Porto, Portugal

Population: 249,633 (2005 est.)
Coordinates: 41 8 N 8 40 W
People and things often lend their names to places on the map, but on occasion, locations themselves can come to describe physical entities. Port, for instance, a rich, sweet variety of wine, is known as such because since the 17th century, English merchants have been loading ships in Cale—later Porto, or Oporto—on the Iberian Peninsula with this fortified alcohol. Portugal’s second-largest city clings to the Atlantic coastline and is a gateway to the numerous terraced vineyards in the Douro River valley to the west.

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