BAIXO VOUGA - Geography and history
The Baixo Vouga has an area of 1807 km2 and comprises 12 municipalities: Aveiro, Águeda, Albergaria-a-Velha, Anadia, Estarreja, ílhavo, Meaihada, Murtosa, Oliveira do Bairro, Ovar, Sever do Vouga and Vagos. To the north, the sub-region is bounded by the Norte region, to its south and east by the Baixo Mondego and Dão-Lafões, and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean.
The region is an alluvial plain, drained by the river Vouga and its tributaries. Towards its borders, the east in particular, there is some higher ground, occasionally exceeding 1000 m in altitude. The coastline is a vast and virtually continuous beach. The Baixo Vouga contains the largest single break in the Portuguese coast: the Ria de Aveiro. This comprises numerous arms of the sea, stretching over seven municipalities (including Mira, in the Baixo Mondego), with a total area of more than 6 000 ha, and known to geologists as a haff, a formation also notably found in the Baltic.
Dynamic in both demography and industry
The Baixo Vouga has the advantage of a relatively youthful population with dynamic population growth. The region's ability to strongly attract population seems to be built on its economic, and particularly its industrial potential. Industry has the highest share of employment in the Centro region with 41% of employment, but the most interesting feature is its diversity, including significant representation of certain sectors, including the most modern in the Portuguese economy, and leading-edge technologies with a strong export record. For agriculture the soil is fertile, and the region possesses one of Portugal's principal delimited wine-growing areas, the Bairrada. Livestock farming and fishing are also represented in the region's primary sector. The region also has a balanced local services sector, with an important role for the University of Aveiro. This university was founded only recently, in 1973, but is making a name particularly in technology.
The Baixo Vouga is one of the sub-regions of the Centro closest to Porto, and its close links with this metropolis have made a decisive contribution to the region's development. Baixo Vouga is crossed by the country's principal road and rail routes, heading for Porto from the south. The region is also crossed by one of Portugal's principal east-west routes, leading inland from the docks at Aveiro to the Centro's most important border crossing at Vilar Formoso.
The region's weak points include environmental difficulties, in air pollution notably around Estarreja municipality, and in the multiple threats to the delicate environmental balance of the Ria de Aveiro. This is particularly significant since it affects and could harm one of the most important tourist assets, in a region where tourism is yet to be developed.
Heavily urbanised, with Aveiro as its main city
In 2001, the population of the Baixo Vouga stood at 383 700, making it the most heavily populated of the entire Centro region, with about 16% of its total population. With 204 inhabitants per square kilometre in 2001, it also had the greatest population density. This leading demographic position in the Centro region is largely the result of the intense population growth of recent years, which was around 6.5% between 1995 and 2001, while the national average is only 2.3% for the same period. This growth arises from a positive balance on both natural population increase and migration. The growth in natural population increase is nonetheless rather constant, partly as a result of a stagnation in the birth rate during the recent years. The birth rate (12.2 per thousand) is still higher than the Portuguese average (and the death rate lower, with 9.8 per thousand), a reflection of the region's relatively youthful population. The rate on migration, meanwhile, was noteworthy at an annual 0.33% in 1995. The main city of the Baixo Vouga is Aveiro (66 444 inhabitants in 2000), although it is in fact no more than the focal point of a heavily urbanised area, comprising numerous interlinked centres with substantial commuter flows amongst them. This conurbation involves mainly the municipalities of Aveiro, llhavo, Albergaria, Águeda, Estarreja and Ovar. Industry is concentrated particularly in Ovar and Águeda.
The Baixo Vouga is in any case a mainly industrial region: 41% of the Gross Value Added in 1999 came from the secondary sector, against a national average of 31%. Aveiro is the centre for the services sector. The primary sector may be undersized in view of the agricultural qualities of much of the region's soil. Agriculture, representing 11% of the GVA, nevertheless has its importance as a secondary activity of many workers in other branches of activity. Tourism has some importance in spa towns such as Curia (Anadia) and Luso (Mealhada), but the region's - as yet unexploited - great tourist asset is the Ria de Aveiro. The industrial structure of the Baixo Vouga is well-balanced, with a range of processing industries located in the region. Motor vehicle manufacture and vehicle parts are concentrated in the municipalities of Ovar and Aveiro (there is also some vehicle manufacture in Águeda, mainly bicycles and motorcycles). Basic metals and metal products industries are mainly located in Águeda, and most textile industries are in Ovar, although they are also present in Águeda. Chemicals are significant in Estarreja. There is also an important tradition of the other non-metallic mineral industries, which are found across the region. The food and beverages industries are found mainly in the southern half of the region. There is a tradition of sparkling wine production in Anadia, which is located in the heart of the Bairrada delimited wine region.
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