View source for Districts of Portugal

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{{More citations needed|date=June 2021}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox subdivision type
| name              = District    
| alt_name          = 
| map               = Portuguese Districts Map With Names.svg              
| category          = 1st-level [[administrative division]]        
| territory         = [[Portugal]]  
| upper_unit        = 
| start_date        = 1835  
| legislation_begin = 
| legislation_end   = 
| end_date          = 
| current_number    = 18  
| number_date       = 
| type              = 
| status            = 
| exofficio         = 
| population_range  = 103,566 ([[Portalegre District]])–2,390,715 ([[Lisbon District]]) 
| area_range        = 2,255–10,225 km<sup>2</sup>    
| government        = Appointed administration
| subdivision       = [[Municipalities of Portugal|Municipality]]
| subdivision1      = [[Freguesia|Parish]]
}}

{{Politics of Portugal}}

The '''Districts of Portugal''' ({{langx|pt|Distritos de Portugal}})  are the most important first-level administrative subdivisions of [[continental Portugal]]. Currently, mainland Portugal is divided into 18 [[district]]s.

As an administrative division, each district serves mainly as the area of [[jurisdiction]] of a [[Civil Government|civil governor]], who acts as the local delegate of the [[Government of Portugal|Central Government of Portugal]].

==Overview==

The Districts of Portugal were established by a royal decree of 18 July 1835. On the Portuguese mainland, they correspond to the current districts, with the exception of Setúbal District, which is the result of a split of Lisbon District in 1926. This decree did not affect the then extensive colonial empire.

The 1976 [[Constitution of Portugal|Portuguese Constitution]] specifies that Portugal has only, as first-level divisions, the [[Autonomous Regions of Portugal|autonomous regions]] ([[Azores]] and [[Madeira]]) and the [[administrative divisions of Portugal|administrative regions]] (to be created in mainland Portugal). According to the Constitution, the districts shall be disestablished in territories in which an autonomous or administrative region has been created.

The districts were abolished in [[Azores]] and [[Madeira]] in 1976, when the [[Autonomous Regions of Portugal|autonomous regions]] were created. In 1998, a proposal was submitted to [[1998 Portuguese regionalisation referendum|referendum]] to create eight administrative regions in mainland Portugal, and so to extinguish the districts. The proposal was rejected at the ballot box and so the districts continued to exist in mainland Portugal. Despite their abolition in the autonomous regions, the areas of the three former districts of Azores are still used as areas of jurisdiction of some government and non-government entities, like the district finance directorates (Tax Authority regional offices) and the district football championships.

However, the importance of the districts has been decreasing. In recent years, some administrative, financial and political competencies have been delivered to the CCDRs (Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional, English: Commission for Regional Coordination and Development) and to the municipalities, to the detriment of the districts. In 2003, the Portuguese municipalities were allowed to organize themselves into intermunicipal communities (''comunidades intermunicipais'') and metropolitan areas (''áreas metropolitanas''), which allowed for a lessening in the importance of the districts.

Also, the abolition of the districts is a subject that returned to discussion in Portuguese society. In 2009, during the campaign for the [[2009 Portuguese legislative election|legislative election of 2009]], the leader of the [[Socialist Party (Portugal)|Socialist Party]], [[José Sócrates]], promised a new referendum to the administrative regions<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.publico.pt/Pol%C3%ADtica/socrates-quer-maioria-absoluta-promete-referendo-a-regionalizacao-e-defende-casamento-homossexual_1356573 |title=Sócrates quer maioria absoluta, promete referendo à regionalização e defende casamento homossexual - Política - PUBLICO.PT |access-date=2010-06-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715185933/http://www.publico.pt/Pol%C3%ADtica/socrates-quer-maioria-absoluta-promete-referendo-a-regionalizacao-e-defende-casamento-homossexual_1356573 |archive-date=2011-07-15}}</ref> and therefore, the abolition of districts, if he won the election. Other personalities support the creation of administrative regions and therefore the abolition of districts.

Despite being in the process of being phased out by the decentralisation policies of the government, the districts still remain the most relevant subdivision in the country by serving as a basis for a series of administrative divisions such as [[electoral district|electoral constituencies]], [[police]], and [[civil protection]] regional commands; sports district associations; and championships.

On September 8, 2011, a decree from the Portuguese Government ''[[de facto]]'' extinguished all the offices of civil governor by transferring most of their functions to other bodies. As the existence of the civil governors is still included in the Portuguese Constitution, its ''[[de jure]]'' extinction may occur only after a constitutional amendment.

