Take a quick look at Portugal’s geography and how the Portuguese themselves divide the country into regions. Portugal is a small country, just 92,391 square kilometers, ranking 109th in the world by area. Yet despite its small size, its scenery is remarkably varied from place to place, and the same is true of local culture — Portugal’s cultural diversity can rival a country many times its size. Accents, food and scenery all differ noticeably from region to region. Portugal sits in southern Europe, and its only land border is with Spain, so the entire country lies on the Iberian Peninsula. Even so, its natural landscape is more varied than Spain’s.
Portugal, a Mediterranean Country?
Portugal is often thought of as a Mediterranean country, but look at a map and you’ll see the Mediterranean and the Portuguese coast don’t actually touch at all. Geographically, Portugal is first and foremost a maritime nation. The country is long and narrow, and no part of it is more than 220 kilometers from the ocean — a fact that entirely shapes Portugal’s natural landscape and climate.
Portugal’s Three Major Regions
Three broad regions can be identified: north, center and south, each further divided into smaller areas. By tradition, the north refers to everywhere north of the Mondego River, while the south refers to everywhere south of that river (Portugal’s only river that actually originates within the country — all others originate in Spain). But this simple north-south split leaves out the center. Regional divisions are fairly loose here, much as explained in an earlier article on Portugal’s municipalities: the large regions delineated by Salazar in 1936 no longer exist administratively. Anyone can describe themselves as being from whichever geographic region they like — the only thing that can be pinned down is which of the 18 administrative districts they belong to.
Portugal’s Traditional Regions
Here is a simple breakdown of how the Portuguese themselves see their regional divisions, though areas can overlap (someone from the Aveiro district, for example, might identify as both northern and central, or even as coastal):
North
Everywhere north of the Mondego River. Cities include Porto, Braga and Guimarães. Bordering the north is the traditional region of Minho, rich in tradition and considered Portugal’s birthplace — the seed of the country when the Iberian Peninsula was being reconquered from the Moors.
South
Everywhere south of the Tejo River. Cities include Évora, Beja and Lisbon. When northerners want to speak dismissively of southerners, they call them “Moors” — as the Reconquista advanced from north to south, northerners likened southerners to the Moors (a term used derisively by Catholics at the time), roughly meaning “trash.”
Center
The somewhat ambiguous zone near the Mondego River, between Lisbon and Porto. Cities include Coimbra, Leiria and Évora.
Interior
Everywhere outside the coastal belt. Cities include Guarda, Bragança and Portalegre.
Coastal
Everywhere along the coast. Cities include Porto, Lisbon and others.
Names of Traditional Regions
Beyond the divisions above, here are some other well-defined traditional regional names:
- Ribatejo is the region on the north bank of the Tejo River, with towns including Vila Franca de Xira, Cartaxo and Santarém.
- Alentejo, on the south bank of the Tejo, has a climate and landscape with typically Mediterranean characteristics, with cities including Évora, Beja and Portalegre.
- Algarve is a fertile coastal strip at Portugal’s southernmost tip; influenced by both the ocean and the Mediterranean climate, it draws millions of tourists every year. Cities include Faro and Albufeira.
- The Azores (os Açores) are Atlantic islands known for their anticyclone, but also for unmatched scenery, with volcanoes and fertile land — the only place in Europe where tea is grown.
- Madeira (Madère) is the “island of a thousand flowers” in the Atlantic.
- Greater Lisbon (a grande Lisboa), the capital region.
- Greater Porto (o grande Porto) — Greater Porto is to Portugal what Marseille is to France, or Barcelona to Spain.
- The last region is Serra da Estrela, Portugal’s highest mountain range, also one of the few places that reliably sees snow, located in the country’s center alongside Trás-os-Montes in the northeast.
Even Portugal’s officially defined regions are barely known to the general public, because everyone is shaped by the traditional regional divisions instead. The official divisions are mostly a concern for geographers or politicians.
Regionalization in Portugal
One last note: a few years back, there was a nationwide referendum on a possible regionalization plan, aimed at reducing the capital’s disproportionate importance and devolving power to allow for a fairer distribution of resources. The referendum failed. Why? Possibly because the traditional regional divisions leave many people feeling frustrated — they cannot find their place within “this kind” of regionalization. A fitting example: the Leiria district in the central region has a strong industrial economy and is culturally close to the city of Coimbra, yet it is also blended with the traditionally agricultural Santarém district, once part of the traditional Ribatejo region. Regionalization along those lines simply wasn’t workable — the country’s geography is too fragmented and the differences between regions too great, so in the end people still primarily think in terms of their administrative district.
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Sources
- Portugal Days — original Portuguese-language article on Portugal’s regional geography, cited as the source for this piece.
