The District of Viseu is located in the Central Inland of Portugal.
It is limited to the north by the District of Vila Real, to the northeast by the District of Bragança, to the east by the District of Guarda, to the south by the District of Coimbra, to the west by the District of Aveiro and to the northwest by the District of Porto. The district headquarters is Viseu.
It has a total area of 5,007 km², being the 9th district with the largest area of all national districts. In 2022 it registered a population of 362,040 inhabitants, making it the 10th most populous district in the country. The district has a population density of 72 inhabitants per km², which are divided into 24 municipalities and 277 parishes.
Viseu is the only case of a Portuguese district with an enclave, due to the location of the parish of Guilheiro (municipality of Trancoso, district of Guarda) between the Viseu municipalities of Sernancelhe and Penedono.
The district is composed of 24 municipalities:
Armamar
Carregal do Sal
Castro Daire
Cinfães
Lamego
Mangualde
Moimenta da Beira
Mortágua
Nelas
Oliveira de Frades
Penalva do Castelo
Penedono
Resende
Santa Comba Dão
São João da Pesqueira
São Pedro do Sul
Sátão
Sernancelhe
Tabuaço
Tarouca
Tondela
Vila Nova de Paiva
Viseu
Vouzela
For statistical purposes (NUTS), the district is divided between the Center region and the North region. The municipalities in the Centro region are, for the most part, belonging to the Dão-Lafões sub-region (plus a municipality belonging to the Guarda District), with there also being, since 2008, a municipality integrated into the Baixo Mondego sub-region. The municipalities of the Northern Region are divided into the sub-regions of Tâmega and Douro, whose integration of municipalities such as Penedono, Moimenta da Beira, and Sernancelhe has generated controversy as they are municipalities with no major connection to this sub-region. The division for statistical purposes has generated certain inconsistencies when dividing the district between the North Region and the Center Region, insofar as it all corresponds to the traditional Beira Alta, and therefore many defend the uniformity of this entire territory included between the North Bank of the Mondego River and the south bank of the Douro River. Names such as Moimenta da Beira, Penela da Beira, Paredes da Beira, and Mondim da Beira, among other locations, record how Beira covers the entire south bank of the Douro River in the north of the District of Viseu. In summary:
- North Region (Região do Norte)
- Douro
- Armamar
- Lamego
- Moimenta da Beira
- Penedono
- São João da Pesqueira
- Sernancelhe
- Tabuaço
- Tarouca
- Tâmega
- Cinfães
- Resende
- Douro
- Central Region (Beiras Region) - Região do Centro (Região das Beiras)
- Dão-Lafões
- Carregal do Sal
- Castro Daire
- Mangualde
- Nelas
- Oliveira de Frades
- Penalva do Castelo
- Santa Comba Dão
- São Pedro do Sul
- Sátão
- Tondela
- Vila Nova de Paiva
- Viseu
- Vouzela
- Baixo Mondego / (Coimbra Region) - Região de Coimbra
- Mortágua
- Dão-Lafões
Transport
Highway
Two motorways pass through the district, the A24 and the A25, which connect the district from north to south and from west to east. Together it has an extension of 145 kilometers.
A24
The A24 motorway, known as "Autoestrada do Interior Norte", runs through the district from north to south, starting at KM 92, on the border with the District of Vila Real, in the parish of Parada do Bispo e Valdigem, in the municipality of Lamego, and ends at KM 162, at the link with the A25, in the parish of Fail and Vila Chã de Sá, in the municipality of Viseu, covering 70 kilometers through the district. The highway runs through the municipalities of Lamego, Castro Daire, and Viseu. At the Viseu loop, the motorway crosses with the A25, which heads west to Aveiro and east to Guarda.
A25
The A25 motorway, known as "Autoestrada das Beiras Litoral e Alta", runs through the district from west to east, starting at KM 47, on the border with the District of Aveiro, in the parish of Destriz e Reigoso, in the municipality of Oliveira de Frades, and ends at KM 122, on the border with the District of Guarda, in the parish of Tavares, in the municipality of Mangualde, covering 75 kilometers through the district. The highway runs through the municipalities of Oliveira de Frades, Vouzela, Viseu and Mangualde. Near Viseu, the highway crosses a loop with the A24, which heads north to Lamego and Vila Real, and south on the IP3 towards Tondela and Coimbra.
Railroad
The Beira Alta Line runs through the district, starting at KM 63 in the parish of Trezoi, in the municipality of Mortágua, and ending at KM 144, in the parish of Abrunhosa-a-Velha, in the municipality of Mangualde. covering the district with 83 kilometers of railway.
Aerodrome
The district has an airfield, the Gonçalves Lobato Aerodrome, which is 9 kilometers from the center of the city of Viseu.
The district of Viseu has almost 15 thousand companies, several working in partnership, which strengthens the local industry. In recent years, communication channels, such as the A24 and A25, have further expanded the export horizon.
The district of Viseu is the bridge between the coast and the interior, the first being more developed by the greater existence of industry and by the greater population density, and the second desertified and isolated, becoming more and more as the degree of interiority is increasing.
The vast majority of municipalities in the district of Viseu belong to the aging and economically depressed territories: here include Resende, Carregal do Sal, Castro Daire, Mangualde, Nelas, Oliveira de Frades, Penalva do Castelo, São Pedro do Sul, Sátão, Vila Nova de Paiva and Vouzela, Lamego, Moimenta da Beira, Penedono, São João da Pesqueira, Sernancelhe, Tabuaço, and Tarouca. These territories are marked “essentially by traits of rurality, in which the population lives in centers with less than 5000 inhabitants, is aged, the weight of agriculture in the employment structure is still relevant, and the qualifications of the population are deficient. Infrastructure at the telecommunications level is deficient.
In this case, the municipalities of Mangualde, Nelas, Penalva do Castelo,
Sátão and Vouzela are exceptions as far as industry is concerned, since the industry has a significant role in the employment structure, although rurality continues to prevail. Aging corresponds to gradual desertification.
Riodades (São João da Pesqueira);
Santa Comba Dão;
Santar (Nelas);
São João da Pesqueira + Trevões;
São Pedro do Sul;
Santa Comba Dão;
Santar (Nelas);
São João da Pesqueira + Trevões;
São Pedro do Sul;
São Martinho de Mouros (Resende);
São Pedro do Sul - Spa ;
Sátão;
Sernacelhe;
Tabuaço;
Tarouca + Ucanha;
Tondela;
São Pedro do Sul - Spa ;
Sátão;
Sernacelhe;
Tabuaço;
Tarouca + Ucanha;
Tondela;
Várzea - São Pedro do Sul (Spa);
Ventosa (Vouzela);
Vila Nova (Ventosa);
Vila Nova de Paiva;
VISEU;
Vouzela;
Ventosa (Vouzela);
Vila Nova (Ventosa);
Vila Nova de Paiva;
VISEU;
Vouzela;
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