Municipalities of Portugal
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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.
Most municipalities have their origin in the foral, a legal document, issued by the king, which assigned privileges to a town or a region. The present subdivisions have their origins in the 19th century. By the 19th century, the republicans promised a federal organization for the Portuguese territory -- that the country would become a municipal republic. When the Republic was formed, however, they didn't adopt what they promised for almost half a century.
Later in the end of the 20th century, democracy has granted more autonomy to municipalities. And, the formation of two super municipalities, known as áreas metropolitanas (meaning "metropolitan areas") for the two major cities of the country (Lisbon and Porto).
In Macau, concelho was also the alternative name for a municipality, especially under the local administration system for the Overseas Provinces of Portugal before 1974. There were two concelhos in Macau, under the now abolished Overseas Administrative Reform Act (Reforma Administrativa Ultramarina, or RAU) and the Portuguese Overseas Organic Law (Lei Orgânica do Ultramar Português).
The institution of concelhos were effectively abolished upon the establishment of the Administration and Civil Services (SAFP) in 1983, which replaced the administrative units of the concelhos of Macau and the Islands, as well as the administrative post of Coloane.
Upon the promulgation of the new legal regime governing municipalities of Macau in 1988, the concelhos were referred to as municípios.
Municipalities in Macau were finally abolished upon the institution of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) in 2002.
