Lisbon Could Lose the Title of Portugal's Largest City
According to the EU ranking of the largest cities by population, Lisbon is the European city that has lost the largest number of inhabitants over the last 10 years.
The ranking reveals that the Portuguese capital has lost one in five of its inhabitants in the space of a decade. The population drop in Lisbon is also the largest in Europe since the turn of the millennium, with a reduction of 8.9 per cent in inhabitants. Latest data published by the Portuguese Statistics Institute INE has confirmed this data, revealing that between 2001 and 2005, Lisbon lost 45,000 of its residents. In 2005 Lisbon, had 519,000 inhabitants and, according to INE, the number of residents could soon decline to under 500,000.
Sintra, located northwest of the capital, seems to have been the main recipient of the exodus and is set to dethrone Lisbon as the country’s most populous city within the next five years. A large part of Sintra’s urban areas are essentially residential suburbs.
According to recent statistics, Sintra's suburban railway is the most crowded suburban train system in Europe. Nevertheless, every year, millions of tourists are drawn by the cultural heritage in the town itself, the nature park of Serra de Sintra, the coastal beaches in the municipality and Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, which lies 18 kilometres west of the city.
Sintra was classified by UNESCO as World Heritage and Cultural Landscape in 1995. The old part of town has a number of ancient castles which are also one of Portugal’s top tourist attractions. The city was considered by English poet Robert Southey, “the most blessed place of the inhabitable world”. Porto, which was for a long time Portugal’s second largest city has also been losing inhabitants and by 2001 was surpassed by Sintra and Vila Nova de Gaia, when it became Portugal’s fourth largest city.
Estimates of Portugal’s Institute for Social Sciences reveal that Sintra will be home to 479,000 inhabitants in 2011, eight thousand more than Lisbon. Vila Nova de Gaia will have a population of 320,000, whereas Porto will only have only 200,000 residents.
Portugal’s fifth largest city will be Loures (198,000), followed by Cascais (also 198,000), Seixal (187,000), Braga (182,000), Oeiras (178,000) and Gondomar (177,000).
The ranking reveals that the Portuguese capital has lost one in five of its inhabitants in the space of a decade. The population drop in Lisbon is also the largest in Europe since the turn of the millennium, with a reduction of 8.9 per cent in inhabitants. Latest data published by the Portuguese Statistics Institute INE has confirmed this data, revealing that between 2001 and 2005, Lisbon lost 45,000 of its residents. In 2005 Lisbon, had 519,000 inhabitants and, according to INE, the number of residents could soon decline to under 500,000.
Sintra, located northwest of the capital, seems to have been the main recipient of the exodus and is set to dethrone Lisbon as the country’s most populous city within the next five years. A large part of Sintra’s urban areas are essentially residential suburbs.
According to recent statistics, Sintra's suburban railway is the most crowded suburban train system in Europe. Nevertheless, every year, millions of tourists are drawn by the cultural heritage in the town itself, the nature park of Serra de Sintra, the coastal beaches in the municipality and Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, which lies 18 kilometres west of the city.
Sintra was classified by UNESCO as World Heritage and Cultural Landscape in 1995. The old part of town has a number of ancient castles which are also one of Portugal’s top tourist attractions. The city was considered by English poet Robert Southey, “the most blessed place of the inhabitable world”. Porto, which was for a long time Portugal’s second largest city has also been losing inhabitants and by 2001 was surpassed by Sintra and Vila Nova de Gaia, when it became Portugal’s fourth largest city.
Estimates of Portugal’s Institute for Social Sciences reveal that Sintra will be home to 479,000 inhabitants in 2011, eight thousand more than Lisbon. Vila Nova de Gaia will have a population of 320,000, whereas Porto will only have only 200,000 residents.
Portugal’s fifth largest city will be Loures (198,000), followed by Cascais (also 198,000), Seixal (187,000), Braga (182,000), Oeiras (178,000) and Gondomar (177,000).
posted by Co-op Travel Direct at
3:46 AM
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