Porto

Porto
Municipality
Ancient, Very Noble, Ever Loyal and Undefeated City of Porto
Antiga, Mui Nobre, Sempre Leal e Invicta Cidade do Porto (Portuguese)
View of Ribeira district and Dom Luís I Bridge from Vila Nova de Gaia
Casa da Música
Torre dos Clérigos
Church of Saint Ildefonso
City Hall
Palácio da Bolsa
Carmelitas Church
Arrábida Bridge
Nickname(s): 
A Cidade Invicta ("The Undefeated City"), A Cidade da Virgem ("The City of the Virgin")
Motto(s): 
Antiga, Mui Nobre, Sempre Leal e Invicta (Ancient, Most Noble, Always Loyal and Undefeated)
Location of Porto
Porto
Porto
Coordinates: 41°9′0″N 8°36′39″W / 41.15000°N 8.61083°W / 41.15000; -8.61083
CountryPortugal
RegionNorte
SubregionGrande Porto
DistrictPorto
Settlement275 BC
MunicipalityPorto
SeatPorto Municipal Chamber
Civil parishes7
Government
 • TypeLAU
 • BodyCâmara Municipal
 • MayorRui Moreira
 • Municipal Assembly ChairMiguel Pereira Leite
Area
 • Municipality
41.42 km2 (15.99 sq mi)
Elevation
104 m (341 ft)
Population
 (2024)
 • Municipality
252,687[1]
 • Density6,100.6/km2 (15,800/sq mi)
 • Urban
1,389,593[1]
 • Metro
1,818,217[1]
Time zoneUTC0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (WEST)
Postal Zone
4000-286 Porto
Area code(+351) 22[2]
DemonymPortuense, Tripeiro (informal)
Patron SaintOur Lady of Vendôme
Municipal Holidays24 June (São João)
Websitewww.cm-porto.pt
Geographic detail from CAOP (2010)[3] produced by Instituto Geográfico Português (IGP)
Official nameHistoric Centre of Oporto, Luís I Bridge and Monastery of Serra do Pilar
Criteriaiv
Reference755
Inscription1996 (20th Session)

Porto (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpoɾtu] ), also known in English as Oporto,[a] is the second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropolitan area, with an estimated population of 252,687 people in a municipal area of 41.42 km2 (16 sq mi).[1][10] As of 2025, Porto's urban area has around 1.4 million people in an area of 2,395 km2 (925 sq mi), making it the second-largest urban area in Portugal.[11][12][13][14][15] while the Porto metro area has more than 1.8 million people. It is recognized as a global city with a Gamma + rating from the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.[16]

On the Douro River estuary in northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centers, and its core was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996, as the "Historic Centre of Porto, Luiz I Bridge and Monastery of Serra do Pilar". The historic area is also a National Monument of Portugal.[17] The western part of its urban area extends to the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. Settlement dates back to the 2nd century BC, when it was an outpost of the Roman Empire. Its combined Celtic-Latin name, Portus Cale,[18] has been referred to as the origin of the name Portugal, based on transliteration and oral evolution from Latin.

Port wine, one of Portugal's most famous exports, is named after Porto, as the metropolitan area, and in particular the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia, were responsible for the packaging, transport, and export of fortified wine.[19][20] Porto is on the Portuguese Way path of the Camino de Santiago. In 2014 and 2017, Porto was elected The Best European Destination by the Best European Destinations Agency.[21] In 2023, Porto was named City of the Year by Food and Travel magazine.[22] In 2024, the city was named World's Leading Seaside Metropolitan Destination at the World Travel Awards.[23]

  1. ^ a b c d "População residente (N.º) por Local de residência (NUTS – 2024), Sexo e Grupo etário (Por ciclos de vida); Anual". www.ine.pt. 18 June 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  2. ^ "Portugal International Dialing Code". Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
  3. ^ IGP, ed. (2010), Carta Administrativa Oficial de Portugal (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: Instituto Geográfico Português, archived from the original on 3 July 2014, retrieved 1 July 2011
  4. ^ "Porto". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Oporto" (US) and "Oporto". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Oporto". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  7. ^ "Oporto". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  8. ^ "Oporto". Lexico UK English Dictionary UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020.
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. "port". Online Etymology Dictionary.
  10. ^ "Porto Population". World Population Review. 2 December 2019. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  11. ^ Demographia: World Urban Areas Archived 3 May 2018 at the Wayback Machine, March 2010
  12. ^ "Porto, Portugal Population (2025) – Population Stat". populationstat.com. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  13. ^ United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, World Urbanization Prospects (2009 revision), (United Nations, 2010), Table A.12. Data for 2007. Archived 31 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ European Spatial Planning Observation Network, Study on Urban Functions (Project 1.4.3), Final Report, Chapter 3, (ESPON, 2007) Archived 28 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Thomas Brinkoff, Principal Agglomerations of the World Archived 4 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved 12 March 2009. Data for 1 January 2009.
  16. ^ "The World According to GaWC 2020". GaWC – Research Network. Globalization and World Cities. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  17. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Historic Centre of Porto, Luiz I Bridge and Monastery of Serra do Pilar". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  18. ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary". Archived from the original on 8 May 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2006.
  19. ^ Robinson, Jancis, ed. (2006). The Oxford Companion to Wine (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860990-6. OCLC 70699042.
  20. ^ Stevenson, Tom (2007). The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia (4th ed.). New York City: DK. ISBN 978-0-7566-3164-2. OCLC 148799493.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference test was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ "Porto City of the Year by Food and Travel". Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  23. ^ "World Travel Awards Recognises Portugal". Retrieved 7 April 2025.


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