List of cities in Portugal facts for kids

In Portugal, a city (called cidade in Portuguese) is a special title given to places that meet certain rules. These rules include having enough people, good facilities like schools and hospitals, and important historical value. Because Portugal grew a lot in the 1980s, many towns became cities. As of 2018, there are 159 cities in Portugal.

What Makes a City in Portugal?

In Portugal, being a "city" is more like an honor or a special name, not a type of administrative area. This means a city doesn't always match up with a municipality (which is a local government area). Some municipalities are entirely cities, like Lisbon and Porto.

The municipality with the most cities is Paredes Municipality, which has four cities!

How Places Became Cities Over Time

Before 1910, a place became a city through a special document from the king called a royal charter. This happened 25 times for cities in Portugal. During the time of the Portuguese First Republic, the parliament (like a country's main law-making group) took over this job and made three towns into cities. Later, during the Estado Novo government, seven more cities were named by government order.

After the 1974 Carnation Revolution, the parliament again started naming cities. Now, Portugal has 156 cities. Because so many places have become cities, the title isn't as rare or special as it used to be.

Some cities have always been considered cities since Portugal became an independent kingdom around 1128. These include Braga, Coimbra, Lamego, Porto, and Viseu. Also, Évora, Lisbon, and Silves were added later but are also very old cities. Guarda was the first city named after Portugal became independent, in 1199.

Rules for City Status

For a place in Portugal to be called a city, it needs to have more than 8,000 people living in its main urban area. Also, it must have at least half of these important facilities:

• A hospital
• A pharmacy
• A fire department
• An event center and a cultural center
• A museum and a library
• A hotel
• Primary and secondary schools
• Pre-school and kindergarten
• Public transportation
• A garden or public park

When Towns Are Like Cities

Sometimes, a place might have more than 8,000 people and all the needed facilities, but it's still called a "town" instead of a "city." For example:

• Algueirão-Mem Martins
• Corroios
• Rio de Mouro
• Cascais
• Sintra

When Cities Are Like Towns

On the other hand, some places are called "cities" even if they don't have more than 8,000 people. This can happen if they have all the required facilities, or if they were named a city a long time ago and have since lost some of their population. Examples include:

• Miranda do Douro
• Santana
• Sabugal
• Peso da Régua
• Reguengos de Monsaraz

Portugal's Biggest City Areas

Portugal has two very large city areas, called metropolitan areas. These are where many cities are close together.

• The Lisbon Metropolitan Area has over 2.8 million people.
• The Porto Metropolitan Area has over 1.7 million people.

These areas include the main cities of Lisbon and Porto, plus many other cities that are part of the larger urban space.

The Lisbon Metropolitan Area includes Lisbon itself, and also cities like Amadora, Queluz, Setúbal, Almada, and Agualva-Cacém.

The Porto Metropolitan Area includes Porto and cities such as Vila Nova de Gaia, Gondomar, Rio Tinto, Póvoa de Varzim, and Matosinhos.

Important Cities Outside Big Metropolitan Areas

There are also large cities in Portugal that are not part of these two huge metropolitan areas. These cities are often the main cities of their smaller regions. Most of the people in these regions live in the main city.

• The city of Braga is the main city of the Cávado region.
• The city of Funchal is the capital of the Madeira islands.
• The city of Coimbra is the main city of the Coimbra Region.

Urban Area Populations

The table below shows the number of people living in the urban area of each city, along with how crowded it is (population density). It's important to remember that this count is only for the city's urban area, not the entire municipality, which might include smaller towns and villages.

For very large cities like Lisbon, Porto, Amadora, and Funchal, the entire municipality's population is listed. This is because these cities spread out and cover the whole municipality, and their smaller parts are seen as "neighborhoods."

Cities with italic text are capitals of smaller regions. Cities with bold text are capitals of larger regions.

See Also

In Spanish: Anexo:Ciudades de Portugal por población para niños

• List of Portuguese cities by population
• Subdivisions of Portugal
• List of towns in Portugal
• List of municipalities of Portugal
• List of parishes of Portugal
• List of cities in Europe