Municipalities of Portugal

In Portugal, municipality (município) or concelho (meaning "council") is the most stable subdivision of Portugal since the foundation of the country. A list of the current municipalities can be found in: list of municipalities of Portugal.Portugal has an entirely separate system of cities and towns. Cities and towns are located in municipalities, but often do not have the same boundaries, even if built-up is continuous. In total there are around twice as many cities and towns as there are municipalities.The concelhos probably formed after the expulsion of the Visigothic rulers by the Moors during the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. Towns were thus left free to govern themselves, the population started to organize in councils in order to govern the town and surrounding lands. These were also a reminder of Roman municipalities.
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