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).
| 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 |
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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Sub-division | Total | Mainland | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postal codes | 9 | 8 | First-digit postal codes |
| Area codes | 51 | 48 | Telephone area codes |
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:
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.
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French comté denoting a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count (earl) or, in his stead, a viscount (vicomte). Literal equivalents in other languages, derived from the equivalent of "count", are now seldom used officially, including comté, contea, contado, comtat, condado, Grafschaft, graafschap, and zhupa in Slavic languages; terms equivalent to 'commune' or 'community' are now often instead used.
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions of municipalities, school district, or political district.
The District of Setúbal is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal.
The municipality is the second-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution.
Portugal is a unitary state with delegated authority to three levels of local government that cover the entire country:
Freguesia, usually translated as "parish" or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution. It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Portuguese overseas territories of Cape Verde and Macau. In the past, it was also an administrative division of the other Portuguese overseas territories. The parroquia in the Spanish autonomous communities of Galicia and Asturias is similar to a freguesia. The average land area of a Portuguese parish is about 29.83 km2 (11.52 sq mi) and an average population of about 3,386 people. The largest parish by area is Alcácer do Sal e Santa Susana, with a land area of 888.35 km2 (342.99 sq mi), and the smallest parish by area is São Bartolomeu (Borba), with a land area of 0.208 km2 (0.080 sq mi). The most populous parish is Algueirão - Mem Martins, with a population of 68,649 people and the least populous is Mosteiro, with a population of just nineteen people.
Lisboa e Vale do Tejo was one of the five regions of Portugal. Today two of the subregions are in the new Lisboa Region, two in the Centro Region and one in the Alentejo Region.
The Lisbon Metropolitan Area is a metropolitan area in Portugal centered on Lisbon, the capital and largest city of the country. The metropolitan area, covering 17 cities in 18 municipalities, is the largest urban area in the country and the 10th largest in the European Union, with a population in 2023 of 2,961,177 in an area of 3,015.24 km².
Beira was one of the six traditional provinces or comarcas of Portugal.
The Comunidade Intermunicipal da Lezíria do Tejo is an administrative division in Portugal. It was established as an Associação de Municípios in 1987, converted into a Comunidade Urbana in 2003, and converted into a Comunidade Intermunicipal in November 2008. It is also a NUTS3 subregion of the Oeste e Vale do Tejo. The seat of the intermunicipal community is the city of Santarém. Lezíria do Tejo comprises municipalities of the former districts of Santarém and Lisbon. The population in 2011 was 247,453, in an area of 4,275 square kilometres (1,651 sq mi). In the past, the territory of this administrative division was roughly entirely set in the historic province of Ribatejo and had nothing to do with the historic province of Alentejo. Lezíria is the Portuguese word for floodplain or freshwater marsh. Tejo is the name of the main river in the region. The Lezíria is a well-renowned center of intensive farming, horse breeding and animal husbandry.
The Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alentejo Litoral is an administrative division in Portugal. It was created in May 2009. It is also a NUTS3 subregion of the Alentejo Region. The seat of the intermunicipal community is Grândola. Alentejo Litoral comprises municipalities of both the Beja District and the Setúbal District. The population in 2011 was 97,925, in an area of 5,309.41 km2.
The Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alto Alentejo is an administrative division in Portugal. It was created in 2009. The seat of the intermunicipal community is Portalegre. Alto Alentejo is coterminous with the former Portalegre District. The population in 2011 was 118,506, in an area of 6,084.34 km2. Together with Alentejo Central it covers the area of the former Alto Alentejo Province. With Ponte de Sor the intermunicipal community also includes one municipality that lies in the area of the former Ribatejo Province.
The Comunidade Intermunicipal do Baixo Alentejo is an administrative division in Portugal. It was created in 2009. It is also a NUTS3 subregion of the Alentejo Region. The seat of the intermunicipal community is Beja. Baixo Alentejo comprises 13 of the 14 municipalities of the Beja District. The population in 2011 was 126,692, in an area of 8,542.72 km2.
The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) is developed by Eurostat, and employed in both Portugal and the entire European Union for statistical purposes. The NUTS branch extends from NUTS1, NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions, with the complementary LAU sub-categorization being used to differentiate the local areas, of trans-national importance.
The term "provinces" has been used throughout history to identify regions of continental Portugal. Current legal subdivisions of Portugal do not coincide with the provinces, but several provinces, in their 19th- and 20th-century versions, still correspond to culturally relevant, strongly self-identifying categories. They include:
