Faro District ( pt, Distrito de Faro ) is the southernmost district of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, coincident with the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

region. The administrative centre, or district capital, is the city of Faro.

Municipalities

The district is composed of 16

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

: *

Albufeira Albufeira () is a city and seat of its own municipality in the district of Faro, in the southernmost Portuguese region of Algarve. The municipality population in 2021 was 44,158, in an area of . The city proper had a population of 28,645 in 2021 ...

Alcoutim Alcoutim () is a town and a municipality in southeastern Portugal near the Portugal–Spain border. The population in 2011 was 2,917, in an area of 575.36 km². It is the least densely populated municipality in Portugal. The municipality is ...

Aljezur Aljezur () is a town and municipality of the District of Faro and Algarve region, in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 5,884, in an area of 323.50 km². The municipality comprises 4 parishes. History Aljezur Do árabe al jazair, plu ...

Castro Marim Castro Marim () is a town and a municipality in the southern region of Algarve, in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 6,747, in an area of 300.84 km2. The current Mayor is Francisco Amaral, elected by the Social Democratic Party. The mun ...

* Faro * Lagoa *

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

Loulé Loulé () is a city and municipality in the region of Algarve, district of Faro, Portugal. In 2011, the population of the entire municipality was 70,622 inhabitants, in an area of approximately . The municipality has two principal cities: Loulé ...

Monchique Monchique () is a municipality of southern Portugal, in Faro District (province of Algarve). The population in 2011 was 6,045, in an area of 395.30 km2. The Municipality of Monchique is situated in the Serra de Monchique and together with th ...

Olhão Olhão (), officially known as Olhão da Restauração, is a city and municipality in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 45,396, in an area of . Located near the regional capital Faro and formi ...

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,614, in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão (). In 1924, it was ...

São Brás de Alportel São Brás de Alportel () is a town and municipality in the District of Faro, Algarve region, in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 10,662, in an area of 153.37 km². The present Mayor is Vítor Guerreiro, elected by the Socialist Party. Th ...

Silves Silves may refer to : Europe * Silves, Portugal, municipality and former bishopric in Algarve, southern Portugal ** Silves (parish), a civil parish in the municipality of Silves ** Castle of Silves, a medieval castle in civil parish of Silves ...

Tavira Tavira () is a Portuguese town and municipality, capital of the ''Costa do Acantilado'', situated in the east of the Algarve on the south coast of Portugal. It is east of Faro and west of Huelva across the river Guadiana into Spain. The Gilão ...

Vila do Bispo Vila do Bispo () is a municipality (''concelho'') in the Portuguese Algarve. It has 5,717 inhabitants in an area of 179.06 km2. History The first references to this region referred to the ''Aldeia do Bispo'' in the 14th century, in a char ...

Vila Real de Santo António Vila Real de Santo António (, often run together as ) is a city, civil parish, and municipality in the Algarve, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 19,156, in an area of 61.25 km2. It is one of the few municipalities in Portugal without ter ...

Cities

* Faro * Lagoa *

* Quarteira (Loulé) *

Villages

* Alcantarilha (Silves) *

* Algoz (Silves) * Almancil (Loulé) *

Alvor (Portimão) Alvor is a civil parish ( pt, freguesia, links=no) in the municipality of Portimão, in the southern Algarve of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 6,154, in an area of 15.25 km². History Alvor was founded in 436 B.C. by the Carthage, Ca ...

* Armação de Pêra (Silves) *

* Bensafrim (Lagos) * Cabanas de Tavira (Tavira) *

Carvoeiro (Lagoa) Carvoeiro is a town and a former civil parish in the municipality (''concelho'') of Lagoa, Algarve, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Lagoa e Carvoeiro. The population in 2011 was 2,721, in an area of 11.66 km². It is ...

* Estômbar (Lagoa) * Ferragudo (Lagoa) * Fuseta (Olhão) * Luz (Lagos) * Luz de Tavira (Tavira) * Mexilhoeira Grande (Olhão) * Moncarapacho (Olhão) *

Monte Gordo (Vila Real de Santo António) Monte Gordo is a town and a freguesia (parish) of the municipality of Vila Real de Santo António, in the southeastern corner of Algarve, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 3,308, in an area of 4.22 km2. Formerly a fishermen's town, Monte G ...

* Odeceixe (Aljezur) * Odiáxere (Lagos) * Parchal (Lagoa) *

Pêra (Silves) Pêra () is a former civil parish in the municipality of Silves, Portugal.Detail Regional Map, Algarve- Southern Portugal, In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Alcantarilha e Pêra. The village is south east of Silves and is south ...

Porches (Lagoa) Porches is a civil parish/freguesia in the municipality of Lagoa, Algarve, Lagoa in Portugal, about 10 km east of the city of Lagoa. The population in 2011 was 2,011, in an area of 15.64 km2. It was elevated to the status of a town on Ju ...

