History of Portugal (1640–1777) put to the test in 1762 when Spain invaded aided by France, during the Seven Years' War. Britain invoked its alliance with Portugal and sent troops. Several months later, the conflict was settled with comparatively little fighting. In 1777, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso, which mainly resolved a number of border disputes between their South American colonies. During the Age of Enlightenment, Portugal was considered one of Europe's unenlightened backwaters; it was a country of three million with 200,000 people in 538 monasteries in 1750. Melo seems to have been deeply embarrassed by Portugal's much lamented
Norway–Russia border that police and customs authorities would have to be regularly stationed at the border. A large amount of the initial traffic was from Russians who sold crafts and souvenirs at markets and fairs throughout Finnmark. From 1992 Norwegian authorities introduced limitations on the activity, resulting in a reduction in trans-border traffic. However, by 1998 the traffic had nearly hit 100,000. From 1991 to 1999 (Poland joining NATO), Norway was the only NATO country to share a land border with Russia. This caused a decrease in allied interest in Norway's border issue, leaving Norway more to itself in managing the relationship.