Portugal has been an OSCE participating State since June 25, 1973 and chaired the OSCE in 2002. 

Portugal is a parliamentary democracy bordering Spain and with a long North Atlantic coastline. It is a member of the European Union, NATO and the Council of Europe, with an economy that includes a strong agricultural sector, a wide range of manufactured products and an increasingly large service sector.  Its population of 10.8 million is mostly Portuguese and predominantly Christian, with Muslims making up 0.3 percent of the population.  Close to 10,000 Jews live in Portugal and an estimated 7.5 percent of the population is unaffiliated with a religion.

In 2002, the Helsinki Commission held a hearing with the Portuguese OSCE Chairmanship in Office on post-9/11 OSCE efforts to thwart terrorist financing.  A Commission Congressional Delegation also visited Portugal to discuss NATO en route to Bosnia in 1998.