Sagres (Vila do Bispo) Sagres is a civil parish in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the southern Algarve of Portugal. It has 1,894 inhabitants (2021) in an area of . It is historically connected to the early Portuguese Age of Discovery. Sagres is near the Wester ...

* Salir (Loulé) * Santa Luzia (Tavira) * São Bartolomeu de Messines (Silves) *

* Vila Nova de Cacela (Vila Real de Santo António)

History

Pre-Roman Times

In Pre-Roman Portugal, the area was inhabited by the

Cynetes The Cynetes or Conii were one of the pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula, living in today's Algarve and Lower Alentejo regions of southern Portugal, and the southern part of Badajoz and the northwestern portions of Córdoba and Ciudad Rea ...

(or Conii), a people (formed by several

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

s) of linguistic and ethnic affiliation, possibly

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

or Iberian, whose territory included the modern area of the

Beja District The Beja District () is located in southern Portugal. The district capital is the city of Beja. It is the largest district of the country by area, and constitutes around 11% of its area. Municipalities The district is composed of 14 municipali ...

. This former territory of the ''Cysteines'' ran from the mouth of the Mira River all the way to the

Guadiana River The Guadiana River (, also , , ), or Odiana, is an international river defining a long stretch of the Portugal-Spain border, separating Extremadura and Andalusia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal). The river's basin extends from the e ...

. It is possible that they were related to the

Tartessos Tartessos ( es, Tarteso) is, as defined by archaeological discoveries, a historical civilization settled in the region of Southern Spain characterized by its mixture of local Paleohispanic and Phoenician traits. It had a proper writing system ...

(people whose linguistic and ethnic affiliation is also not yet fully known or determined), but were not the same people.

Roman Times

Before the definitive integration of the canons into the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

, during the period from about 200 BC to 141 BC, they were under strong Roman influence, but enjoyed a high degree of autonomy. In part, due to the favorably relationship with the Romans, the colonies had some conflicts with the

Lusitanians The Lusitanians ( la, Lusitani) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people living in the west of the Iberian Peninsula prior to its conquest by the Roman Republic and the subsequent incorporation of the territory into the Roma ...

, who under the leadership of

Caucenus Caucenus (known as ''Cauceno'' in Portuguese and Spanish) was a chieftain of the Lusitanians, a proto- Celtic tribe from western Hispania. He was an important military figure during the earlier phase of the Lusitanian War. Biography Caucenus c ...

, the Lusitanian leader before

Viriathus Viriathus (also spelled Viriatus; known as Viriato in Portuguese and Spanish; died 139 BC) was the most important leader of the Lusitanian people that resisted Roman expansion into the regions of western Hispania (as the Romans called it) or we ...

, had conquered their territory for some time, including the capital,

Conistorgis Conistorgis was the main city of the Conii or Cynetes. In the Conii language it probably meant "city of the Conii". The Celtici seem to have been present there. Location Conistorgis was located somewhere in the interior of the Algarve, in sout ...

(whose location is still not known, but is thought to be in modern-day Faro or

) in 153 BC. Partly due to this conflict with the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

(and partly due to the cultural influence of Mediterranean civilizations), unlike many pre-Roman peoples of Portugal, they were allies of the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

for some time and not their opponents, differing from the attitude of most of the other peoples, such as the Lusitanians who were strong opponents of the Romans. Nevertheless, a while later, in the context of the Lusitanian Wars, in the year of 141BC, the ''Conidia'' revolted against the Roman Empire, along with the

Turduli The Turduli (Greek ''Tourduloi'') or Turtuli were an ancient pre-Roman people of the southwestern Iberian Peninsula. Location The Turduli tribes lived mainly in the south and centre of modern Portugal – in the east of the provinces of Beira Li ...

of Beturia (also called betures), but were quickly defeated by

Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus Quintus Fabius Maximus Servilianus was the adoptive son of Quintus Fabius Maximus Aemilianus and the natural son of Gnaeus Servilius Caepio (consul in 169 BC)--hence the adoptive cognomen Servilianus. He was consul of the Roman Republic in 142 BC ...

, a Roman

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...

, and was definitively integrated into the Roman Empire.

Barbarian Era

Despite being conquered by the so-called barbarian peoples (

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...

Alans The Alans (Latin: ''Alani'') were an ancient and medieval Iranian nomadic pastoral people of the North Caucasus – generally regarded as part of the Sarmatians, and possibly related to the Massagetae. Modern historians have connected the Al ...

Suebi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...

, and later

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

) at the time of

Barbarian migrations The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...

or invasions,

Roman culture The culture of ancient Rome existed throughout the almost 1200-year history of the civilization of Ancient Rome. The term refers to the culture of the Roman Republic, later the Roman Empire, which at its peak covered an area from present-day Lo ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

remained there for a period of time. In the year 552, the current area of

was regained by the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

(then governed by

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

), and appointed a government that lasted till the year 571, when King Liuvigild conquered it for the

Visigothic Kingdom The Visigothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of the Goths ( la, Regnum Gothorum), was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic peoples, Germanic su ...

