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Portugal, a popular tourist destination and a European green energy champion, holds an early general election on May 18, 50 years on from the 1974 Carnation Revolution that toppled a decades-long right-wing dictatorship.

Here are five things to know about the country:

- Influx of tourists -

With 300 days of sunshine per year, Portugal keeps setting new records for the amount of foreign tourist arrivals it draws.

The sector accounts for around 15 percent of the country's economic output, generating record revenues of 27.7 billion euros ($31 billion) last year.

Dubbed the "Florida of Europe", the country is also home to many well-off foreigners -- retirees, investors or digital nomads -- seduced by its gentle lifestyle and attractive tax policies.

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- And immigrants -

Portugal has quadrupled its foreign-born population since 2017 to 1.5 million currently -- around 15 percent of the total.

Brazilians, with their long historical links to the country, are by far the largest contingent. There are also sizable communities from other former Portuguese colonies Angola and Cape Verde.

Recent years have seen the arrival of many workers from south Asia -- Bangladesh, India and Nepal -- who have joined Europeans from countries such as Britain, France and Italy.

- Surf XXL -

With more than 800 kilometres (500 miles) of Atlantic coastline and countless breaks of all shapes and sizes, the country attracts surfers from around the world.

The best-known spot is off the coast of the central town of Nazare, where an underwater canyon some five kilometres deep near the shoreline of the former fishing village helps generate what are arguably the biggest rideable waves in the world.

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Germany's Sebastian Steudtner set a world record there in 2020 for the biggest wave ever surfed at 86 feet (26.2 metres).

- Cork champion -

Portugal is the world's largest cork producer, accounting for nearly half of the world's supply, according to the Portuguese Cork Association.

Cork is made from the bark of the cork oak (Quercus suber), which covers around 720,000 hectares (1,780,000 acres) of land in Portugal -- more than any other country.

Portuguese cork producers have sought to diversify its use beyond wine bottle stoppers, with the material increasingly used as building insulation as well as in footwear, furniture and even the aerospace industry.

The value of Portugal's cork exports last year surpassed one billion euros -- a record.

In 2020 the Lisbon metro replaced the fabric lining on all seats of its train fleet with cork, an easier to maintain material.

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- Renewables champion -

Renewable power sources, mainly hydropower and wind, supplied 87.5 percent of Portugal's electricity in 2024.

Within the 27-nation European Union, only Denmark had a higher ratio, according to Eurostat figures.