Vila Real District
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District of Vila Real | |
---|---|
Vila Real | |
Area | |
• Total | 4,328 km2 (1,671 sq mi) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 206,661 |
• Density | 48/km2 (120/sq mi) |
ISO 3166 code | PT-17 |
No. of parliamentary representatives | 5 |
The District of Vila Real (Portuguese: Distrito de Vila Real [ˈvilɐ ʁiˈal] ⓘ) is a district of northern Portugal. With an area of 4,239 km2 (1,637 sq mi), the district is located east of the port city of Porto and north of the Douro River. Vila Real has always belonged to the historical province of Trás-os-Montes. Approximate population in the 2001 census was 230,000. The population has shown negative rates in recent years due to emigration and aging. Many of the villages have lost population and have become deserted while the district capital has gained in population. It is bordered by Spain (Galicia) in the north and east, Braga District and Porto District in the west, Viseu District in the south and Bragança District in the east.
Geographic and socioeconomic characteristics
Vila Real is a rugged area of low mountains and narrow valleys. Historically it had always been cut off from the coast by the Marão, Gerês, and Cabreira mountains until a highway was cut through in the eighties. Due to poor soil, agriculture has always been a struggle, although wine grapes are produced in the south near the
There was formerly a
Population trends
The largest towns are all very small, when compared to provincial capitals in neighboring
In order of population,
The population density of the district is sparse, 54 people per square kilometer. Most of this population lives in the concelhos of the south—Vila Real, Santa Marta, Régua, Sabrosa, and Alijó. The area between the district capital and the Douro river is especially more densely populated, with Régua having a population density of 212 per km2, and Santa Marta with 128. There is a relatively populated area east of the capital. North the population clusters follow the Corgo river valley with many small villages on the river valley or veiga south of Vila Pouca. The geological fault linking Vila Pouca with Chaves is also quite populated. Then north and south of Chaves population density increases (68 per km2). The area to the west—the Barroso—or to the east—Serra do Brunheiro is sparsely inhabited. Montalegre has a population density of 22 per km2, although the number of small villages scattered across the area gives a different impression. A closer look shows that many of the houses are no longer lived in and many have been abandoned.
Much of this population still lives in villages, many of which have fewer than 100 inhabitants. Over seventy-five percent of the population in fact lives in centers with fewer than 5,000 people, which is the cutoff point for urbanization. If we take the total population of 230,000 in 1991 and single out the largest centers with more than 10,000 people—Chaves, and Vila Real—whose total population is under 30,000, we can see that over seventy five percent of the population is rural or semi-rural. This lack of middle-sized urban centers in the province is a reflection of the loss of population of the region as a whole over the last twenty years, due to lack of job possibilities. It also means that the Transmontano still has a rural lifestyle and all that this implies in cultural habits, including outlook towards education, innovation in business, and acceptance of different ideas.
Municipalities
The district is composed of 14 municipalities:
- Alijó
- Boticas
- Chaves
- Mesão Frio
- Mondim de Basto
- Montalegre
- Murça
- Peso da Régua
- Ribeira de Pena
- Sabrosa
- Santa Marta de Penaguião
- Valpaços
- Vila Pouca de Aguiar
- Vila Real
Summary of votes and seats won 1976-2022
Parties | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1976 | 1979 | 1980 | 1983 | 1985 | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2002 | 2005 | 2009 | 2011 | 2015 | 2019 | 2022 | |||||||||||||||||
PS | 26.3 | 2 | 24.8 | 2 | 22.8 | 1 | 32.3 | 2 | 23.0 | 2 | 20.3 | 1 | 26.0 | 2 | 40.0 | 2 | 40.8 | 2 | 31.9 | 2 | 43.8 | 3 | 36.1 | 2 | 29.1 | 2 | 33.1 | 2 | 37.2 | 2 | 41.3 | 3 |
PSD | 39.0 | 4 | In AD | 42.0 | 3 | 42.2 | 3 | 62.5 | 5 | 60.6 | 4 | 46.0 | 3 | 45.5 | 3 | 54.1 | 3 | 40.2 | 2 | 41.1 | 3 | 51.4 | 3 | In PàF |
39.0 | 3 | 40.0 | 2 | ||||
CDS-PP | 18.3 | 1 | 12.7 | 1 | 12.5 | 1 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 8.1 | 6.8 | 10.1 | 8.7 | 4.5 | 1.6 | ||||||||||||||||
AD | 57.7 | 4 | 62.1 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PàF |
51.0 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total seats | 7 | 6 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições |
See also
- Gontães, a village in the district of Vila Real