Abairro (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈbajʁu]) is aPortuguese word for aquarter or aneighborhood or, sometimes, a district which is within a city or town. It is commonly used inPortugal,Brazil,Mozambique,Guinea-Bissau, and other Portuguese-speaking places.[1][2]Bairro is cognate with Spanishbarrio and Catalanbarri, descending from the sameAndalusi Arabic wordبري orbárri, meaning outskirts or surroundings of a city.
In Brazil, the word is frequently applied tourban areas in cities, in which thebairros are generally defined only unofficially and have rough borders, without any official administrative function. In some cities, however, thebairros have defined territorial limits set by the municipal government, but most follow popular definition by its citizens.
In Portugal, the word is used with the same meaning as in Brazil, defining a non administrative urban area, frequently without clear borders, an example being theBairro Alto inLisbon. Occasionally, a Portuguesebairro can coincide with an administrativefreguesia (civil parish). In the past, the cities of Lisbon and Porto were divided in large administrative divisions - each encompassing severalfreguesias - which were also namedbairros.
In Mozambique,bairros are administrative subdivisions of urban districts with important functions in the identification of the residents and determine the attributes of the area in regard to construction or agriculture, much likezoning. They are directed bysecretários.
In Guinea-Bissau,bairros are first the peri-urban quarters of the capital Bissau beyond the old city centre (Praça), e.g. Bairro de Ajuda, Bairro Militar, Pessak, Quelele, Luanda, Mpantcha, and by extension quarters of smaller towns throughout the country.