==Present purpose==
In mainland Portugal, for administrative purposes, the districts are still used as the areas of jurisdiction of the local branches and field offices of several Government ministries and agencies. Some of the bodies that have each district as their jurisdiction area are:

* District and metropolitan commands of the [[Public Security Police]];
* Territorial commands of the [[Portuguese National Republican Guard]];
* District rescue operations commands of the National Civil Protection Authority;
* Finance directorates of the Ministry of Finance / Tax and Customs Authority (in this case, including the former districts of Azores, that are still used as the jurisdiction areas for the three finance directorates existing in this autonomous region);
* District Social Security centers of the Portuguese Social Security;
* District motor vehicle delegations of the Mobility and Land Transports Institute;
* District archives of the Directorate-General of Archives;
* Regional delegations of the [[Estradas de Portugal]] (Road Agency).

Furthermore:

* The area of each of the 18 [[electoral district|electoral constituencies]] (''círculo eleitoral'', electoral circle) of mainland Portugal coincides with the area of each district;
* In the new judicial division of Portugal, the area of each of the ''[[comarca]]s'' (first instance judicial districts) of mainland Portugal coincides with the area of an administrative district (with the exception of the ''comarcas'' of [[Greater Lisbon]] and [[Greater Oporto|Greater Porto]]).

For non-Government purposes, the districts are used as the area of jurisdiction of many entities, including:

* The regional organizations of the major political parties, 
* The regional organizations of most of the Portuguese sports federations ([[Portuguese District Football Associations|football]], athletics, roller skating, etc.) and its district championships (including the three former districts of Açores);
* Regional federations of trade unions;
* District delegations of the [[Ordem dos Engenheiros|Institutions of Engineers]].

==List==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!District
!Municipalities
!Parishes
!Pop.<br/>(2021)<ref name="CENSOS">{{cite web |url=https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_indicadores&contecto=pi&indOcorrCod=0011628&selTab=tab0|title=Definitive Results of the 2021 Census |publisher=[[Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Portugal)|INE]] |website=ine.pt |access-date=26 November 2022}}</ref>
!Pop.<br/>(2024)<ref>{{Cite web |title=População residente (N.º) por Local de residência, Sexo e Grupo etário (Por ciclos de vida); Anual |url=https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_indicadores&indOcorrCod=0004167&contexto=bd&selTab=tab2 |access-date=18 June 2025 |publisher=[[Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Portugal)|Instituto Nacional de Estatística]] |date=18 June 2025 |language=pt}}</ref>
!Area<br/>(km<sup>2</sup>)
!Density<br/>(/km<sup>2</sup>)
|-
|[[Azores]] (autonomous region)
|19
|156
|236,413
|241,718
|2,322
|104
|-
|[[Aveiro District|Aveiro]]
|19
|147
|700,787
|734,762
|2,798
|263
|-
|[[Beja District|Beja]]
|14
|75
|144,401
|149,546
|10,229
|15
|-
|[[Braga District|Braga]]
|14
|347
|846,293
|867,537
|2,706
|321
|-
|[[Bragança District|Bragança]]
|12
|226
|122,804
|122,360
|6,608
|19
|-
|[[Castelo Branco District|Castelo Branco]]
|11
|120
|177,962
|180,889
|6,675
|27
|-
|[[Coimbra District|Coimbra]]
|17
|155
|408,551
|423,432
|3,947
|107
|-
|[[Évora District|Évora]]
|14
|69
|152,444
|153,430
|7,393
|21
|-
|[[Faro District|Faro]]
|16
|67
|467,343
|492,747
|4,960
|99
|-
|[[Guarda District|Guarda]]
|14
|242
|142,974
|142,210
|5,518
|26
|-
|[[Leiria District|Leiria]]
|16
|110
|458,605
|486,583
|3,505
|139
|-
|[[Lisbon District|Lisbon]]
|16
|134
|2,275,385
|2,390,715	
|2,761
|866
|-
|[[Madeira]] (autonomous region)
|11
|54
|250,744
|259,440
|801
|324
|-
|[[Portalegre District|Portalegre]]
|15
|69
|104,923
|103,566
|6,065
|17
|-
|[[Porto District|Porto]]
|18
|243
|1,785,405
|1,860,255
|2,408
|773
|-
|[[Santarém District|Santarém]]
|21
|141
|424,973
|446,393
|6,747
|66
|-
|[[Setúbal District|Setúbal]]
|13
|55
|874,806
|916,859
|5,064
|181
|-
|[[Viana do Castelo District|Viana do Castelo]]
|10
|208
|231,266
|234,645
|2,255
|104
|-
|[[Vila Real District|Vila Real]]
|14
|197
|185,695
|184,707
|4,328
|43
|-
|[[Viseu District|Viseu]]
|24
|277
|351,292
|357,841
|5,007
|71
|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"
| '''Total Portugal'''
| '''308'''
| '''3,092'''
| '''10,343,066'''
| '''10,749,635'''
| '''92,097'''
| '''117'''
|}

