Provinces 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 centuries' 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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