Freguesia
| Freguesia | |
|---|---|
| Category | 3rd-leveladministrative division |
| Location | Portugal |
| Found in | Municipality |
| Created |
|
| Number | 3,091 |
| Government | |
 |
|---|
| Constitution |
Freguesia(Portuguese pronunciation:[ˌfɾɛɣɨˈzi.ɐ]), usually translated as "parish"or" civil parish ", is the third-leveladministrative subdivisionofPortugal,as defined by the1976 Constitution.[1]It is also the designation forlocal governmentjurisdictions in the former Portuguese overseas territories ofCape VerdeandMacau(until 2001). In the past, was also an administrative division of the other Portuguese overseas territories. Theparroquiain the Spanish autonomous communities of Galicia and Asturias is similar to afreguesia.The average land area of a Portuguese parish is about 29.83 km2(11.52 sq mi) and an average population of about 3,386 people. The largest parish by area is Alcácer do Sal (Santa Maria do Castelo e Santiago) e Santa Susana, with a land area of 888.35 km2(342.99 sq mi), and the smallest parish by area is São Bartolomeu (Borba), with a land area of 0.208 km2(0.080 sq mi). The most populous parish is Algueirão - Mem Martins, with a population of 68,649 people and the least populous is Mosteiro, with a population of just nineteen people.
Afreguesiais a subdivision of amunicípio(city), which is a cluster of municipalities, like a UScounty.Most often, a parish takes the name of its seat, which is usually the most important (or the single) human agglomeration within its area, which can be a neighbourhood or city district, a group of hamlets, a village, a town or an entire city. In cases where the seat is itself divided into more than one parish, each one takes the name of a landmark within its area or of the patron saint from the usually coterminousCatholicparish (paróquiain Portuguese). Be it a city district or village, the civil parish is often based on an ecclesiastical parish.
Since the creation of a democratic local administration, in 1976, the Portuguese parishes have been ruled by a system composed by an executive body (thejunta de freguesia,"parish board/council" ) and a deliberative body (theassembleia de freguesia,"parish assembly" ). The members of theassembleia de freguesiaare publicly elected every four years. The presidents of the parish boards are also members of themunicipal assembly.[1]
History[edit]
The parish, in contrast with the municipalities, had their base in the ecclesiastical divisions that "had its origin in the fact that neighbours professed the same religion and professed their faith and divinity in the same temple".[2]Freguesia,the traditional Portuguese word for parish, had its beginning in thefilius ecclesiae(child of the church) andfilius gregis(child of the shepherds's flock), the collectivity of the religious faithful, with similar aspirations and interests.[2]Between 1216 and 1223,Afonso II of Portugalbegan a process of legitimizing the Portuguese territory by conferring charters to nobles, clergy and municipal chambers (which would not be completed until after 1249, underAfonso III of Portugal), making the parish the smallest division. But, the power of the clergy built these areas, accumulating immense wealth and power. The liberal government ofMouzinho da Silveiraabolished the parishes in 1832, but the government ofManuel da Silva Passosrestored them in 1836.[2]Thefreguesiabegan to refer to the civil/administrative entity, while theparóquia(Latin:parochia) became affiliated with the religious entity.
Present situation[edit]
Portugal[edit]
Before the 2013 local government reforms, the 308 municipalities were subdivided into 4,259 civil parishes.[3][4]In 2011, after more than two weeks of bailout negotiations in light of thesovereign debt crisiswith theInternational Monetary Fund,theEuropean Central Bankand theEuropean Commission,the Portuguese government was obliged to reduce the number of municipal and parish local governments after July 2012.[5]The government ofPedro Passos Coelhointroduced a plan to reform the administrative divisions, claiming it would create efficiencies and save money. The plan envisioned the reform of the management, territorial geography and political form of how Portugal functioned at the local level, including specifically at thefreguesiaandconcelholevels.[3]It was determined that these changes would then be formalized before the 2013 local government elections, as part of a process to reduce expenditures, a condition of the $110 billion accord.[5]In addition to the reduction of the number of representatives in the local boards, the plan also established criteria for the reduction, amalgamation or extinction of various civil parishes.[3]
The reform was implemented according to Law 11-A/2013 of 28 January 2013, which defined the reorganization of the civil parishes.[6]This way, the number of parishes was reduced from 4,259 to 3,091.
Municipalities in Portugal are usually divided into multiplefreguesias,but seven municipalities are not:Alpiarça,Barrancos,Castanheira de Pera,Porto Santo,São Brás de AlportelandSão João da Madeiraall consist of a single civil parish, andCorvois a special case of a municipality without civil parishes, where all usual parish duties and functions are performed by the municipality directly.Barcelosis the municipality with the most civil parishes (61, since 2013).
Portugal has nounincorporated areas;all the national territory (apart from the above-mentioned example of Corvo) belongs to a civil parish, including uninhabited islands:Selvagens IslandstoSé,andBerlengastoPeniche,Desertas IslandstoSanta Cruz,andFormigas IsletstoVila do Porto,in the municipalities with the same name (except for Sé, which belongs toFunchal).
Cape Verde[edit]
OfCape Verde's 22municipalities,which form the highest level of sub-national government in the small African state, some but not all are subdivided into parishes. There are 32 parishes in the country.
Macau[edit]
Macauis an autonomousspecial administrative regioninSouthern Chinathat was historically a part of thePortuguese Empireuntil itshandover to Chinain 1999. During the period of Portuguese rule it was divided into twomunicipalitieswhich were subdivided into a total of seven parishes. In 2001 the municipalities were dissolved and their administrative functions transferred to theMunicipal Affairs Bureau.The parishes were legally retained but no longer serve an administrative function.
See also[edit]
- List of parishes of Portugal(freguesias)
- Bairro
- Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau– replaced the former municipal councils duringPortuguese ruleofMacau,but retain thefreguesiasmodel
References[edit]
- ^ab"7th Constitutional Revision"(PDF).Assembly of the Republic (Portugal).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 22 October 2014.Retrieved13 August2014.
- ^abcFerreira, José António Costa (2005).O Poder Local e Regional na Assembleia Constituinte de 1975/76: As Regiões Adminsitrativas(Master thesis) (in Portuguese). Universidade do Porto. pp. 20–27.hdl:10216/19439.
- ^abcGabinete do Ministro Adjunto e dos Assuntos Parlamentares, ed. (2011)."Documento Verde da Reforma da Administração Local"(PDF)(in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: Governo da República. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on May 24, 2012.Retrieved13 August2014.
- ^Data of the Official Administrative Charter of Portugal, 2011
- ^ab"Governo e 'troika' acordam reduzir número de câmaras e freguesias"(in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal: RTP Online. 4 May 2011. Archived fromthe originalon October 2, 2011.Retrieved4 May2011.
- ^"Law nr. 11-A/2013"(PDF).Diário da República(in Portuguese).Assembly of the Republic (Portugal).Retrieved13 August2014.
Bibliography[edit]
- Francisco Cardoso de Azevedo (1901).Lista Alpha betica das freguezias do continente do Reino e ilhas adjacentes(in Portuguese). Lisbon: Impresna Lucas.