ANA SOFIA "PORTUGAL" RUSSO

[/color]:[/b] Ana Sofia Russo
Nickname/Alias: Formally, the República Portuguesa. Rome called her Portus Cale. Less formally, she’s Ana.
Gender: Female
Character Type: Country
Country or Country of Origin: Portugal
Canon or Original: Original (Himaruya did have both male and female sketches of Portugal, so I just went with his female drafts.)
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[/color]:[/b] Grey-blue
Hair: Brown
Height and Weight: 5’4”, 120lbs
Other Distinguishing Features: She is fairly short and doesn’t look all that threatening for how much she can pack a punch. She’s an overabundance of spirit in a small package. Ana also owns a single, long earring similar to a tassel created by various trinkets that she’s gathered from her travels. It’s rare to see her without it.

Overall Appearance: Ana is a petite woman who is surprisingly strong for her size (more so in her Empire days.) When she was much younger during the days of Rome and even a little before that, she frequently dressed as a boy with her hair pulled back and dressed in trousers. This style of dress reappeared sometime later during her Age of Exploration whenever she traveled with her more rowdy countrymen. Overall, she enjoys the lavish and unusual, though still tends to prefer trousers to women’s wear whenever practical. Her brown hair is long (stopping around the middle of her back) and tends to get messy rather quickly. Her blue eyes have a bit more grey in them, reflecting a certain calmness and age. Her body is proportionate, which is fine for the most part, but Ana has her moments where she wishes for something a little less womanly (coughdamnbreasts!cough)and slighter.


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-traveling by sea
- fados – the oldest urban, folk music in the world. It is said to represent the heart of the Portuguese soul.
-dancing
-fish with a glass of Porto (a sweet, red wine)
-dreaming of the glorious, but much forgotten past
-ships
-sunsets
-football
-humorous art
-água-pé
-England – her longest standing ally
-street carnivals (Marchas Populares)
-tea – she was the one to introduce it to Europe after being the first to map out a trade root to retrieve it. You’re welcome, England.
-the Latin Union
-Brazil
Dislikes:
-dramatic theatre (prefers humor)
-Spain (sometimes)
-the Dutch
-feeling trapped
-her gradual decline since losing Brazil
-laziness
-disregard for history
-France for past attempts at invasion
-being stuffed into a pretty little package when she had a monarch, while constantly handing over Portuguese royalty to other nations
-weighty ornaments
-extravagant dress – sometimes she just wants trousers, dammit!
-staying still for too long
-elongated meetings
Strengths:
-Intelligent – especially within the innovative navigational department
-has exceptional maritime experience
-one of the oldest of European nations and tends to take on a ‘big sister’ role with others.
-unafraid to step outside of her boundaries and break decorum
-passionate, yet still has exceptional poise, as her people were known for their elegance
-can make excellent wine, which has been comparable to France’s, though she knows her limits.
Weaknesses:
-generally impatient
-can have a temper, but it happens more in the span of a few seconds, like a flare. Bright and fantastic, yet burns out quickly and she is back to her normal, calm self.
-tends to think with her emotions over her mind, which is one of the reasons why she eventually declined as an empire after the loss of Brazil
-can make poor personal decisions on a passionate whim
-she’s careless with her heart
-loyal to a fault
Fears:
-Conflict- like Spain she has a tendency to remain neutral and hates taking sides. Except when it concerns England.
-Being hurt by someone she trusts and carelessly tossed aside
-Losing those that she cares most about.
Secrets:
-She really doesn’t want anyone to know how insecure she really is beneath her seemingly poised, serene exterior. Inside, she feels a bit of a mess, barely contained within a little body, always worrying for the future, dreaming of her grand past, and is afraid of someday acting out purely on her wild feelings brewing inside.
-While she is aware of her affinity for him, she has had strong, emotional feelings for England for quite some time, but she isn’t really aware of this nor will she ever let anyone know it. It’s something that she would rather take to the grave.
Any Quirks/Habits:
-Sings fados to herself only when she’s alone and feeling particularly nostalgic.
-Will boast to anyone that her wine can match France’s if it ever comes up.
-Has a glass of Porto with nearly everything she eats.

Overall Personality: Sharing a border (and once household) with the country of passion, Ana Sofia also embodies the vivaciousness of a woman that knows what she wants and is rarely ever timid when it comes to pursuing her desires (for the most part). Through the dedication of her rulers and people, she became the first global empire in history after the integration of the European Middle Age economy. Portugal clearly was an adventurous nation in her glory days, always wanting to see what was beyond the horizon and refusing to accept anything less than what she could see with her own eyes. Thus, Portugal was at the forefront of maritime exploration during the Age of Discovery. Having this much excitement for her ambitions, it’s a given that Ana has a rather lively side and believes that she can take on just about anything if the challenge arises.

Her people are known more presently for their enjoyment of life and deep belief in fate/destiny, thus embodying the famous Portuguese fados that they’re well known for. Ana, herself believes in such things—that life is guided by something deeper than themselves. During her empire days, Ana felt the most liberated, and through her equally adventurous explorers, she was able to make contact with the New World, giving way to an important turn in history for the Europeans. As time passed, Portugal began a steady, albeit slow decline into the shadows of history. She knew the natural melancholy of her unofficial resignation and longing, especially after losing Brazil. With the feeling of loss, however, Ana discovered her ability to eventually move on and to solidify her heart. Living instead of mourning.

Although she is a rather plucky woman, Ana does reflect some of the qualities of an older nation, such as her quiet nostalgia, the occasional pondering of the workings of the world, and enjoys reminiscing with others. She believes that she handled being an empire for 600 years well (the longest for any European nation) and wasn’t that upset with her eventual decline. Instead of feeling sorrow for the days long past, however; she feels as if she’s settled into a less-involved, but still fulfilling existence. Family (well, for their kind, relationships that she would consider familial) are important to her and this is emphasized in her involvement with the Latin Union and the Organization of Ibero-American States.
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Like several other nations, Portugal resisted Roman rule and showed little love for Rome, himself. However, it is thanks to Rome that Portugal was able to develop her own language, by combing aspects of Latin and the province of Lusitania (a Celtic people who had once occupied her land). However, at the beginning of the 7th century A.D., the entire Iberian Peninsula was overrun by Germanic invaders; the Visigoths, who eventually established their rule. In 711, the Visigoths were defeated by the Moors, who conquered nearly the entire peninsula, professing Islam. These people were later expelled by the Knights Templar under the Order of Christ. It was during the long period of Christian reconquest that the Portuguese nation was established in 1139, claiming to be the oldest European nation-state.

Ferdinand I of Castile entered Veira and took the fortress of Viseu and the city of Coimbra in 1064. Alfonso VI of Castile obtained French aid in his wars against the Moors. Henry of Burgundy married an illegitimate daughter of Alfonso VI and became (1095) count of Coimbra and later count of Portucalense. Henry's son Alfonso Henriques, wrested power (1128) from his mother and maintained the independence of his lands. After a victory over the Moors in 1139, he began to style himself Alfonso I, king of Portugal. Spain recognized Portugal's independence in 1143 and the Pope did so in 1179. Alfonso's long reign (1128–85) was an important factor in Portugal's attainment of independence.

Alfonso's successors were faced with the tasks of recapturing Alentejo and Algarve from the Moors and of rebuilding the areas devastated by the long wars. There was conflict with other Portuguese claimants and between the kings and powerful nobles, and there was continual strife between the crown and the church over land and power. Until the late 13th cent. the church was victorious, winning inviolability for ecclesiastic law as well as exemption from general taxation. Sancho I (1185–1211) captured the Moorish capital of Silves but could not hold it. Alfonso II (1211–23) summoned the first Cortes (council to advise the king). After Sancho II (1223–48) was deposed, Alfonso III (1248–79) took (1249) Algarve and thus consolidated Portugal. In Alfonso's reign the towns gained representation in the Cortes.

From 1348 to 1349, Portugal was devastated by the Black Death, much like the rest of Europe. And it was in 1373 when Portugal met with and made her alliance with England—the longest-standing alliance in the world. The only disruption within this alliance was her Iberian Union, a dynastic union between herself and Spain. Portuguese foreign policy became tied to Spanish hostility to England. As a result, Portugal and England were on opposite sides of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1604) and the Dutch-Portuguese War. The alliance was reconfirmed after the Portuguese Restoration War and the English Restoration.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, as a result of the pioneering Age of Discovery, Portugal expanded western influence and established a global empire that included possessions in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America, becoming one of the world’s major economic, political, and military powers. The Portuguese Empire was the first global empire in history, and also the longest lived of the European colonial empires, spanning almost 600 years, from the capture of Ceuta in 1415, to the grant sovereignty to East Timor in 2002. However, Portugal’s international status was greatly reduced during the 19th century, especially following the Independence of Brazil, her largest colony.

The 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, and democracy was eventually established after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Portugal is currently a developed country with a very high Human Development Index, the world’s 19th-highest quality of life as of 2005, and a strong healthcare system. She is now considered the world’s most globalized and peaceful nations; a member of the European Union and the United Nations, and a founding member of the Latin Union, the Organization of Ibero-American States, OECD, and NATO to name a few.



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See France

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[/color]:[/b] Marv
Timezone: Eastern

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