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The North Region ( pt, Região do Norte ) or Northern Portugal is the most populous region in
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 ...
, ahead of
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 ...
, and the third most extensive by area. The region has 3,576,205 inhabitants according to the 2017 census, and its area is with a density of 173 inhabitants per square kilometre. It is one of five regions of Mainland Portugal ( NUTS II subdivisions). Its main population center is the
urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...
of
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 ...
, with about one million inhabitants; it includes a larger political metropolitan region with 1.8 million, and an urban-metropolitan agglomeration with 2.99 million inhabitants, including Porto and neighboring cities, such as
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 ...
,
Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCWorld Heritage Sitesince 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved and a ...
and
Póvoa de Varzim Póvoa de Varzim (, ) is a Portuguese city in Northern Portugal and sub-region of Greater Porto, from its city centre. It sits in a sandy coastal plain, a cuspate foreland, halfway between the Minho and Douro rivers. In 2001, there were 63,470 ...
. The Commission of Regional Coordination of the North (CCDR-N) is the agency that coordinates environmental policies, land-use planning, cities and the overall development of this region, supporting local governments and associations. Northern Portugal is a culturally varied region. It is a land of dense vegetation and profound historic and cultural wealth. What is now Northern Portugal was first settled by various pre-Celtic and
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 ...
tribes before being visited by a number of
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
civilizations who traded in its river-mouths, including
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...
, conquest by 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 ...
, invasion by
Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...
, and attacks by the
Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...
and the
Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
.


History and culture

The region has been inhabited since
prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
times and is a key area for the understanding of both
Atlantic Europe Atlantic Europe is a geographical term for the western portion of Europe which borders the Atlantic Ocean. The term may refer to the idea of Atlantic Europe as a cultural unit and/or as a biogeographical region. It comprises the Atlantic Isles ...
an,
Megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...
ic and
Castro Castro is a Romance language word that originally derived from Latin ''castrum'', a pre-Roman military camp or fortification (cf: Greek: ''kastron''; Proto-Celtic:''*Kassrik;'' br, kaer, *kastro). The English-language equivalent is '' chester''. ...
cultures. Historically, Northern Portugal with Galicia in Spain, made up the
Kingdom of Galicia The Kingdom of Galicia ( gl, Reino de Galicia, or ''Galiza''; es, Reino de Galicia; pt, Reino da Galiza; la, Galliciense Regnum) was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire north ...
. In protohistoric times, it was inhabited by
Gallaeci The Gallaeci (also Callaeci or Callaici; grc, Καλλαϊκοί) were a Celtic tribal complex who inhabited Gallaecia, the north-western corner of Iberia, a region roughly corresponding to what is now the Norte Region in northern Portugal, an ...
tribes, related with the Lusitanians, and it corresponds roughly to
Conventus Bracarensis {{unreferenced, date=July 2010 The Conventus Bracarensis ( conventus iuridicus of Bracara Augusta), was a Roman administrative unit located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in Gallaecia. Its name derives from its capital Bracara Augusta ...
of Roman
Gallaecia Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the north-west of Hispania, approximately present-day Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias and Leon and the later Kingdom of Gallaecia. The Roman cities included ...
. The historical
Suebic Kingdom The Kingdom of the Suebi ( la, Regnum Suevorum), also called the Kingdom of Galicia ( la, Regnum Galicia) or Suebi Kingdom of Galicia ( la, Galicia suevorum regnum), was a Germanic post-Roman kingdom that was one of the first to separate from ...
(5th-6th centuries AD) had its capital in the now Portuguese city of
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 ...
and most of these migrants and invaders established themselves in Littoral Northern Portugal, when the Roman empire collapsed. After the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, a small county was established around the city of Porto, which expanded southwards and became a government, the
County of Portugal The County of Portugal ( pt, Condado de Portugal, Condado Portucalense, Condado de Portucale; in documents of the period the name used was Portugalia) refers to two successive medieval counties in the region around Braga and Porto, today corresp ...
in the 10th century. This county grew in ambition and it was where Portugal's first king, Dom Afonso Henriques, established the Portuguese kingdom and stated the southward expansion. The
Portuguese language Portuguese ( or, in full, ) is a western Romance language of the Indo-European language family, originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is an official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and ...
evolved from this area, and has a specific modern dialect, Northern Portuguese, taken down south as the
Portuguese Kingdom The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and ...
expanded, namely after Afonso Henriques era. The region has a number of manor-houses and castles featuring
coats of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its wh ...
as an indication of a very intense medieval period. Regional cuisine is renowned and varied offering products such as light wines (''vinhos verdes'') and rich wines, and a variety of handicrafts that mingles the shine of filigree with the colour of the local embroideries. Northern Portugal is also very rich in folklore and traditions dating back to antiquity. Galicia and Northern Portugal have been promoting the official candidacy for the recognition of the common
intangible cultural heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. Int ...
by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
. The project is backed by the
Galician Government The Xunta de Galicia (; "Regional Government of Galicia") is the collective decision-making body of the government of the autonomous community of Galicia, composed of the President, the Vice-President(s) and the specialized ministers (''Consell ...
, a number of Galician institutions and associations, together with local and regional governments and institutions in Northern Portugal. The official name is "
Candidatura de Património Imaterial Galego-Português
'".


