Administrative division of Portugal

The administrative division of Portugal is the vertical administrative structure of the Republic of Portugal . The country is divided into continental Portugal and two autonomous regions . Continental Portugal is divided into 18 districts ( distritos ). The districts and the autonomous regions consist of a total of 308 counties ( Municípios ), which in turn are subdivided into 3091 municipalities ( Freguesias ).

The additional division of continental Portugal into regions and sub-regions is only of statistical and developmental significance.

Administrative division

Districts

Continental Portugal is divided into 18 districts ( distritos ). These form the highest administrative unit below the government.

The 18 districts of Portugal

District	Number of circles	Number of municipalities	Population (2011)	Area km²	Density of population / km²	LAU code
Aveiro	19th	147	714.322	2,801.20	255	01
Be yes	14th	75	152.784	10,263.29	15th	02
Braga	14th	347	848.007	2,706.12	313	03
Bragança	12	226	136.252	6,598.52	21st	04
Castelo Branco	11	120	196.264	6,627.47	30th	05
Coimbra	17th	155	430.102	3,973.73	108	06
Évora	14th	69	166,725	7,393.46	23	07
Faro	16	67	451.006	4,996.79	90	08
Guarda	14th	242	160,939	5,535.28	29	09
Leiria	16	110	470.922	3,505.73	134	10
Lisbon	16	134	2,250,525	2,816.14	799	11
Portalegre	15th	69	118.506	6,084.29	19th	12
postage	18th	243	1,817,175	2,331.66	779	13
Santarém	21st	141	453.691	6,718.33	68	14th
Setubal	13	55	851.258	5,214.07	163	15th
Viana do Castelo	10	208	244.836	2,218.87	110	16
Vila Real	14th	197	206,661	4,307.51	48	17th
Viseu	24	277	377.748	5,009.78	75	18th
Continental Portugal	278	2882	10,047,723	89,102.24	113	1

Before 1976 the two island groups were also integrated into the district structure. There were three districts in the Azores and one in Madeira:

Counties and parishes

The 18 districts are divided into a total of 308 districts ( Municípios or Concelhos ) and these further into a total of 3091 municipalities ( Freguesias ).

Up until the administrative reorganization in 2013 there were 4259 municipalities in Portugal.

Statistical breakdown

Regions

In addition to the districts, continental Portugal is divided into five regions, which, however, have no administrative institutions. They are not always congruent with the districts and are only used for statistical and general planning purposes.

They were originally created by the Commissions for Regional Development (Comissões de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional, CCDRs) and were later equated with the NUTS II, which was also formed for statistical purposes . Furthermore, unlike the autonomous regions, they have never achieved any significance.

Regions

region	Number of sub-regions	Number of circles	Number of municipalities	Population (2011)	Area km²	Density of population / km²	LAU code
Alentejo	5	58	306	757.327	31,604.80	24	18th
Algarve	1	16	67	451.006	4,996.79	90	15th
Azores	-	19th	78	246,771	2,321.88	106	2
Madeira	-	11	54	267,782	801.11	334	3
Centro Region	8th	100	972	2,327,885	28,199.26	83	16
Region of Lisboa	1	18th	118	2,821,876	3,015.24	936	17th
Norte region	8th	86	1426	3,689,629	21,286.15	173	11
Portugal	23	308	3021	10,562,276	92,225.23	115	-

The continental regions are in turn divided into the statistical sub-regions.

The most important division was introduced in 1976 with the separation of continental Portugal from the two autonomous island regions.

Subregions

The five regions are divided into 23 statistical sub-regions that have no significant administration. Rather, they serve to collect data, plan economic measures and act as NUTS III regions.

