- Districts of Portugal
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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, and therefore, currently, the districts continue to be the administrative division of most importance in mainland Portugal.
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[1][2] 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.
Contents
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
References
- Notes
- Sources
- Portugal (2005). "Constituição da República Portuguesa: VII Revisão Constitucionl" (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: Assembleia da Repúblic. http://www.parlamento.pt/Legislacao/Paginas/ConstituicaoRepublicaPortuguesa.aspx.
Categories:- Districts of Portugal
- Subdivisions of Portugal
- Lists of country subdivisions
- Country subdivisions of Europe
- First-level administrative country subdivisions
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