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Concept
Central Region, Portugal
Summary
The Central Region (Região do Centro, ʁɨʒiˈɐ̃w du ˈsẽtɾu) or Central Portugal is one of the statistical regions of Portugal. The cities with major administrative status inside this region are Coimbra, Aveiro, Viseu, Caldas da Rainha, Leiria, Castelo Branco, Tomar, and Guarda. It is one of the seven Regions of Portugal (NUTS II subdivisions). It is also one of the regions of Europe, as given by the European Union for statistical and geographical purposes. Its area totals . As of 2011, its population totalled 2,327,026 inhabitants, with a population density of 82 inhabitants per square kilometre.
Inhabited by the Lusitanians, an Indo-European people living in the western Iberian Peninsula, the Romans settled in the region and colonized it as a part of the Roman Province of Lusitânia. The Roman town of Conímbriga, near Coimbra, is among the most noted and well-preserved remains of that period. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Visigoths were the main rulers and colonizers from the 5th to the 8th century.
In the 8th century, the Muslim conquest of Iberia turned the region a Muslim-dominated territory.
In the earliest years of the Christian Reconquista, just before the rise of a Portuguese national identity, the region was a battle place between Christian crusaders and Muslim Moors. Once the Christian regained control, kings and landlords made the region a county, called the County of Coimbra. It was integrated into the newly created Condado Portucalensis, the early precursor of the modern nation of Portugal.
The modern region matches up roughly with the boundaries of the historical Beira Province, as well as the Oeste in former Estremadura and Médio Tejo in former Ribatejo. Beira was an historical province of Portugal and its name was used by the heirs to the Portuguese throne during the monarchy period, before 1910. The princes were known as the Princes of Beira.
Along the region's mountainous border with Spain are a series of fortresses and castles that once protected the country from its many invaders.
Official source
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