The regions and sub-regions of Portugal

region	Sub-region	Number of circles	Number of municipalities	Population (2011)	Area km²	Density of population / km²	LAU code
Alentejo	Alentejo Central	14th	69	166,725	7,393.46	23	187
Alentejo	Alentejo Littoral	5	31	97,925	5,309.40	18th	181
Alentejo	Alto Alentejo	15th	69	118.506	6,084.29	19th	186
Alentejo	Baixo Alentejo	13	62	126,718	8,542.69	15th	184
Alentejo	Lezíria do Tejo	11	68	247.453	4,274.96	58	185
Algarve	Algarve	16	67	451.006	4,996.79	90	150
Centro Region	Beira Baixa	6th	59	89,063	4,614.62	19th	16H
Centro Region	Beiras e Serra da Estrela	15th	266	236.023	6,304.96	37	16Y
Centro Region	Médio Tejo	13	93	247.384	3,344.30	74	16I
Centro Region	Oeste	12	89	362,527	2,220.14	163	16B
Centro Region	Aveiro Region	11	74	370.394	1,692.84	219	16D
Centro Region	Region of Coimbra	19th	168	460.137	4,335.57	106	16E
Centro Region	Region of Leiria	10	67	294,629	2,449.10	120	16F
Centro Region	Viseu Dão-Lafoes	14th	156	267,728	3,237.73	83	16G
Region of Lisboa	Lisbon metropolitan area	18th	118	2,821,876	3,015.24	936	170
Norte region	Alto Minho	10	208	244.836	2,218.87	110	111
Norte region	Alto Tâmega	6th	118	94.143	2,921.94	32	11B
Norte region	Ave	8th	168	425,332	1,451.29	293	119
Norte region	Cávado	6th	170	410.070	1,245.82	329	112
Norte region	Douro	19th	217	205.157	4,031.57	51	11D
Norte region	Porto metropolitan area	17th	173	1,759,649	2,041.63	862	11A
Norte region	Tâmega e Sousa	11	177	432.915	1,831.45	236	11C
Norte region	Terras de Trás-os-Montes	9	195	117,527	5,543.58	21st	11E
Continental Portugal	278	2882	10,047,723	89,102.24	113	1

Further structure

Metropolitan areas

The further administrative division into Áreas Urbanas and the further subdivisions into Grandes Áereas Urbanos Metropolitanas (GAM), Comunidades Urbanas (ComUrb) and Comunidades Intermunicipais (ComInter), intended on the basis of laws from 2003, was only carried out in a few cases, especially in the GAM de Lisboa and GAM do Porto. On the basis of a law of August 27, 2008, the corresponding laws and thus the proposed classifications were repealed. The municípios of the subregions (NUTS III) can now form a Comunidade Intermunicipal , abbreviated CIM, as an association for a general purpose ( associação de municípios de fins múltiplos , association of municipalities ). Such special-purpose associations can also establish municípios for the joint pursuit of certain defined purposes with other municípios located outside the sub-region. The associations are separate corporations under public law, to which a council is attached to which the municipal assemblies of the member municípios send representatives. The associations of Grande Lisboa e da Península de Setúbal and Grande Porto e de Entre-Douro e Vouga , which were formed as GAMs due to the previous laws , were transferred separately to an Área Metropolitana under the new law.

The historic provinces (1936–1976)

The provinces of continental Portugal (1936–1976)

The semi - fascist Estado Novo regime divided continental Portugal into eleven provinces in 1936. They existed until the new territorial regulation with the constitution of Portugal in 1976.

The provinces are still occasionally used in everyday language as regional reference points, since their demarcation from the dictatorship was drawn on the basis of historical, cultural and traditional aspects. The province names were able to establish themselves as simplified regional designations in common usage, detached from actual administrative competencies.

In administrative practice, however, the provinces were unable to assert themselves, mainly due to a lack of competencies or responsibilities that overlap with other authorities and administrative levels. For example, the provincial borders did not respect the borders of the counties, so that counties in parts could belong to several provinces.

The provinces were, from north to south:

Individual evidence

↑ Lei N ° 45/2008, Diário da República 1a série-N. ° 165-27, page 6005

Administrative division of Portugal

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