Benfica () is a ''

freguesia ''Freguesia'' (), usually translated as "parish" or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution. It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Por ...

'' (civil parish) and district 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. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, the capital 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 ...

. Located in northern Lisbon, Benfica is west of São Domingos de Benfica,

Carnide Carnide () is a ''freguesia'' (civil parish) and district of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Located in northern Lisbon, Carnide is north of São Domingos de Benfica and Benfica, east of Lumiar, and directly south of Lisbon's border with Odivel ...

, and

Campolide Campolide () is a ''freguesia'' (civil parish) and district of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Located in central Lisbon, Campolide is west of Avenidas Novas, north of Campo de Ourique, east of Benfica, and south of São Domingos de Benfica. ...

, north of

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in ...

Ajuda Ajuda () is a ''freguesia'' (civil parish) and district of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Ajuda is located in western Lisbon, northeast of Belém and west of Alcântara. The population in 2011 was 15,617.Alcântara, and directly east of Lisbon's border with

Amadora Amadora () is a municipality and urbanized city in the northwest of the Lisbon metropolitan area and 10 km from central Lisbon. The population in 2011 was 175,136, in an area of 23.78 km² (9.2 sq mi). It is the most densely populated mun ...

. The population in 2011 was 36,985,Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE)
Census 2011 results according to the 2013 administrative division of Portugal

History

Vue des jardins de Benfica 36234 (cropped)

In 1959, the parish was split and gave origin to the parish of São Domingos de Benfica. In this period, Lisbon was experiencing a fast growth, in the 1950s the population of the parish was 17,843 inhabitants, forty years later it exceeded 50,000. However, in the 1990s, the population of Lisbon started to decline. With thousands of people leaving to the suburbs and the parish population declined to the present 38,500 inhabitants.

Landmarks

The biggest park of Lisbon, the

Monsanto Forest Park Monsanto Forest Park ( pt, Parque Florestal de Monsanto) is a municipal protected forest in Lisbon, Portugal, the largest green patch in the city, with almost 1000 ha (10 km2). It offers a well diversified tree-covered area to the Port ...

, is mostly (until the A5 that serves as a geographic limit with other parishes of Lisbon) located in Benfica. * Colombo Centre *

References

{{Authority control Parishes of Lisbon