The Algarve is the southernmost region of Portugal, along the Atlantic coast. It is famous for beaches, golf, and holidays in the sun. British people have gone there for decades, and some stay on after they stop work; in the UK you will hear it talked about the way people here talk about a favourite stretch of coast. It is not a country — it is part of Portugal. Faro is the main city, and the airport most visitors use. The name comes from Arabic and once meant 'the west': this was the western edge of the old Islamic world in Iberia.