Historical province of Portugal

The term "provinces" (Portuguese: províncias) has been used throughout history to identify regions of continental Portugal. Current legal subdivisions of Portugal do not coincide with the provinces, but several provinces, in their 19th- and 20th-century versions, still correspond to culturally relevant, strongly self-identifying categories. They include:

The islands of Azores and Madeira were never called "provinces".

The County of Portugal, that gave rise to the country, was itself a province of the Kingdom of León.

The first provinces, instituted during the Roman occupation of the Iberian peninsula, divided the peninsula into three areas: Tarraconensis, Lusitania and Baetica, established by Roman Emperor Augustus between 27-13 B.C. Emperor Diocletian reordered these territories in the third century, dividing Tarraconesis into three separate territories: Tarraconensis, Carthaginensis and Gallaecia. At that time Tarraconesis included northern Portugal, Gallaecia and Asturias.

What would develop into the Kingdom of Portugal, was itself a province of the Kingdom of León. During the Reconquista, the Iberian kingdoms established an administrative system, based on the older Visigothic lines, which were themselves just a carry-over from the Romans. The kingdoms were divided into provinces or counties, headed by a local governors (referred to as a count, duke or prince), who also subdivided the land administratively into smaller parcels, headed by lieutenants. The first County of Portugal, or Portucale, was a fiefdom of León, under Alfonso III of León, which was succeeded in the 12th Century by the Second County of Portugal, paving the way for the independent Kingdom of Portugal.

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