Municipality in Norte, Portugal

Porto (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpoɾtu] ⓘ), also known in English as Oporto,[a] is the second largest city in ☀️ Portugal after Lisbon, 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 ☀️ just 231,800 people in a municipality with only 41.42 km2 (16 sq mi).[1][10] Porto's metropolitan area has around 1.7 million ☀️ people (2024) [1] in an area of 2,395 km2 (925 sq mi),[11] making it the second-largest urban area in Portugal.[12][13][14] ☀️ It is recognized as a global city with a Gamma + rating from the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.[15]

Located ☀️ along the Douro River estuary in northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centers, and its core was ☀️ proclaimed 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.[16] The western part of its urban ☀️ area extends to the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. Its settlement dates back many centuries when it was an outpost ☀️ of the Roman Empire. Its combined Celtic-Latin name, Portus Cale,[17] 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, ☀️ since the metropolitan area, and in particular the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia, were responsible for the packaging, transport, ☀️ and export of fortified wine.[18] In 2014 and 2024, Porto was elected The Best European Destination by the Best European ☀️ Destinations Agency.[19] Porto is on the Portuguese Way path of the Camino de Santiago.

History [ edit ]