MINHO LIMA - Geography and history
This sub-region is bounded to the north and east by the border with Spain, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south, Minho-Lima borders Cávado, another sub-region of the North of Portugal.
With an area of 2 210 km2, Minho-Lima is the fourth biggest sub-region of the Norte Region. Its coastline has a number of beaches. It has a fairly abundant river system, since the two main rivers which give the sub-region its name are served by many other small watercourses, the biggest of which are tributaries of the Minho or the Lima. The terrain, fairly flat at the coast, becomes more mountainous towards the interior, culminating in the Serra da Peneda, which borders Spain to the east. This range has a maximum altitude of 1 361 m and forms part of the Peneda-Gerês National Park, a zone of great ecological importance which extends beyond the borders of the Minho-Lima sub-region.
The coastal city of Viana do Castelo is the largest conurbation in this predominantly rural sub-region.
About 35% of the territory is wooded, while 29% consists of farmland (1995 data).
A determining geographical location
Minho-Lima, situated at the extreme north-west of Portugal, suffered for centuries from its peripheral location and its consequent inaccessibility, exacerbated by the rugged mountain terrain of its eastern zones. The opening up of frontiers as part of the building of the European Union and the improved access through investment in road-building have brought new opportunities, however, and given the sub-region a different profile. Far from being a peripheral zone, the Minho-Lima of today is a point of entry into Portugal: a bridge linking Portugal and Spain via Minho and Galicia, two regions with great historical and cultural affinities.
Minho-Lima's geographical position is thus a determining factor for any study of this sub-region of the Norte. It can be expected to become progressively less of an obstacle and more of a development factor. The sub-region's years of isolation have, however, left it the legacy of an economic base centred largely on the primary sector, which represented 21% of employment in 1999. The industrial sector (including energy and water) employed roughly 35% of workers in 1999, and its effects are felt chiefly in the western half of Minho-Lima, above all in Viana do Castelo. The tertiary sector is the main employer, in spite of it relative small share in employment (44% in 1999 against 58% for the national average).The low average income of the population is a further determining factor.
The GDP per capita (PPP approach) recorded in Minho-Lima is the seventh lowest of the Portuguese sub-regions.
The low level of industrial development also preserves the environment. Minho-Lima, particularly the Minho valley and the Geres mountain range, is an area of natural beauty with ample potential for tourism. Portugal's vinho verde, though not exclusively from this sub-region, has one of its main strongholds in Minho-Lima and is both one of the area's characteristic products and a prime asset in its economic development.
Conflicting demographic trends, low industrialisation and internal imbalances
Despite its coastal position, in some respects Minho-Lima has more in common with the sub-regions of the interior than with the more highly-developed zones of the Portuguese coast. This applies, for example, to its population and economic specialisation.
Following a drop of some 1 800 inhabitants (-0.7%) between 1995 and 2001, there were about 247 400 inhabitants in the region in 2001. Since 1993 Minho-Lima has recorded a positive migratory balance, demonstrating its increasing attractiveness as a place to live. The balance between births and deaths has been negative over the 1990?s as a result of a drop in the birth rate, which was 10.1 per thousand in 2000. The mortality rate has remained stable at around 12 per thousand (11.7 per thousand in 2000).
The stagnation of the population is not therefore preventing its ageing. By 2001, Minho-Lima already had 125 residents aged over 65 for every 100 under 15; the figures for 1991 and 1981 respectively had been 81 and 52 elderly people per 100 young people.
Minho-Lima's economic structure shows limited industrialisation, above all in its eastern half, which is dominated by agriculture.
In 2000, the primary sector represented 3% of the Gross Value Added of the region while its share is significantly more important in employment. The tertiary sector dominates with 59% of GVA, even if this is one of the lowest shares observed among all Portuguese sub-regions. The secondary sector is still predominant in the region, as it accounts for 38% of the GVA (against 29% for the national average).
The percentage of persons working for an employer (54%) is the second lowest of the sub-regions of the Norte, largely because of the dominance of family labour (above all in agriculture, but also in the distributive trades). Only two firms in Minho-Lima employ more than 1000 persons: Cablinal Portuguesa-Equipamento Para a Industria Automovel LDA and Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo, a publicly-owned shipbuilding company. A third of the resident population and 45% of firms in Minho-Lima are to be found in the municipality of Viana do Castelo, giving the district an industrial dynamic unparalleled elsewhere in the sub-region and three-quarters of Minho-Lima's industrial turnover.
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