==Former districts of Portugal==
===Azores===
* [[Angra do Heroísmo (district)|Angra do Heroísmo District]] – 1835 to 1976
* [[Horta (district)|Horta District]] – 1835 to 1976
* [[Ponta Delgada (district)|Ponta Delgada District]] – 1835 to 1976

===Madeira===
* {{illm|Funchal District|pt|Distrito do Funchal}} – 1835 to 1976

===Mainland Portugal===
* Lamego District – in 1835 only. Renamed into Viseu District that year.

==Former districts of the Portuguese overseas provinces==
Following the model of European Portugal, the major Portuguese overseas territories ([[Portuguese Angola|Angola]], [[Portuguese Mozambique|Mozambique]] and [[Portuguese India]]) were also divided in districts. In these territories, each district was headed by a district governor, subordinated to the [[governor-general]]. In [[Angola]] and [[Mozambique]], the former district areas mostly coincide with the modern province areas. In the former Portuguese India, the Damão and Diu districts are still divisions of the present union territory of [[Daman and Diu]], while the present state of [[Goa]] (former Goa District) is now divided into two districts.

=== Angola ===
* [[Bengo District|Bengo]]
* [[Benguela province|Benguela District]]
* [[Bié District|Bié]]
* [[Cabinda District|Cabinda]]
* [[Cuando-Cubango|Cuando-Cubango District]]
* [[Cuanza Norte|Cuanza Norte District]]
* [[Cuanza Sul|Cuanza Sul District]]
* [[Cunene District|Cunene]]
* [[Huambo|Huambo District]]
* [[Huíla District|Huíla]]
* [[Luanda Province|Luanda District]]
* [[Lunda Norte|Lunda Norte District]]
* [[Lunda Sul|Lunda Sul District]]
* [[Malanje|Malanje District]]
* [[Moxico District|Moxico]]
* [[Namibe Province|Moçâmedes District]]
* [[Uíge Province|Uíge District]]
* [[Zaire Province|Zaire District]]

=== Mozambique ===
* [[Niassa Province|Niassa District]]
* [[Cabo Delgado Province|Cabo Delgado District]]
* [[Nampula Province|Nampula District]]
* [[Zambézia|Zambézia District]]
* [[Tete Province|Tete District]]
* [[Manica Province|Manica District]]
* [[Sofala Province|Sofala District]]
* [[Gaza Province|Gaza District]]
* [[Inhambane Province|Inhambane District]]
* [[Maputo Province|Lourenço Marques District]]

=== Portuguese India ===
* [[Goa|Goa District]]
* [[Daman District, India|Damão District]]
* [[Diu District]]

== See also==
* [[Ranked list of Portuguese districts]]
* [[Subdivisions of Portugal]]

== References==
;Notes
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

;Sources
* {{cite book|title=Administrative Subdivisions of Countries: A Comprehensive World Reference, 1900 through 1998 |author= Gwillim Law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nXCeCQAAQBAJ |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |location=US |isbn=0786407298 |chapter=Portugal |pages=296+ |year=1999 
}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.parlamento.pt/Legislacao/Paginas/ConstituicaoRepublicaPortuguesa.aspx|title=Constituição da República Portuguesa: VII Revisão Constitucional|author=Portugal|year=2005|publisher=Assembleia da República|location=Lisbon, Portugal|language=pt}}

{{Administrative divisions of Portugal}}
{{Europe topic|Districts of}}
[[Category:Districts of Portugal| ]]
[[Category:Administrative divisions of Portugal]]
[[Category:Lists of subdivisions of Portugal|Districts]]
[[Category:Administrative divisions in Europe|Portugal 1]]
[[Category:First-level administrative divisions by country|Districts, Portugal]]