The earliest known settlements in Portugal were founded by the Phoenicians, but earlier remains from the stone and copper age can be seen in the municipal museums of Albufeira and Lagos. The Romans invaded the Iberian peninsular in 210 BC and by 60 BC, most of Portugal fell under the Roman Empire. The Romans developed spas at Caldas de Monchique and expanded most of the Phoenician trading settlements.

Via Germanic tribes, Christianity began to make inroads into Portugal and in 585 a Christian Visigoth empire was established with a capital at Toledo in Spain and with a major base at Faro. Internal divisions however, led to the first waves of Moors crossing the straits in 71AD, meeting little resistance. Within a decade they had spread into much of Portugal and remained until 711 when the Moors started to settle.

By the Eleventh Century, Portugal was given the status of a country by the Spanish kings of León and, in 1073, Afonso VI came to the throne. With backing of the crusaders, Afonso\'s kingdom was able to expand south, taking Lisbon in 1147. Despite countless attempts by the Christians to take the region, the Algarve remained under Moorish control for another century.

The Christians continued to attack the Algarve from the north for about 100 years, and in the 13 th Century the region was finally conquered, much of it falling to Sancho II (1223-1248) and Afonso III (1248-79). Most of the remaining Arabs were enslaved, although skilled artists known as Mudejars were allowed to stay, ensuring a Moorish influence on architecture and art. Trade links to North Africa collapsed and there were constant threats from Spain. The king, Dom Dinis (1279-1325) entrusted much of the Algarve to noblemen and the church, ensuring that the small population continued to occupy the entire region.

Throughout the beginning of the 14 th Century, Portugal was intermittently at war with Castille, but by signing the treaty of Windsor in 1386, João I secured a truce with Castile and Portugal enjoyed a period of peace and security and developed into a powerful maritime empire. Most of the early expeditions departed from Lisbon, Portimão and Lagos and the Algarve region received an unexpected boost to its economy. The Portuguese moved south round the African coast and began a lucrative gold trade. These new African colonies were to provide Portugal with another source of wealth – in 1444 the first African slaves were sold in Lagos.

Overseas expansion continued under the reign of Manuel I (1495-1521) and in 1498 Vasco da Gama found a sea route to India, opening up the spice trade. Spain and Portugal both signed a treaty in 1494, dividing the world between them giving Portugal the run of the Orient and Brazil - by the mid-sixteenth Century, Portugal dominated world trade. Revenue from the East was topped up by the increasingly large-scale trade in slaves.

José I, son of João V (1750-1777) passed his power to the Marquês de Pombal who set about modernising all aspects of life in Portugal. He established bureaucracy, renewed the tax systems, set up export companies and abolished slavery. One event above all allowed him to rebuild the country – the Great Earthquake of 1755.

Just as the country was recovering from the 1755 earthquake, Napoleon\'s troops advanced on Lisbon in 1807 and the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil. The local Algarve population temporarily resisted but it was only with the help of British troops that the French were forced back into Spain in 1811. A new government and constitution were drawn up by the British and the Portuguese king returned from Brazil in 1821. His son, Miguel, however refused to take the oath of allegiance and formed a reactionary movement which gained support in the poorer region of the Algarve.

The second half of the 19 th Century saw the recovery of Portugal\'s economy with the first signs of industrialisation (much of which was achieved with British backing). A police force was established, along with harbour improvements and the construction of the Lisbon-Faro Railway. The population of the Algarve grew to almost 250,000 but the economy was still largely reliant on fish canning, cork and agriculture. The monarchy however was bankrupt and republican feelings grew, particularly in the army and among the poor. A failed dictatorship attempt from Dom Carlos (1906) led to his assassination in Lisbon and finally, in 1910, the monarchy was overthrown once and for all by a revolt from both the army and navy.

After their 1910 revolt, the military were unclear as to who should replace the monarchy; a republican government or restored monarchy. Following a brief rule by a monarchist, General Carmona, Dr António de Oliveira Salazar joined the cabinet as Finance minister in 1928. A professor of economics, he balanced the country\'s budget for the first time since 1913 and from then on, effectively controlled the country until 1968. The Algarve failed to see the results of this growth and therefore there became some muted internal unrest.

Growing unrest and wars in the colonies found Salazar prepared to strive for economic development to make concessions to a growing number of dissenters at home. This included the wooing of the first wave of foreign tourists to the Algarve. New, international style hotels appeared along the coast and Faro\'s international airport was opened in 1965.

After a stroke in 1968, Salazar was deposed as premier (although he brought such fear that no one told him!). His successor, Marcelo Caetano, met tensions beneath the surface and the army began to sympathise with the freedom movements they were meant to suppress. From their number grew the revolutionary Movimento das Forças Armadas (MFA).

Attempted liberalisation by Marcelo Caetano had come to an end and morale throughout the country was low. The MFA became increasingly politicised and instigated a takeover on April 25 1974. The coup was bloodless with no real attempts to defend the government. There followed a period of continual revolution and important decisions were made – above all the granting of independence to all of the overseas colonies. Throughout this period of political uncertainty, hotels and restaurants continued to appear across the Algarve and wealthy urban Portuguese enjoyed a new found freedom on the coast which had been suppressed during the reign of Salazar.

Portugal entered the European Community in 1986 and enjoyed a period of unprecedented economic growth, in particular in the Algarve. Portugal is now under the rule of the PSD party, voted into power in March 2002 with President Jorge Sampaio. Portugal is now an enthusiastic member of the European Union with Prime Minister José Manuel Durão Barroso succeeding as president of the European Commission in June 2004.