Vila Real District
| District of Vila Real | |
|---|---|
| District | |
 |
|
| Country | Portugal |
| Region | Norte |
| Historical province | Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro |
| No. of municipalities | 14 |
| No. of parishes | 268 |
| Capital | Vila Real |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4,328 km2 (1,671 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 223,731 |
| • Density | 52/km2 (130/sq mi) |
| No. of parliamentary representatives | 5 |
The District of Vila Real (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvilɐ ʁiˈaɫ], Portuguese: Distrito de Vila Real) is a district of northern Portugal. With an area of 4,239 km², 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.
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 Douro River. Potatoes, corn, and rye have always been the traditional crops, as well as limited dairy farming. Extensive areas are covered in pine forest. Granite and the manufacture of mineral water—the waters of Vidago and Pedras Salgadas are nationally famous—are two important industries.
There was formerly a narrow gauge railway (the Corgo line) which linked the town of Vila Real with Peso da Régua on the Douro River. Until 1990 the railway reached as far north as Chaves. The remaining, southern part of the Corgo line closed in 2009.
The largest towns are all very small, when compared to provincial capitals in neighboring Spain. When we talk about population of urban centers two figures are used in Portugal, one number for the concelho or municipality, which can be as large as 1,720.6 km² (Odemira in the district of Beja) or as small as 8.11 km² (São João da Madeira in the district of Aveiro), and another number for the main urban center itself. Often it is difficult to determine which parishes make up the urban center and which make up the rest of the concelho. Official census figures give populations of concelhos and not urban centers, so this can be misleading. Often the head of the municipality can be relatively small with most of the population residing in rural parishes. Chaves, for example has 12,000 in the urban parishes (2) and 29,000 in 49 rural parishes for a total municipality population of 41,000.
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