Themetropolitan area (Portuguese:área metropolitana) is a type of administrative division inPortugal. Since the 2013 local government reform, there are two metropolitan areas:Lisbon andPorto.[1] The metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto were created in 1991.[2] A law passed in 2003 supported the creation of more metropolitan areas, under the conditions that they consisted of at least ninemunicipalities (concelhos) and had at least 350,000 inhabitants.[3] Several metropolitan areas were created under this law (Algarve,Aveiro,Coimbra,Minho andViseu),[2] but a law passed in 2008 abolished these, converting them intointermunicipal communities, whose territories are (roughly) based on theNUTS III statistical regions.[4][2]
The branches of administration of the metropolitan area are the metropolitan council, the metropolitan executive committee and the strategic board for metropolitan development. The metropolitan council is composed of the presidents of themunicipal chambers of the municipalities.[1]
The legal status of metropolitan area is held only by two:[1]
The OECD andEurostat have identified the following metropolitan areas ("Functional Urban Areas") based on commuting patterns.
| Rank | City name | FUA population (2015)[5] | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lisbon | 2,925,000 | Lisbon |
| 2 | Porto | 1,265,000 | Norte |
| 3 | Coimbra | 271,000 | Centro |
| 4 | Braga | 250,000 | Norte |
| 5 | Funchal | 213,000 | Madeira |
| 6 | Guimarães | 179,000 | Norte |
| 7 | Aveiro | 139,000 | Centro |
| 8 | Faro | 122,000 | Algarve |
| 9 | Ponta Delgada | 119,000 | Azores |
| 10 | Viseu | 111,000 | Centro |
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