Districts of Portugal

District
Category	1st-level administrative division
Location	Portugal
Created	1835
Number	18
Populations	127,018–2,135,992
Areas	2,255–10,225 km²
Government	Appointed administration
Subdivisions	Municipality
	Parish

Portugal is divided into 18 districts in mainland Portugal, plus two autonomous regions (Açores and Madeira).

The Portuguese Constitution of 1976 specifies that Portugal have only, as first level divisions, the autonomous regions (Azores and Madeira) and the administrative regions (to be created in mainland Portugal). According to Constitution, the districts shall be disestablished in the territories where it has been created an autonomous or administrative region.

So, the districts were abolished in Azores and Madeira when these autonomous regions were created, in 1976. In 1998, it was submitted to referendum a proposal to create 8 administrative regions in mainland Portugal, and, therefore, to extinguish the districts. This proposal was rejected in the ballot.

However, the importance of the districts had been decreasing. In the last years, some administrative, financial and politics competencies had been deliver to CCDR's and to the municipalities, in detriment of the districts. In 2003, the Portuguese municipalities were allowed to organize themselves into intermunicipal communities (comunidades intermunicipais) and metropolitan areas (áreas metropolitanas), what it allowed to diminish the importance of the districts as form of association of municipalities.

Besides, the abolition of the districts is a subject that came back to be discussed in the society. In 2009, during the campaign to the legislative election of 2009, the leader of Socialist Party, José Sócrates, promised a new referendum to the administrative regions and therefore, the abolition of districts, if he gained the election. Other personalities, support the creation of administrative regions and therefore the abolition of districts.

Nowadays, despite being in the process of being phased out due to the decentralisation policies of the government, the districts still remains the most relevant subdivision of the country, serving as a basis for a series of administrative divisions such as electoral constituencies and district football associations.

List

District	Municipalities	Parishes	Province of 1936	Region
Aveiro	19	208	Beira Litoral Province + Douro Litoral Province	Norte, Centro
Beja	14	100	Baixo Alentejo	Alentejo
Braga	14	515	Minho	Norte
Bragança	12	299	Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Province	Norte
Castelo Branco	11	160	Beira Baixa Province	Centro
Coimbra	17	209	Beira Baixa Province, Beira Litoral	Centro
Évora	14	91	Alto Alentejo	Alentejo
Faro	16	84	Algarve Province	Algarve
Guarda	14	336	Beira Alta Province (partly Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro)	Centro (partly Norte,only Foz Coa)
Leiria	16	148	Beira Litoral Province, Estremadura	Centro
Lisbon	16	226	Estremadura (partly Ribatejo)	Lisbon (partly Alentejo)
Portalegre	15	86	Alto Alentejo Province (partly Ribatejo)	Alentejo
Porto	18	383	Douro Litoral Province	Norte
Santarém	21	193	Ribatejo Province (partly Beira Baixa and Beira Litoral)	Centro, Alentejo
Setúbal	13	82	Estremadura Province, Baixo Alentejo Province	Lisbon, Alentejo
Viana do Castelo	10	290	Minho	Norte
Vila Real	14	268	Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro	Norte
Viseu	24	372	Beira Alta, (partly Douro Litoral)	Centro, Norte

Former districts

• Lamego District

Azores

• Angra do Heroísmo District
• Horta District
• Ponta Delgada District

Madeira

• Funchal District

See also

• Subdivisions of Portugal
• Ranked list of Portuguese districts

References

Notes

Sources

• Portugal (2005). "Constituição da República Portuguesa: VII Revisão Constitucionl" (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: Assembleia da Repúblic.