Geography
Integrated into the Alto Tâmega subregion, the municipality of Vila Pouca de Aguiar is situated in the north of the district of Vila Real, between the mountains of Serra do Alvão and Serra da Padrela, extending over a territory of approximately 437 km². It is located within a strategic connection, not just between other Portuguese municipalities in the interior but also, as a transit point to the coastal areas (across the A7 and A24 motorways). Within a long fertile valley, and surrounded by high pasture-lands, it is defensively safe within the Transmontana escarpments. The region is covered in national monuments and historical structures: the Castle of Aguiar da Pena, the millenarian Roman mining complex of Tresminas, the thermals of Pedras Salgadas, several leisure centres (such as the Falperra Dam/Reservoir), the Dolmens of Alvão, churches, graves/funeral sites, medieval bridges, sun-dials and castro dot the landscape of this unassuming region. It is located in a narrow valley 25 kilometers north of the district capital, Vila Real, and is connected to the same by national N2 highway.
In 2006 the A7 toll road to Guimarães was completed and the last stretch of the A24, connecting Vila Pouca with Vila Real was opened in June 2007. This non-toll four-lane highway links Coimbra with the Spanish border in Vila Verde. One of the longest and highest highway bridges in Europe was built just south of Vila Pouca, carrying traffic across the fertile valley.
The municipality is composed of 18 parishes, and is located in the district of Vila Real:
- Afonsim
- Alfarela de Jales
- Bornes de Aguiar
- Bragado
- Capeludos
- Gouvães da Serra
- Lixa do Alvão
- Parada de Monteiros
- Pensalvos
- Sabroso de Aguiar
- Santa Marta da Montanha
- Soutelo de Aguiar
- Telões
- Tresminas
- Valoura
- Vila Pouca de Aguiar
- Vreia de Bornes
- Vreia de Jales
Vila Pouca de Aguiar has for many years experienced the desertification of the Portuguese interior. Population densities have historically identified a strong concentration of people in the municipal seat, or its peripheral parishes. From 1981 to 1991, the parishes of Bragado, Pensalves, Afonsim, Vreia de Jales, Vreia de Bornes, Valoura and Soutelo de Aguiar have registered flawing population growth rates. The parish of Sabroso de Aguiar did not exist in 1981, but by 1991 it registered the highest population concentration in the region. Comparatively, between 1991 and 2001, there were no changes in population densities in many of the parishes. The municipal seat and Sabroso de Aguiar continue to show a growth in population density.
Read more about this topic: Vila Pouca De Aguiar Municipality
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