Geography

left, Cávado river in Peneda-Gerês National Park, an area with expressive rainfall. Northern Littoral Natural Park in Esposende. The inland Douro Valley area is exposed to hot summers and seasonal aridity. Northern Portugal is a mountainous region. Its peaks known as ''serras'' include Serra do Gerês (1544 m), Peneda (1416 m), Marão (1415 m) and Soajo (1415 m). Some of which forms natural parks: the
Peneda-Gerês National Park The Peneda-Gerês National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês, ), also known simply as Gerês, is a national park located in northern Portugal. Created in May 1971, it is the oldest protected area and the only national park in Portugal. ...
,
Montesinho Natural Park The Montesinho Natural Park ( pt, Parque Natural de Montesinho) is a protected area located in the Municipalities of Portugal, municipalities of Vinhais and Bragança Municipality, Bragança, northeastern Portugal. Sections of the southern slopes o ...
, and the Alvão Natural Park. The coast, known as the '' Costa Verde'', is a flat strip of land enclosed by sandy beaches and hills, the largest of which is the coastal plain between the Cávado and the Ave rivers. The area is known for the long stretch of picturesque sand dunes which accumulated during the
Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Ma ...
, part of which is protected in the Northern Littoral Natural Park. The Minho,
Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
,
Neiva Neiva () is the capital of the Department of Huila. It is located in the valley of the Magdalena River in south central Colombia with a population of about 357,392 inhabitants. It is one of the most important cities in southern Colombia, mainly ...
, 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 ...
and the
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 ...
are the most preeminent rivers that flow to 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 ...
. Inland, the Tâmega is a major tributary which empties in the Douro river. The Douro is the most preeminent river, and one of the most important rivers in 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 ...
. The Minho river marks the northwestern Portuguese-Spanish border and is the second most important river. There are four
World Heritage Sites A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...
: the Alto Douro Wine Region, the Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites in the Côa Valley, the Porto historical Center and the Guimarães historical Center. Throughout the region the rivers, waterfalls, vineyards and fertile plots combine with the ancestral monuments in urban centres.


