50 free Portugal trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
41 free Portugal trivia questions with answers. Portugal trivia for travellers, expats, geography buffs and quiz hosts. The 50 questions start easy, with the capital, the neighbour, the islands and Ronaldo's birthplace, then dig into what makes the country distinctive: the westernmost point of Europe, the earthquake that flattened Lisbon on All Saints' Day, the revolution won with carnations, and the alliance with England that has held since 1386. There is a full round on the Age of Discovery (Henry the Navigator, Dias, da Gama, Magellan, the empire that lasted until 1999), plus food and drink (bacalhau, pastel de nata, piri piri, how port is made), fado, azulejos, the Rooster of Barcelos, Fátima, Sintra and Euro 2016. Every answer has been checked against a reference source, shown under each question once you answer, so it holds up in a classroom or a pub quiz.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Portugal shares its only land border with which country?
Spain
Its borders have barely moved since the Treaty of Alcañices in 1297, making them among the oldest in Europe.
Q 02Besides the Azores, which autonomous Atlantic archipelago lies about 805 km southwest of mainland Portugal?
Madeira
It sits about 805 km southwest of the mainland on the African tectonic plate, and roughly half its people live in Funchal.
Q 03Portugal's highest point, Mount Pico, is not on the mainland at all. Where is it?
The Azores
The dormant volcano rises 2,351 metres on Pico Island, more than twice the height of anything else in the archipelago.
Q 04Cabo da Roca, near Sintra, holds what geographical distinction?
Westernmost point of mainland Europe
Its lighthouse has been operating since 1772.
Q 05Lisbon is usually ranked as the second-oldest capital city in Europe, after which city?
Athens
Julius Caesar made the Phoenician-founded town a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding the name to the older Olisipo.
Q 06The 1755 earthquake that destroyed Lisbon struck on the morning of which religious feast?
All Saints' Day
It lasted up to six minutes, and about 40 minutes later a tsunami swept in over survivors who had fled to the docks.
Q 07Portugal's overthrow of the Estado Novo dictatorship on 25 April 1974 is known by what name?
The Carnation Revolution
Almost no shots were fired, and a restaurant worker named Celeste Caeiro handed flowers to soldiers, who put them in their gun barrels.
Q 08Portugal's monarchy was replaced by a republic in which year?
1910
King Carlos I and the crown prince had been assassinated by republicans two years earlier.
Q 09Portugal joined the European Economic Community, forerunner of the EU, in which year?
1986
It had already been a founding member of NATO in 1949 and of EFTA in 1960.
Q 10The 1386 pact sealing the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, the world's oldest still in force, was signed where?
Windsor
The two countries have never fought each other since, apart from one brief episode during the Iberian Union.
Q 11The Portuguese Empire ended when which territory was handed over in 1999?
Macau
It had begun with the capture of Ceuta in 1415 and at its 1820 peak covered about 5.5 million square kilometres.
Q 12Which Portuguese prince, born in 1394, is credited as a main initiator of the Age of Discovery?
Henry the Navigator
He backed his father's 1415 conquest of Ceuta and directed the systematic exploration of West Africa using the new caravel.
Q 13Which Portuguese navigator became the first European to round the southern tip of Africa, in 1488?
Bartolomeu Dias
He proved the fastest route south ran far out into the open Atlantic, well west of the coast, which da Gama later used.
Q 21Portuguese bacalhau is said to have how many recipes, one for each day of the year?
365
Others insist on 1,001, and cod is one of the few fish this fish-loving nation prefers not to eat fresh.
Q 22Port wine is fortified by adding a neutral grape spirit at what point in the process?
Partway through fermentation
Stopping fermentation early leaves the wine sweet and pushes the alcohol to roughly 19-22%.
Q 23Which 1703 agreement let English merchants import port at low duty?
The Methuen Treaty
War with France had cut English drinkers off from French wine at just the right moment.
Q 14In which year did a Portuguese fleet reach Kozhikode, completing the first sea route from Europe to India?
1498
Vasco da Gama's arrival on 20 May 1498 shifted the whole Portuguese economy from Africa to the spice trade.
Q 15Which Portuguese king refused to back Magellan's westward voyage to the Spice Islands?
Manuel I
Charles I of Spain approved it instead, and Magellan sailed from Seville in 1519 under the Spanish flag.
Q 16In which year did Portugal claim its first Age of Discovery find, an uninhabited Atlantic island group?
1419
Two captains driven off course by a storm had first sighted neighbouring Porto Santo, 'holy harbour', the year before.
Q 17Portugal produces roughly what share of the world's cork harvest?
About half
Robert Hooke's microscopic study of cork is what led him to discover and name the biological cell.
Q 18Portuguese is the official language of how many countries?
Eight
With about 267 million native speakers it is the fifth most spoken native language on Earth and the most spoken in the Southern Hemisphere.
Q 19In which year was fado added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list?
2011
The word may come from the Latin fatum, meaning fate, and the music is tied to the untranslatable feeling of saudade.
Q 20The pastel de nata was created by monks in which Lisbon district, whose name means Bethlehem?
Belém
Monasteries used egg whites to starch habits and had yolks to spare; the recipe was sold to a sugar refinery whose owners opened the Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém in 1837.
Q 24Which chilli pepper, developed by Portuguese explorers in southern Africa, is named from the Swahili for 'pepper'?
Piri piri
The Oxford Dictionary traces it to the Ronga language of southern Mozambique.
Q 25Portugal won its first major football trophy at Euro 2016 by beating which host nation in the final?
France
The 1-0 win came after extra time at the Stade de France, with Cristiano Ronaldo watching from the touchline after an early injury.
Q 26Which Ballon d'Or winner led Portugal to third place at the 1966 World Cup?
Eusébio
The country then had to wait until the 2000s to begin an unbroken run of qualifying for every Euro and World Cup.
Q 27Which Portuguese writer won the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature?
José Saramago
The citation praised his 'parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony'.
Q 28Coimbra was the capital of Portugal during which period?
1131-1255
The city still has a Roman aqueduct and cryptoporticus from its days as Aeminium.
Q 29Belém Tower and the Jerónimos Monastery exemplify which ornate style named after a Portuguese king?
Manueline
It mixes late Gothic with carved ropes, shells and other maritime motifs brought home by the voyages of discovery.
Q 30Whose remains were moved in 1880 to the Jerónimos church, alongside those of the poet Luís de Camões?
Vasco da Gama
The monastery was built near the launch point of his first voyage and paid for by a tax on the India fleets' profits.