Fauna

The

Cape St. Vincent Cape St. Vincent ( pt, Cabo de São Vicente, ) is a headland in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the Algarve, southern Portugal. It is the southwesternmost point of Portugal and of mainland Europe. History Cape St. Vincent was already sacr ...

is situated in a route of

migrating birds Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...

, allowing for the seasonal observation of the variety of bird life. The subsoil of the district is inhabited by several

endemic species Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

unique to Faro, some still just being discovered. The most emblematic species of the underground fauna of the Algarve are the giant pseudo-scorpion of the Algarve caves (''Titanobochica magna'') and the largest terrestrial cave insect in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, ''Squamatinia algharbica''.

Summary of votes and seats won 1976-2022

, - class="unsortable" !rowspan=2, Parties!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S , - class="unsortable" style="text-align:center;" !colspan=2 , 1976 !colspan=2 , 1979 !colspan=2 , 1980 !colspan=2 , 1983 !colspan=2 , 1985 !colspan=2 , 1987 !colspan=2 , 1991 !colspan=2 , 1995 !colspan=2 , 1999 !colspan=2 , 2002 !colspan=2 , 2005 !colspan=2 , 2009 !colspan=2 , 2011 !colspan=2 , 2015 !colspan=2 , 2019 !colspan=2 , 2022 , - , style="text-align:left;", PS , , style="background:#f6f;", 44.6 , , style="background:#f6f;", 6 , , 34.0 , , 3 , , 34.7 , , 4 , , style="background:#f6f;", 43.2 , , style="background:#f6f;", 5 , , 22.3 , , 2 , , 24.9 , , 3 , , 31.2 , , 3 , , style="background:#f6f;", 49.6 , , style="background:#f6f;", 5 , , style="background:#f6f;", 48.4 , , style="background:#f6f;", 5 , , style="background:#f6f;", 40.5 , , style="background:#f6f;", 4 , , style="background:#f6f;", 49.3 , , style="background:#f6f;", 6 , , style="background:#f6f;", 31.9 , , style="background:#f6f;", 3 , , 23.0 , , 2 , , style="background:#f6f;", 32.8 , , style="background:#f6f;", 4 , , style="background:#f6f;", 36.8 , , style="background:#f6f;", 5 , , style="background:#f6f;", 39.9 , , style="background:#f6f;", 5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

PSD PSD may refer to: Educational bodies * Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, a Pre-K to 12th grade school for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, located in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania * Philippine School Doha, a Filipino scho ...

, , 19.3 , , 2 , , style="text-align:center;" colspan="4" rowspan="2", ''In AD'' , , 23.1 , , 2 , , style="background:#f90;", 28.4 , , style="background:#f90;", 3 , , style="background:#f90;", 46.7 , , style="background:#f90;", 5 , , style="background:#f90;", 50.8 , , style="background:#f90;", 5 , , 29.2 , , 3 , , 29.5, , 3 , , 37.7 , , 4 , , 24.6 , , 2 , , 26.2 , , 3 , , style="background:#f90;", 37.0 , , style="background:#f90;", 4 , , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" rowspan="2", ''In PàF'' , , 22.3 , , 3 , , 24.4 , , 3 , - , style="text-align:left;", CDS-PP , , 6.8 , , , , 7.4 , , , , 6.1 , , , , 3.1 , , , , 2.8 , , , , 8.3 , , , , 7.3 , , , , 8.3 , , , , 5.8 , , , , 10.7 , , 1 , , 12.7 , , 1 , , 3.8 , , , , 1.1 , , , - , style="text-align:left;", PCP/APU/CDU , , 14.5 , , 1 , , 20.3, , 2 , , 16.7 , , 1 , , 18.6 , , 2 , , 15.4 , , 2 , , 10.9 , , 1 , , 7.2 , , , , 7.8 , , , , 8.3 , , , , 6.3 , , , , 6.9 , , , , 7.8 , , , , 8.6 , , 1 , , 8.7 , , 1 , , 7.1 , , , , 4.8 , , , - , style="text-align:left;", AD , , colspan=2, , , style="background:#0ff;", 34.6 , , style="background:#0ff;", 4 , , style="background:#0ff;", 37.2 , , style="background:#0ff;", 4 , , colspan=26, , - , style="text-align:left;", PRD , , colspan=8, , , 20.5 , , 2 , , 6.3 , , , , colspan=20, , - , style="text-align:left;", BE , , colspan=16, , , 2.3 , , , , 2.8 , , , , 7.7 , , , , 15.3 , , 1 , , 8.2 , , 1 , , 14.1 , , 1 , , 12.3 , , 1 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", PàF , , colspan=26, , , 31.5 , , 3 , , colspan=4, , - ! Total seats , , colspan=12, 9 , , colspan=12, 8 , , colspan=8, 9 , - ! colspan=33, Source
Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Notes

{{coord, 37, 00, 54, N, 7, 56, 06, W, type:adm2nd_source:itwiki, display=title Districts of Portugal Districts in Algarve