Climate

The region has a warm Mediterranean climate (''Csb'') on the coast and a hot Mediterranean climate (''Csa'') along the Douro Valley. Northwestern Portugal has temperate summers and mild winters, influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and the
diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak d ...
rarely reaches , while inland northeastern Portugal has hot summers and cold longer winters, hence continental features, and the diurnal temperature variation can reach . Rainfall is very irregular as topography and distance from the sea strongly influence precipitation levels, even at short distances. The inland mountainous areas in the northwest around the peaks of Peneda, Gerês and Marão have the highest rainfall in all of Portugal. The Douro valley, however, is among the driest areas in all of Portugal. Some rainy cities include Vila Real, Braga and, on the coast, Viana do Castelo. The coast tends to have balmy weather, high
solar irradiance Solar irradiance is the power per unit area (surface power density) received from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument. Solar irradiance is measured in watts per square metre (W/ ...
and lower rainfall in a strip from
Cape Santo André Cape Santo André (Portuguese for Saint Andrew) is a cape located in the Northern coast of continental Portugal, in Santo André, municipality of Póvoa de Varzim. It is the tip of Póvoa de Varzim's cuspate foreland. It is probably the old Rom ...
to the urban area of Porto.


Subregions

* Alto Minho *
Alto Tâmega The Comunidade Intermunicipal do Alto Tâmega () is an administrative division in northern Portugal. It was created in 2014. Since January 2015, Alto Tâmega is also a NUTS3 subregion of Norte Region, that covers the same area as the intermunicip ...
*
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 ...
* Cávado *
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 ...
*
Terras de Trás-os-Montes The Intermunicipal communities of Portugal, Comunidade Intermunicipal das Terras de Trás-os-Montes (; English language, English: ''Lands of Trás-os-Montes'') is an administrative division in northeastern Portugal. Since January 2015, Terras de Tr ...


Demography

left, Porto old town. Politically, Northern Portugal is divided into 86 municipalities (''municípios''), which in turn are subdivided into 1,426 civil parishes (''freguesias''). The region was subdivided in supramunicipal districts in 1835. Northern Portugal includes the districts of Viana do Castelo, Braga, Porto, Vila Real, and Bragança, and partly the districts of Aveiro, Viseu, and Guarda. The largest municipalities are
Vila Nova de Gaia Vila Nova de Gaia (; cel-x-proto, Cale), or simply Gaia, is a city and a municipality in Porto District in Norte Region, Portugal. It is located south of the city of Porto on the other side of the Douro River. The city proper had a population of ...
(304,149),
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 ...
(231,962),
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 ...
(193,333),
Matosinhos Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal () is a city and a municipality in the northern Porto district of Portugal, bordered in the south by the city of Porto (8 km from the city centre). The population in 2011 was 175,478, and covered an area of approx ...
(172,669), Gondomar (164,255),
Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCWorld Heritage Sitesince 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved and a ...
(156,852),
Santa Maria da Feira Santa Maria da Feira () is a city and a municipality in Aveiro District in Portugal, 23 km from central Porto. The population in 2011 was 139,309,Maia Maia (; Ancient Greek: Μαῖα; also spelled Maie, ; la, Maia), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, one of the major Greek gods, by Zeus, the king of Olympus. Family Maia is the daugh ...
(134,959),
Vila Nova de Famalicão Vila Nova de Famalicão () is a Portuguese town with a population of approximately 133,048 inhabitants () in an area of 201,59 km2, subdivided into 49 parishes (Administrative Division of 11 Unions of Parishes and 23 Parish Councils,). Insert ...
(133.590) and Barcelos (116,777), according to the 2021 Census. Aerial of Braga showing the typical disperse settlement of the region. Ignoring municipal subdivisions, the region has one urban area, Greater Porto, with about one million inhabitants, this includes Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, Matosinhos, Maia and some large suburbs such as Rio Tinto and Ermesinde. There is a major urban area just above Greater Porto, with about 600,000 inhabitants: Minho Urban Quadrilateral (''Quadrilátero Urbano do Minho''), centered in Braga and which includes Guimarães, Vila Nova de Famalicão and Barcelos; and the urban area of Póvoa de Varzim-
Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,533, in an area of 149.03 km². The urbanized area of Vila do Conde, which includes the parishes of Vila do Conde, Azurar ...
, with about 100,000 inhabitants. However, in Northern Portugal these tend to be well-populated with
dispersed settlement A dispersed settlement, also known as a scattered settlement, is one of the main types of settlement patterns used by landscape historians to classify rural settlements found in England and other parts of the world. Typically, there are a numb ...
between the diverse cities of the region. All these human settlements are part of the same polycentric urban-metropolitan agglomeration with 2,99 million inhabitants (2001), alongside the northern Atlantic coast.Fernando Nunes da Silva (2005)
Alta Velocidade em Portugal, Desenvolvimento Regional
CENSUR, IST
The EOCD using the Functional urban areas methology, using 2014 statistics, recognizes one metropolitan area: Porto (1,313,829inh.), one medium sized-urban area Braga (256,427) and three small urban areas: Guimarães (182,433), Viana do Castelo (88,848), and Póvoa de Varzim (63,428). According to the Portuguese statistics institute, the INE, in the 2011 Census: 4.7% of the population was foreign-born, most arrived from France, Angola, Brazil, Mozambique, Venezuela, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, South Africa, China, and Romania.


