretty.

[SlappyMcGee]

Just like Donfuy was taught in Portugal's schools that Portugal was responsible for everything, right?

Portugal is a great country to live in. It has a great education system, lots of culture, and is technologically advanced. At one point, it controlled a lot of land and was a major power in the world.

But let's face facts: In modern day, Portugal is both a small country in landmass and in population. Its military couldn't occupy a suburb of Detroit, and your soccer team is only my third favorite.

It's not that important.

[Donfuy]

Just like Donfuy was taught in Portugal's schools that Portugal was responsible for everything, right?

In fact, no. In History classes, we learn that once, a major Portugal existed, and that Portugal is now a minor country.



I remember that study some years ago (I think I've already mentioned this on the old forums) who showed that many ("many" as in, I don't remember but sure a lot of persons, an impressive number of persons) Americans didn't know what Portugal was or where Portugal is located. Some did even ask "Isn't it a region of Spain?"



At school we learn the most important bits of History, and as I learned stuff about you guys, most persons should know at least the name of the country.



And, of course, Portugal is now a mess.

It has a great education system.

You don't know that, but currently, all teachers really hate the minister of Education. She is bitch. She looks like bitch. And she is bitch to both teachers and students.

[SlappyMcGee]

"Total adult literacy rate is 95%. Portuguese primary school enrollments are close to 100%. About 20% of college-age students attend one of the country's higher education institutions (compared with 50% in the United States). In addition to being a key destination for international students, Portugal is also among the top places of origin for international students. All higher education students, both domestic and international, totaled 380,937 in 2005."

All of your post seems to have done is confirmed the fact that Portugal is a minor country. I think it's humourous that you'd get offended when we can't find Portugal on the map. Can you point out Chad, Senegal, Mali. Zambia, Burkina Faso, and Mozambique on a map? They all have higher populations than Portugal, and are seen as minor countries. You don't feel the need to know much about those countries because they aren't important to the global scope of today, and neither is Portugal. Whatever silly patriotism you're clinging to doesn't mean the rest of us should have to know about it.

[otters~1]

Most Americans (I would refer you to the People are Pathetic thread) are pretty shitty at Geography, and, in fact, everything else. Apathy and atrophy--we're known for both.

Happily, I can point out Portugal on a map, in addition to all of the countries Slappy mentioned. If I couldn't, I rather think I meant just give up on life.

[Donfuy]

"Total adult literacy rate is 95%. Portuguese primary school enrollments are close to 100%. About 20% of college-age students attend one of the country's higher education institutions (compared with 50% in the United States). In addition to being a key destination for international students, Portugal is also among the top places of origin for international students. All higher education students, both domestic and international, totaled 380,937 in 2005."

All of your post seems to have done is confirmed the fact that Portugal is a minor country. I think it's humourous that you'd get offended when we can't find Portugal on the map. Can you point out Chad, Senegal, Mali. Zambia, Burkina Faso, and Mozambique on a map? They all have higher populations than Portugal, and are seen as minor countries. You don't feel the need to know much about those countries because they aren't important to the global scope of today, and neither is Portugal. Whatever silly patriotism you're clinging to doesn't mean the rest of us should have to know about it.

My point was, if you do learn about the global History of the World, and being Portugal one of the powers that existed (I don't think any of the countries you said have achieved that - correct me if wrong), it should be more recognizable than it actually is.


I was wrong.

[MattKestrel]

Just from an outsider's point of view, none of those African countries had anywhere near the historical significance of Portugal. I know nowadays Portugal doesn't have a higher population or other statistic than most of those countires, but I'd have thought history would have distinguished the two as major and minor respectively. I mean, what have any of those countries ever achieved on the scale of Portugal?

So, although Portugal has no comparative power compared to other "major" countries, it's historical and cultural significance make it more recognisable to me, imo.

And it's really not that hard to find Portugal on a map imo, partly because it's conveniently close to Spain, which is even more recognisable.

[Skyling]

It has long been theorized that Africa is the continent from which human beings originated from. I would say that is a rather important thing, isn't it? And yet the entirety of our school curriculum is not dedicated to it.

Just because a region has done something globally relevant in the distant past does not mean it should be lauded and praised in modern times. There will always be people who do and do not know where Portugal is on a map. Get over it.

[EdoI]

I can definitely find every country from Europe, Asia, Africa and any America except Central. Actually, the only area I couldn't recognize countries would be Oceania and Central America.
I don't know about you, but we here at least mention main data about every country from the world on Geography classes, and from every area we learn about the biggest or the most important country more detailed.