Continental Portugal

Continental Portugal (Portuguese: Portugal continental; Portuguese pronunciation: [puɾtuˈgaɫ kõtinẽˈtaɫ]) or mainland Portugal comprises the bulk of the Portuguese Republic, namely that part on the Iberian Peninsula and so in Continental Europe, having approximately 95% of the total population and 96.6% of the country's land. Mainland Portugal is therefore commonly called by residents of the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira Portuguese: o continente – the continent in all respects including minor elements of combined governance from Lisbon, the country's capital. Before 1975, when the Portuguese territory also stretched to several now-independent states in Africa, the designation metropolis (Portuguese: metrópole) was also used.

Map of continental Portugal

Context

The designation mainland Portugal is used to differentiate the continental territory of Portugal from its insular territory. The latter comprises the archipelagos of Madeira and Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. The Azores and Madeira are also commonly referred to as the autonomous regions (Portuguese: as regiões autónomas), insular Portugal (Portuguese: Portugal Insular) or, simply, the islands (Portuguese: as ilhas).

Continental Portugal is divided into 18 districts. Outside of these the islands of Madeira and the Azores are the Autonomous Regions of Portugal.

The European Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics defines the geographic plurality of the mainland Portugal and the islands as the primary NUTS I territorial division (see administrative divisions of Portugal: NUTS for details).

While in modern Portugal the difference between European continental and total territory is minor (in terms of area), it mattered during the existence of the Portuguese Empire, when the distinction was more frequently made, such as in the colonisation of Brazil. Continental Portugal has an area of 89,015 square kilometres (34,369 sq mi) or 96.6% of the Portuguese national territory (92,145 square kilometres (35,577 sq mi)) and 10,047,083 inhabitants (or 95.1% of the total population of 10,561,614).

Districts

Districts of continental Portugal
District Province(s) EU Statistical region(s)
Viana do Castelo Minho Alto Minho
Braga Minho Ave
Cávado
Tâmega e Sousa
Porto Douro Litoral Porto
Tâmega e Sousa
Vila Real Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Douro
Alto Tâmega
Ave
Bragança Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Trás-os-Montes (majority)
Douro
Aveiro Beira Litoral (majority)
Douro Litoral
Aveiro (majority)
Coimbra
Porto
Tâmega e Sousa
Viseu Beira Alta (majority)
Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro
Douro Litoral
Viseu Dão Lafões (majority)
Douro
Beira Litoral
Tâmega e Sousa
Guarda Beira Alta (majority)
Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro
Beiras e Serra da Estrela (majority)
Viseu Dão Lafões
Douro
Coimbra Beira Litoral (majority)
Beira Alta
Beira Baixa
Coimbra
Castelo Branco Beira Baixa Beira Baixa
Beiras e Serra da Estrela
Médio Tejo
Leiria Beira Litoral
Estremadura
Leiria
Oeste
Santarém Ribatejo (majority)
Beira Litoral
Beira Baixa
Médio Tejo
Lezíria do Tejo
Lisbon Estremadura (majority)
Ribatejo
Lisbon (majority)
Oeste
Lezíria do Tejo
Portalegre Alto Alentejo (majority)
Ribatejo
Alto Alentejo
Évora Alto Alentejo Alentejo Central
Setúbal Estremadura
Baixo Alentejo
Lisbon
Alentejo Litoral
Beja Baixo Alentejo Baixo Alentejo (majority)
Alentejo Litoral
Faro Algarve Algarve

EU Statistical Regions (NUTS II)

NUTS3 Portugal
NUTS II Districts (entirely or partly included)
Norte

Alto Minho

Cávado

Ave

Porto

Douro

Tâmega e Sousa

Alto Tâmega

Trás-os-Montes

Viana do Castelo, Braga, Porto, Aveiro (part), Guarda (part),

Viseu (part), Vila Real, Bragança

Centro

Beira Baixa

Beiras e Serra da Estrela

Médio Tejo

Oeste

Região de Aveiro

Região de Coimbra

Região de Leiria

Viseu Dão Lafões

Castelo Branco, Guarda (majority), Santarém (part),

Lisbon (part), Aveiro (majority), Coimbra, Leiria, Viseu (majority)

Lisbon Metropolitan Region

Lisbon

Lisbon (majority), Setúbal (part)
Alentejo

Alentejo Litoral

Alentejo Central

Alto Alentejo

Baixo Alentejo

Lezíria do Tejo

Setúbal (part), Évora, Portalegre, Beja, Santarém (part), Lisbon (part)
Algarve

Algarve

Faro

See also

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