Playing with Portugal is very easy. I suggest this country for begginers.
Beggining
You start with 6 provinces, all in Europe. Three produce wine, the other three fish. From the beggining, you have England as your Ally and you jave the whole Atlantic Ocean for you, before the others know that it even exists.
Threats
The only threat you have is a possible war against Castille. The other countries in Europe won't attack you. You don't want to be at war against any of the countries in Europe, so don't ally to any other country.
Gameplay
Portugal can easily become one of the world's superpowers. In the first years you'll get two very benneficial missions: "Discover Madeira" and "Discover The Azores", which give you two good bases for the later colonization of America.
Objectives
Portugal should focus on the colonization of South and North America. Search for provinces with good production and good taxes, like Manhattan and Massachussets.
One of the 'musts' is India and its rich provinces, like Goa.
Don't spend time in Africa. Just complete you missions and forget Africa for the entire game, because the provinces there don't give you any money. Let Castille (Spain) colonize them all.
If you want a more radical game and if you are more expeerienced player, then I suggest conquering Italy and its rich provinces in the North, but watch out for your reputation. A bad reputation can easily 'kill' your merchants.
Don't forget the small islands in the Caribbean. Their also very valuable.
Trade
As Portugal you should focus on trade. Keep your repuation at zero and send merchants mainly to your trading centres, that you should later build. In the begging try to establish your merchants on centres like Antwerpen, Venice and Lübeck.
Technology
Like you should ever do, in the beggining, put the Government Tech at the maximum to get your first idea. When you reach the next level, then switch it to trade tech because you will later move onto colonization and for that you need Trade tech at level 7. (idea 'Quest dor the New World')
