Provinces of Portugal (Twilight of a New Era)

Portugal is divided in Provinces, Autonomous Provinces and Overseas Provinces.

There are 11 provinces in mainland Portugal. Each one has an executive body, Civil Governor and Provincial Board (junta de província) and a deliberative elected assembly, Provincial Council (conselho provincia). The Civil Governor, named by the President, designates the members of the Provincial Board.

The provinces are Minho, Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Douro Litoral, Beira Litoral, Beira Alta, Beira Baixa, Ribatejo, Estremadura, Alto Alentejo, Baixo Alentejo and Algarve. These are subdivided in districts.



Autonomous provinces
The Azores and Madeira Islands are Autonomous Provinces. They have an Executive Commission, named by an eleced General Board (Junta Geral). The President of the Republic designates a Minister of the Republic (Ministro da República) has his representative and executive head of the autonomous province.

Local government
Local government is administered by municipalities (Portuguese: municípios or concelhos). Each municipality is further subdivided into parishes (freguesias). Portuguese municipalities are ruled by a system composed by an executive body (the municipal chamber) and a deliberative body (the municipal assembly). The municipal chamber is the executive body and is composed of the president of the municipality and a number of councillors proportional to the municipality's population. The municipal assembly is composed of the presidents of all the parishes that compose the municipality, as well as by a number of directly-elected deputies, at least equal to the number of parish presidents plus one. Both bodies are elected for three years.

In the overseas provinces, the municipios are established in the capital of the province and some large cities. The rest of their territory is divided in districts administered by a commissioner.


 * Also see Overseas Provincesa