Alto Trás-os-Montes
Alto Trás-os-Montes (), or Nordeste Transmontano, is a former NUTS-level 3 subregion of the Norte Region of Portugal. It was abolished at the January 2015 NUTS 3 revision. Its 15 municipalities occupied an area of in the north-east of continental Portugal with an estimated 2008 population of 214,460 inhabitants; thus it constituted approximately 40% of the area, but only 6.1% of the population, of the Norte Region. Geography The Trás-os-Montes area refers to a contiguous territory that has similar social and cultural identities, but diverges on the potential economic abilities, while constituting a territorial unit with scale and critical mass to act in concert politically. In addition to its land border with Spain (in the north and north-northeast), it is also juxtapositioned with the subregions of the Douro (to the south), Tâmega Subregion (in the southwest), Ave (in the southwest) and Cávado (in the west). The NUTS III region of Alto Trás-os-Montes includes the following municipalities: Alfândega da Fé - a Moorish enclave, it was conquered by Asturian Christians and its original name, Alfandagh (which means hospice), was extended with Fe (meaning faith). The beginnings of its municipal history date back to a foral established on 8 May 1294, by