MUNICIPALITIES OF PORTUGAL

In Portugal, 'municipality' (município) or '''concelho''' (meaning "council") is the most stable subdivision of Portugal since the foundation of the country. A list of the current municipalities can be found in: list of municipalities of Portugal.
Portugal has an entirely separate system of cities and towns. Cities and towns are located in municipalities, but often do not have the same boundaries, even if built-up is continuous. In total there are around twice as many cities and towns as there are municipalities.
The concelhos probably formed after the expulsion of the Visigothic rulers by the Moors during the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. Towns were thus left free to govern themselves, the population started to organize in councils in order to govern the town and surrounding lands. These were also a reminder of Roman municipalities.
Most municipalities have their origin in the foral, a legal document, issued by the king, which assigned privileges to a town or a region. The present subdivisions have their origins in the 19th century. By the 19th century, the republicans promised a federal organization for the Portuguese territory -- that the country would become a municipal republic. When the Republic was formed, however, they didn't adopt what they promised for almost half a century.
Later in the end of the 20th century, democracy has granted more autonomy to municipalities. And, the formation of two ''super municipalities'', known as ''áreas metropolitanas'' (meaning "metropolitan areas") for the two major cities of the country (Lisbon and Porto).

Contents

Most populated municipalities of Portugal

See also

Most populated municipalities of Portugal

''Denotes the number of inhabitants in the municipality area; area is in km²; only for populations of over 100,000 inhabitants.''

Rank	Municipality	Population	Land Area	Density	Metropolitan area
1	Lisbon	'564,657'	84.8	6,658	Greater Lisbon
2	Sintra	'409,482'	319.2	1,283	Greater Lisbon
3	Vila Nova de Gaia	'288,749'	170.8	1,690	Greater Porto
4	Porto	'238,954'	41.3	5,785	Greater Porto
5	Loures	'199,231'	169.3	1,177	Greater Lisbon
6	Cascais	'181,444'	97.4	1,863	Greater Lisbon
7	Amadora	'176,239'	23.8	7,405	Greater Lisbon
8	Braga	'170,858'	183.2	933
9	Oeiras	'168,475'	45.7	3,687	Greater Lisbon
10	Matosinhos	'168,451'	62.2	2,708	Greater Porto
11	Almada	'164,844'	70.0	2,355	Greater Lisbon
12	Seixal	'164,715'	95.5	1725	Greater Lisbon
13	Gondomar	'164,096'	133,26	1,231	Greater Porto
14	Guimarães	'161,876'	241.3	671
15	Coimbra	'148,474'	319.0	465
16	Odivelas	'143,995'	26.4	5,454	Greater Lisbon
17	Santa Maria da Feira	'142,295'	215.1	661	Greater Porto
18	Vila Franca de Xira	'133,224'	317.7	419	Greater Lisbon
19	Vila Nova de Famalicão	'131,690'	201.7	653
20	Barcelos	'123,831'	378.9	327
21	Setúbal	'120,117'	171.9	699	Greater Lisbon
22	Maia	'120,111'	83,70	1435	Greater Porto
23	Leiria	'119,870'	564.7	212
24	Funchal	'100,847'	75.7	1332

See also

★ Municipality

★ List of municipalities of Portugal

★ Subdivisions of Portugal