Castelo Branco District

The district of Castelo Branco is one of the eighteen districts that make up Portugal. With its capital in the city of the same name, it limits to the north with Guarda, to the east with Spain, to the south with Portalegre and Santarém, and to the west with Leiría and Coimbra.

It belongs to the traditional province of Beira Baixa (southern half of Beira Interior). Area: 6,615.7 km² (4th largest Portuguese district). Resident population (2011): 196,264 inhab. Population density: 29.67 inhab./km².

Geography

The district of Castelo Branco is dominated by three fundamental structures: the Tejo Valley region, to the south, is a region of moderate altitudes (between 200 and 400 m) and few orographic accidents. To the north, a second region extends from northeast to southwest, much more rugged, which includes the Alvelos mountain ranges, the Muradal mountain range, the Gardunha mountain range (1227 m) and the Malcata mountain range, which has its greatest extension already in Guarda district. The Sierra de Malcata Natural Reserve is located here, one of the sanctuaries of the Iberian lynx. To the northwest of this area, the Cova da Beira corresponds to the valley of the Cécere River and some of its tributaries. The western region of the district also accompanies the Cécere valley, descending to the heights of Alvelos. The district also belongs to most of the southeast slope of the Serra da Estrela.

With the district fully integrated into the Tejo river basin, the main rivers are, apart from the Tejo itself, tributaries of it or tributaries of the tributaries. The highlight naturally goes to the Cécere and its tributaries, especially the Paul River, the Meimoa River and the Sertã stream. Other relevant rivers are the Ocreza river, the Ponsul river and the Erjas river, which serves as the border with Spain for more than 40 km. All these rivers flow in more or less the same direction, from northeast to southwest, with the exception of the Erges, whose course is predominantly north-south.

Regarding the orography, the highest altitudes are located in Serra da Estrela, with the border of the district being very close to the maximum altitude of continental Portugal (1993 m). Also within the limits of the district are other important peaks: the highest point of the Serra do Açor (1,418 m) is on the border with the district of Coimbra, and the second highest elevation is the Serra de Malcata (1,072 m). It is on the border with the Guarda district, very close to Spain. Inside the district, the highest points are the peaks of Gardunha (1,227 m), Alvelos (1,084 m) and Muradal (912 m).

Although the Castelo do Bode reservoir is mostly outside the limits of the Castelo Branco district, it still ends up being the largest dammed area in the district. Other reservoirs of interest are: the Bouçã and Cabril reservoirs on the Cécere, and the Cedillo Reservoir on the Tagus on the Spanish-Portuguese border.

Subdivisions

The district of Castelo Branco is subdivided into the following 11 municipalities:

In the current regional division of Portugal, the district is integrated into the Central Region and divided into three subregions, one of them integrating a municipality belonging to the district of Santarén: Beira Interior Sul, Cova da Beira and Pinhal Interior Sul. summary:

• Region
  • Beira Interior Sul
    • Castelo Branco
    • Idanha-a-Nova
    • Penamacor
    • Vila Velha de Ródão
  • Cova da Beira
    • Belmonte
    • Covillana
    • Fundão
  • Pinhal Interior Sul
    • Oleiros
    • Proença-a-Nova
    • Sertã
    • Vila de Rei