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

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. 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 Litoral.

Geography

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

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

, Aveiro, Leiria,

Viseu Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the Viseu District, district of the same name, with a population of 100,105 inhabitants in the entire municipality, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões Interm ...

, Castelo Branco, Guarda,

Figueira da Foz Figueira da Foz (), officially Figueira da Foz City (), often called simply 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 Ocean, Atlantic coa ...

, Covilhã and Pinhel. The main river is the Mondego; other rivers include the Vouga, Dão, Côa, Zêzere and Paiva. The largest mountain range is Serra da Estrela – Continental Portugal's highest – other ranges being the Caramulo, Marofa, Gardunha, and Bussaco.

Administrative history

After the 15th Century, the new Kingdom of Portugal was divided into six great administrative units, referred to as comarcas. Since the Middle Ages there existed the Beira Province.

1832

In 1832 this province was divided into * Beira Alta * Beira Baixa

1936

In 1936 these were divided among three provinces, one of which contained area that was not included in Beira Province: * Beira Alta - "natural" regions of Beira Alta and Beira Transmontana * 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 Districts of Portugal, District of 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 Municipality, Armamar * Carregal d ...

* Beira Baixa Province: **

Coimbra District Coimbra District (, 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 Coimbra (, also , , or ), of ...

** Castelo Branco District * Beira Litoral Province: **

Aveiro District Aveiro District (, ) 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 Porto District to the north, ...

** North of Leiria District 1976 postal code areas divide the region in * Beira Interior * 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, part of Estremadura, is the major exception. Among its twelve subregions three contain the name "Beira": * Beira Interior Norte, * Beira Interior Sul and * 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, Mondim da Beira 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 File:LocalNUTS3CovaDaBeira.svg, Cova da Beira

References

{{Coord missing, Portugal Regions of Portugal