Economy

Northern Portugal accounts for about 39% of the national exports and 29% of the national economy. The region was hit hard by the EU's expansion to Eastern Europe, globalization and centralization. Even if once the richest in Portugal and the largest regional economy after Lisbon, it is now the poorest of the 7 NUTS II regions of Portugal, with a
GDP per capita Lists of countries by GDP per capita list the countries in the world by their gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The lists may be based on nominal or purchasing power parity GDP. Gross national income (GNI) per capita accounts for inflows ...
of 16,000
euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s, converted to 19,500 according to GDP in Purchasing Power Standards or 65% of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
average in 2017. It is also the Portuguese NUTS II region with the highest
unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
rate (9.5% as of 2007). Northern Portuguese authorities have intensely promoted tourism as a means to attract external investment and further incomes in rural areas. Even if it was hit by the Global recession in 2009 and the Eurozone crisis in 2011 and 2012, it was the only region of the whole Iberian Peninsula to increase in GDP per inhabitant in purchasing power standards (PPS) in relation to the EU-28 average, by NUTS 2 regions, between 2007–2015. Also one of the few regions in Western Europe to do so.GDP at regional level
- Eurostat From 49,220 million euros to 52,740 million, while Lisbon declined from 65,590 to 63,194 million. In 2016, Northern Portugal GPD was 55,049.38 million euros at current market prices, a larger economy in that year than that of the whole countries of
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
,
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
or
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
, and with the largest growth in Portugal. In 2017, it reached 57,240.64 million, a 3.98% annual increase in GDP.Gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices by NUTS 2 regions
- Eurostat
It is highly industrialized within its densely populated western half, where well developed subregions such as
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 ...
, Cávado,
Entre Douro e Vouga Entre Douro e Vouga () was a former NUTS3 Portuguese subregion. It was abolished at the January 2015 NUTS 3 revision.Grande Porto Grande Porto () or Greater Porto is a former Portuguese NUTS3 subregion, integrating the NUTS2 region of Norte, in Portugal. It was abolished at the January 2015 NUTS 3 revision. It corresponded to 11 municipalities out of 16, the other 5 in ...
, and Tâmega have a notable business activity and state-of-the-art infrastructure.
Textiles Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
,
footwear Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serves the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of shoes therefore primarily serves th ...
,
food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex industr ...
,
mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...
,
electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
,
electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
and
chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...
industries, as well as
finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
and
construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
, are some of the main economic activities. Northern Portugal and Galicia form a
Euroregion In European politics, the term Euroregion usually refers to a transnational co-operation structure between two (or more) contiguous territories located in different European countries. Euroregions represent a specific type of cross-border region. ...
, based on the common historical, cultural, linguistic and economic similarities. The Euroregion has its origins in th
Galicia-North Portugal Work Community
established in 1991. This Euroregion is also backed by th
Eixo Atlântico
("Atlantic Axis"), a
lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians :* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States * Lobby (food), a thick stew ...
of Galician and Northern Portuguese cities and municipalities.


References

;Notes {{Regions of Portugal NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union NUTS 2 statistical regions of Portugal