evidence: Following its heyday as a global maritime power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence of Brazil, its wealthiest colony, in 1822. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, and for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986. [...] etymology: Lisbon is one of Europe's oldest cities (the second oldest capital city after Athens) and the origin of the name is lost in time; it may have been founded as an ancient Celtic settlement that subsequently maintained close commercial relations with the Phoenicians (beginning about 1200 B.C.); the name of the settlement may have been derived from the pre-Roman appellation for the Tagus River that runs through the city, Lisso or Lucio; the Romans named the city "Olisippo" when they took it from the Carthaginians in 205 B.C.; under the Visigoths the city name became "Ulixbona," under the Arabs it was "al-Ushbuna"; the medieval version of "Lissabona" became today's Lisboa [...] embassy: Avenida das Forcas Armadas, 1600-081 Lisboa mailing address: 5320 Lisbon Place, Washington DC 20521-5320 telephone: [351] (21) 727-3300