Beira () was one of the six traditional provinces or ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

s'' 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 th ...

. The territorial extension is different from that of the area called ''the Beiras'', which refers to three provinces of 1936,

Beira Alta Beira Alta may refer to: * Beira Alta Province, a province in the north of Portugal * Beira Alta (region) Beira Alta was one of the 13 regions of continental Portugal identified by geographer Amorim Girão, in a study published between 1927 and 19 ...

, Beira Baixa and Beira Litoral.

Geography

The most important cities within the borders of the traditional province are:

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, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

, Aveiro,

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 dist ...

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 inhabi ...

, Castelo Branco, Guarda,

Figueira da Foz Figueira da Foz (), also known as Figueira for short, is a city and a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. Practically at the midpoint of the Iberian Peninsula's Atlantic coast, it is located at the mouth of the Mondego River, we ...

Covilhã Covilhã () is a city and a municipality in the Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 34,772 inhabitants in 2001. The municipality population in 2011 was 51,797, in an area of . It is located in the Beiras e Serra da Estrela subregion and ...

and

Pinhel Pinhel () is a concelho, municipality, former Catholic bishopric and present Latin titular see in the Centro, Portugal, central subregion of Beira Interior Norte, in Portugal. The municipality population in 2011 was 9,627, in an area of 484.52&nbs ...

. The main river is the Mondego; other rivers include the Vouga, Dão, Côa, Zêzere and Paiva. The largest mountain range is

Serra da Estrela Serra da Estrela () is the highest mountain range in Continental Portugal. Together with the Serra da Lousã it is the westernmost constituent range of the Sistema Central and also one of the highest in the system. It includes mainland Portugal's ...

– Continental Portugal's highest – other ranges being the

Caramulo Caramulo is a town in Portugal. It is part of the civil parish of Guardão in the municipality of Tondela, Portugal. In Caramulo is housed one of the most important motor vehicle museums in Portugal. Among the exhibits are some very rare cars in ...

, Marofa,

Gardunha The Gardunha mountain range (''Serra da Gardunha''), so called by the Moors (''Gardunha'' or ''Guardunha'' meaning refuge), is located in central Portugal, in Centro Region, beyond the Serra da Estrela Serra da Estrela () is the highest mountain ...

, and Bussaco.

Administrative history

After the 15th Century, the new Kingdom of Portugal was divided into six great administrative units, referred to as

s. Since the Middle Ages there existed the Beira Province.

1832

In 1832 this province was divided into *

* Beira Baixa

1936

In 1936 these were divided among three provinces, one of which contained area that was not included in Beira Province: *

- "natural" regions of

and

Beira Transmontana Beira can refer to: *Beira (mythology), the mother to all the gods and goddesses in the Celtic mythology of Scotland *Beira, Azores, a small village on São Jorge Island * Beira (Portugal), the name of a region (and former province) in north-centr ...

* Beira Baixa * Beira Litoral Sometimes collectively referred to as ''the Beiras''.

1976

In 1976 the provinces were abolished leaving only the 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 ...

. * Beira Alta Province: ** Guarda District **

Viseu District The District of Viseu ( pt, Distrito de Viseu ) is located in the Central Inland of Portugal, the District Capital is the city of Viseu. Municipalities The district is composed by 24 municipalities: * Armamar * Carregal do Sal * Castro Daire * ...

* Beira Baixa Province: **

Coimbra District Coimbra District ( pt, Distrito de Coimbra, or ) is located in the Centro Region, Portugal. The district capital is the city of Coimbra. Municipalities The district is composed by 17 municipalities: * Arganil * Cantanhede * Coimbra * Condeix ...

Castelo Branco District Castelo Branco District ( pt, Distrito de Castelo Branco ) is located in Central Portugal. Its capital is Castelo Branco, which is now also its most populous city, overtaking Covilhã, which was once the largest city, in the late 2010s. It has ...

* Beira Litoral Province: **

Aveiro District Aveiro District ( pt, Distrito de Aveiro, or ) is located in the central coastal region of Portugal. The capital of the district is the city of Aveiro, which also serves as the seat of Aveiro Municipality. Aveiro District is bordered by the Po ...

** North of

Leiria District The District of Leiria ( pt, Distrito de Leiria ) is a district located in Centro region of Portugal, divided between the traditional provinces of Beira Litoral and Estremadura. It borders on the north with district of Coimbra, on the east wit ...

1976 postal code areas divide the region in *

Beira Interior Beira () was one of the six traditional provinces or ''comarcas'' of Portugal. The territorial extension is different from that of the area called ''the Beiras'', which refers to three provinces of 1936, Beira Alta, Beira Baixa and Beira Lit ...

* Beira Litoral (postal region)

1998

Law 19/98 of 1998 divided the area into * Beira Litoral * Beira Interior

2011

The current Centro Region of

covers roughly the same area.

Oeste Subregion Comunidade Intermunicipal do Oeste ( or ; in English: Intermunicipal Community of the West; abbreviated OesteCIM) is an administrative division of Portugal, located on the country's western central coast. The population in 2011 was 362,540, in an a ...

, part of Estremadura, is the major exception. Among its twelve subregions three contain the name "Beira": * Beira Interior Norte, *

Beira Interior Sul Beira Interior Sul () is a former NUTS3 subregion of Portugal integrating the NUTS2 Centro Region. It was abolished at the January 2015 NUTS 3 revision.Cova da Beira The name also is contained in the name of many small towns and villages in the area, e.g. Moimenta da Beira, Celorico da Beira,

Aguiar da Beira Aguiar da Beira () is a municipality in Guarda District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 5,473, in an area of . The present Mayor is Virgílio da Cunha, elected by an independent group of citizens. The municipal holiday is February 10. Hi ...

Mondim da Beira Mondim da Beira is a civil parish in the municipality of Tarouca Tarouca () is a municipality and a city in Viseu District in Norte Region and Douro Subregion in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 8,046, in an area of 100.08 km2. The cit ...

etc.

Maps

File:Antigas Provincias Portugal.png, Medieval Beira File:Provincia Beira Alta.png, 1936 Beira Alta File:Provincia Beira Baixa.png, 1936 Beira Baixa File:Provincia Beira Litoral.png, 1936 Beira Litoral File:Postal regions portugal.jpg, postal code regions yellow Beira Litoral, brown Beira Interior File:Proposta_Regionalização_1998.png, 1998 Law - Beira Litoral and Beira Interior File:LocalRegiaoCentro.svg, Centro Region File:LocalNUTS3BeiraInteriorNorte.svg, Beira Interior Norte File:LocalNUTS3BeiraInteriorSul.svg,

Beira Interior Sul Beira Interior Sul () is a former NUTS3 subregion of Portugal integrating the NUTS2 Centro Region. It was abolished at the January 2015 NUTS 3 revision.Cova da Beira