Subdivisions of Portugal

For an overview of the administrative subdivisions of Portugal, see administrative divisions of Portugal.

The current administrative divisions of Portugal: the Northern region, the Center region, the Oeste e Vale do Tejo region, the Lisbon region, the Alentejo region, the Algarve region, and the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira.

The subdivisions of Portugal are based on a complicated administrative structure. The second-level administrative division, after the 7 regions and 2 autonomous regions, is 308 municipalities (concelhos) which are further subdivided into 3091 civil parishes (freguesias).

## Administrative divisions of Portugal

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### Subdivisions of Portugal

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Main article: Administrative divisions of Portugal

See also: List of regions and sub-regions of Portugal and NUTS statistical regions of Portugal

Further information: Autonomous Regions of Portugal, Municipalities of Portugal, and Freguesia

Subdivision  | Total  | Mainland  | Description

|
|
|

Regions | 7  | 7  | Territorial divisions of the continental unitary state
Autonomous Regions | 2  | 0  | Sub-territorial divisions comprising Azores and Madeira
Subregions | 25  | 23  | Autonomous and sub-regional co-ordination commissions (CCDR)
Municipalities | 308  | 278  | Municipal authorities
Civil Parishes[1] | 3091  | 2882  | Local area authorities

### Urban hierarchy

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Main articles: Metropolitan areas in Portugal and Intermunicipal communities of Portugal

In Portugal, urban centers (cities, towns and hamlets) have no legal authority and are social constructs based on a series of institutional functions. In fact, administrative power lies within the extraterritorial municipalities and parishes. These have authority in the constitution and may include various towns within each territory and may have their own constituent assemblies and executives. The town or city, generally, does not correspond to the boundaries of various municipalities, with the exception of the entirely urban municipalities (such as Lisbon, Porto, Funchal, Amadora, Entroncamento and São João da Madeira). The municipality with the most cities is Paredes Municipality which contains four cities.

Sub-division  | Total  | Mainland  | Description

|
|
|

Metropolitan areas[2] | 2  | 2  | Agglomerations of metropolitan or urban regions
Intermunicipal communities[2] | 21  | 21  | Association of municipal authorities for coordination
Cities | 151  | 141  | Population centres
Towns | 533  | 503  | Population centres

## Former subdivisions of Portugal

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Main articles: Provinces of Portugal and Districts of Portugal

Sub-division  | Total  | Mainland  | Description

|
|
|

Province (Medieval) | 6  | 6  | 1325 territorial administration instituted by Afonso IV
Province (1832) | 11  | 8  | 1823 reorganization attributed to Mouzinho da Silveira
Province (1936) | 11  | 11  | 1936 reorganization based on nationalist geographer Amorim Girão
Districts | 18  | 18  | 1835 reorganization based on prefectures: phased-out in 20th century

## Ancillary divisions

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### Statistical

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Main article: NUTS of Portugal

Sub-division  | Total  | Mainland  | Description

|
|
|

NUTS 1: National  | 3  | 1  | Continental Portugal, the Azores and Madeira
NUTS 2: Regions  | 8  | 6  | Regional Coordination Commissions, and Autonomous Regions
NUTS 3: Subregion  | 25  | 23  | Metropolitan areas, intermunicipal communities and autonomous regions
LAU 1: Municipal  | 308  | 278  | Municipalities
LAU 2: Local  | 3092  | 2882  | Civil Parishes

### Communication

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Sub-division  | Total  | Mainland  | Description

|
|
|

Postal codes  | 9  | 8  | First-digit postal codes
Area codes  | 51  | 48  | Telephone area codes

## Ambiguity

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Due to changes throughout history, the Portuguese unitary state has seen a continuous process of centralisation and de-centralisation, resulting in changes to the toponymy of various territorial divisions. Consequently, the many names have been appropriated at different levels to represent alterations to the geographic map of the country. This is particularly the case with the transitive period between the medieval provinces and 19th century Liberal reforms. Further, the influence of the Nationalist movement during the 20th century, resulted in the re-appearance of toponymic names long since abandoned.

The modern unitary state is influenced considerable by names passed between generations, and have been applied and re-applied, resulting in a historical ambiguity in the historical record, where one name may be used for two different areas. As is the case with the following examples:

* Minho: Province / Subregion
* Alto Alentejo: Province / Subregion
* Baixo Alentejo: Province / Subregion
* Douro Litoral: Province / Subregion
* Trás-os-Montes: region / Province
* Estremadura Province: two different ones
* Beira Litoral: postal region, 1936 province

Even between administrative level there several instances where the same name is used to represent a territorial division at the local, municipal or regional level.

## References

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1. ^ IGP, ed. (2017), Carta Administrativo Oficial de Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal: Instituto Geografico Portugues, archived from the original on 5 November 2018, retrieved 5 November 2018
2. ^ a b "Decree Law 75/2013" (PDF). Diário da República (in Portuguese). Assembly of the Republic (Portugal). Retrieved 13 August 2014.

## Bibliography

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* Gwillim Law (1999). "Portugal". Administrative Subdivisions of Countries: A Comprehensive World Reference, 1900 through 1998. US: McFarland & Company. pp. 296+. ISBN 0786407298.

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