Alentejo - NUTSII

Alentejo
Região do Alentejo
NUTS of Portugal
Name origin: além-Tejo Portuguese for beyond the Tagus or across the Tagus (note: Lezíria do Tejo is partly of the left margin of the Tagus and partly on the right margin of the Tagus)
Country	Portugal
Region	Alentejo and Ribatejo for NUTS II statistical purposes
Lowest point	Sea level
- location	Atlantic Ocean
Area	31,551.2 km2 (12,182 sq mi)
Population	758,739 (2011)
Density	24.05/km2 (62/sq mi)
Timezone	WET (UTC+0)
- summer (DST)	WEST (UTC+1)
ISO	PT
NUTS	PT15
GDP (PPP)	2013 estimate
- Total	€ 14.305 billion
- Per capita	€ 19,200
GDP (nominal)	2013 estimate
- Total	€ 11.155 billion
- Per capita	€ 15,000
Location of the Alentejo Region (NUTS II) in context of the national borders
Statistics from INE (2005); geographic detail from Instituto Geográfico Português (2010)

The Alentejo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐlẽˈtɛʒu]) is the south-central part of Portugal.

The greater region is defined within Portugal by the land bordering the left bank of the Tagus river to the North and extending to the South where it borders the Algarve region. The origin of its name, "além" + "Tejo" combined as Alentejo, literally translates to "Beyond-the-Tagus" or "Across-the-Tagus". However, a large portion of Lezíria do Tejo in Ribatejo Province is located on the right margin of the Tagus River. The Alentejo proper is all located beyond the left margin of the Tagus River.

Its main cities are Évora, Elvas, Portalegre (Upper Alentejo), Beja, Moura, Serpa (Lower Alentejo), Sines (Coastal Alentejo), Santarém and Rio Maior (Lezíria do Tejo, in Ribatejo).

It is one of the more recent seven Regions of Portugal (NUTS II subdivisions). Today, Lezíria do Tejo subregion, formerly belonging to Lisboa e Vale do Tejo region, is part of the Alentejo NUTS II region.

The resident population of the Alentejo stands at around 759,000 (fourth quarter, 2008 – 2 700 less than the fourth quarter of 2007), with 49% men and 51% women. It is the least populated region in the country, representing over one third of national territory but only 7.1% of its population. It is also the region with the oldest population, 22.9% being 65 years of age or more (while the national average is 17.5%).