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The Concelhos is the primary Local Administrative Unit in Portugal . Concelhos are also known as Município s ( Municipalities ), but many of them are mainly rural. Portugal has an entirely separate system of Cities and Towns . Cities and towns are located in concelhos, but often do not have the same boundaries. In total there are around twice as many cities and towns as there are concelhos. MUNICIPALITIES IN EARLY PORTUGAL The Great Lords of the South of the Minho River ( Braga , Porto and Coimbra ) had made an alliance with the support of some religious and military orders. Braga was disputing the Christian supremacy of the Spains with Santiago De Compostela . Before the invasion of the Moors , Braga was the Capital of the former kingdom of the Suevi . Therefore, the independence was granted and the municipalities in Portugal held a great importance in medieval independent Portugal. The Capital was decided to be Coimbra , Braga stayed as capital of the church or ''Capital of the Archbishop s'' and Porto gave the name to the country and was ''Capital of Merchants''. As the country grew to the south, taking land back from the Moors, Lisbon an important, strategic and difficult conquest obtains the status of Capital from Coimbra. Evora and Rio De Janeiro (today a Brazilian city) were, also, for a short period, Capital of Portugal . THE EMANICPATION OF PORTUGUESE MUNICIPALITIES 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 independence 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). However, there has been discussions of the creation of three new metropolitan areas for the cities around Aveiro , Leiria and Viseu . The municipalities in Portugal are known as '' Concelho s'' ("councils"), but the word '' Município '' ("municipality") is used and also official. THE CAPTURED MUNICIPALITY In 1801 , Spain and France decided to invade Portugal to stop them trading with Britain, an ally of Portugal. A block was made Europe-wide under pressure from Napoleon , but Portugal didn't join this. Because of this, Spain declared war on Portugal, invading and forcing the country to sign the Treaty Of Badajoz which gave Olivença to Spain amongst other things. By 1807 , Spain and France had invaded Portugal and the Royal Family fled to Brazil , a Portuguese colony which was turned into an associated kingdom to Portugal on that occasion. In fact, Rio De Janeiro became the Capital of the United Kingdom Of Portugal, Brazil And Algarve during the invasion of metropolitan Portugal. When the war was over, Portugal tried to regain its lost territory. Spain and Portugal, among other nations, participated in the Congress Of Vienna , where Spain, by its honor and will, promised to return the Municipality of Olivença to Portugal and the Treaty of Badajoz was declared officially void. Spain never made good on its promise. For two centuries Portugal has tried to regain Olivença , sometimes by force, but it has always withdrawn for fear of a new Peninsular War . To this day there is no official border between the two countries in that region. LIST OF MUNICIPALITIES See Also: List of municipalities of Portugal The list of Portuguese municipalities is divided by regions or Metropolitans Areas . The used regions are those used by the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture, since the country is not officially divided into regions and Districts have fallen in disuse. The list also includes the activities and main attractions of each municipality. Some municipalities share a statute of World Heritage Site . This happens in the World Heritage region of ''Douro Vinhateiro'' that is shared by 13 municipalities. This also occurs in Madeira Island, where the ''Laurissilva Forrest'' is share by some municipalities. Others, such as Lisbon (two monuments classified) and Vila Nova De Foz Côa (Douro Vinhateiro and the Paleolitic pictures site) have more than one site. Portugal has a number of unique hotels known as ''Pousadas Históricas'', part of '' Pousadas De Portugal '', that are located in national monuments, convents, castles and forts. They are also in the list. One can also find the monuments that were classified as National Monuments by Portugal, with the acronym N.M.. This features among others characterize each municipality, some like the ''Pousadas'' are seen in Portugal as a municipal pride. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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