Continental Portugal ( pt, Portugal continental, ) or mainland Portugal comprises the bulk of the

Portuguese Republic 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 the ...

, namely that part on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

and so in

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

, having approximately 95% of the total population and 96.6% of the country's land. Mainland Portugal is therefore commonly called by residents of the Portuguese archipelagos of the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

the continent ( pt, o continente) in all respects including minor elements of combined governance from Lisbon, the country's capital. Before 1975, when the Portuguese territory also stretched to several now-independent states in Africa, the designation ''metropolis'' ( pt, metrópole) was also used.

Context

The designation ''mainland Portugal'' is used to differentiate the

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

al territory of Portugal from its insular territory. The latter comprises the archipelagos of

and

in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. The Azores and Madeira are also commonly referred to as the

autonomous regions An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy— ...

( pt, as regiões autónomas), insular Portugal ( pt, Portugal Insular) or, simply, the islands ( pt, as ilhas). Continental Portugal is divided into 18

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

. Outside of these the islands of

and the

are the

Autonomous Regions of Portugal The two Autonomous Regions of Portugal from 1999 ( pt, Regiões Autónomas de Portugal) are the Azores (''Região Autónoma dos Açores'') and Madeira (''Região Autónoma da Madeira''). Together with Continental Portugal (''Portugal Continenta ...

. The European

Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS (french: Nomenclature des unités territoriales statistiques) is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of countries for statistical purposes. The standard, adopted in 2003, ...

defines the geographic plurality of the mainland Portugal and the islands as the primary NUTS I territorial division (see administrative divisions of Portugal: NUTS for details). While in modern Portugal the difference between European continental and total territory is minor (in terms of area), it mattered during the existence of the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...

, when the distinction was more frequently made, such as in the colonisation of Brazil. Continental Portugal has an area of or 96.6% of the Portuguese national territory () and 9,855,909 inhabitants (or 95.3% of the total population of 10,343,066).

Districts

EU Statistical Regions (NUTS II)

{, class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;" , - ! style="width:200px; text-align:centre", NUTS II ! style="width:450px; text-align:centre", Districts (entirely or partly included) , - , style="text-align:left" , Norte Alto Minho Cávado

Ave ''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

Douro The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...

Tâmega e Sousa The Comunidade Intermunicipal do Tâmega e Sousa () is an administrative division in northern Portugal. It was created in 2009. Since January 2015, Tâmega e Sousa is also a NUTS3 subregion of Norte Region, that covers the same area as the inter ...

Alto Tâmega The Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alto Tâmega () is an administrative division in northern Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberi ...

Trás-os-Montes ,

Viana do Castelo Viana do Castelo () is a municipality and seat of the district of Viana do Castelo in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 88,725, in an area of 319.02 km². The urbanized area of the municipality, comprising the city, ...

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

, Aveiro (part), Guarda (part),

Viseu Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the district of the same name, with a population of 100,000 inhabitants, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões intermunipical community, with 267,633 inhabita ...

(part),

Vila Real Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the North region. It is also the seat of the Douro intermunicipal community and of the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro historical province. The Vila Real municipality cover ...

, Bragança , - , style="text-align:left" , Centro Beira Baixa

Beiras e Serra da Estrela The Comunidade Intermunicipal das Beiras e Serra da Estrela () is an administrative division in eastern Portugal. It was created in 2013. Since January 2015, Beiras e Serra da Estrela is also a NUTS3 subregion of Centro Region The Central Region ...

Médio Tejo The Comunidade Intermunicipal do Médio Tejo (; English: ''Middle Tagus'') is an administrative division in Portugal. It was created in December 2008, replacing the former ''Comunidade Urbana do Médio Tejo'' created in 2004. It takes its name fro ...

Oeste

Região de Aveiro The Comunidade Intermunicipal da Região de Aveiro () is an administrative division in Portugal. It was created in October 2008, replacing the previously existing ''Greater Metropolitan Area of Aveiro''. Since January 2015, Região de Aveiro is al ...

Região de Coimbra The Comunidade Intermunicipal da Região de Coimbra () is an administrative division in Portugal. It was created in October 2013, replacing the previously existing ''Greater Metropolitan Area of Coimbra''. Since January 2015, Região de Coimbra is ...

Região de Leiria The Comunidade Intermunicipal da Região de Leiria () is an administrative division in western Portugal. It was created in 2014, replacing the former ''Associação de Municípios da Região de Leiria'' created in 2009. Since January 2015, Região ...

Viseu Dão Lafões The Comunidade Intermunicipal Viseu Dão Lafões () is an administrative division in Portugal. It replaced the previously existing ''Greater Metropolitan Area of Viseu''. Since January 2015, Viseu Dão Lafões is also a NUTS3 subregion of Centro ...

, Castelo Branco, Guarda (majority), Santarém (part),

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

(part), Aveiro (majority),

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

Leiria Leiria (; cel-x-proto, ɸlāryo) is a city and municipality in the Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat of its own distr ...

(majority) , - , style="text-align:left" , Lisbon Metropolitan Region

(majority),

Setúbal Setúbal (, , ; cel-x-proto, Caetobrix) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies within the Lisbon metropolitan area. In the ti ...

(part) , - , style="text-align:left" , Alentejo

Alentejo Litoral The Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alentejo Litoral () is an administrative division in Portugal. It was created in May 2009. It is also a NUTS3 subregion of the Alentejo Region.Alentejo Central The Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alentejo Central () is an administrative division in Portugal. It was created in 2009. The seat of the intermunicipal community is Évora, the main city. Other cities are Estremoz, Montemor-o-Novo, Vendas Novas an ...

Alto Alentejo Baixo Alentejo

Lezíria do Tejo The Comunidade Intermunicipal da Lezíria do Tejo (; English: ''Tagus Floodplain'') is an administrative division in Portugal. It was established as an ''Associação de Municípios'' in 1987, converted into a ''Comunidade Urbana'' in 2003, and co ...

(part),

Évora Évora ( , ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of 1307.08 km2. It is the historic capital of the Alentejo and serves as the seat of the Évora District. Due to its well-preserved old to ...

, Portalegre, Beja, Santarém (part),

(part) , - , style="text-align:left" , Algarve

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 ...

, Faro , -

Context

Districts

EU Statistical Regions (NUTS II)

See also