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Melgaço

Municipality of the district of Viana do Castelo (District of Viana do Castelo), region Norte (NUTS III: Alto Minho).

Melgaço had 7.773 residents in the 2021 Census, of whom 42,5% were aged 65 or over; 9,6% of the population aged 15 or over had completed higher education.

Arriving here

7.773inhabitants (2021 Census)
258district-seat telephone code
1town hall13parish councils4schools

Mayor: José Albano Esteves Domingues · Tel. 251410100 · Email: geral@cm-melgaco.pt · www.cm-melgaco.pt more contacts

Summary for arrivals. The telephone code is that of the district/region seat (ANACOM numbering plan), not exclusive to this municipality. School, parish-council and town-hall counts come from the official lists already on this site. Hospitals are NHS institutions whose official name includes the municipality.

Population (inh.)
  • 146 – 239
  • 422 – 445
  • 477 – 492
  • 503 – 559
  • 1.030 – 2.300
Density (inh./km²)
  • 4,7 – 13,0
  • 16,0 – 50,3
  • 53,8 – 65,9
  • 75,9 – 112,8
  • 121,3 – 199,8
Area (km²)
  • 3,7 – 5,6
  • 7,2 – 8,9
  • 10,0 – 11,2
  • 11,5 – 18,6
  • 29,8 – 106,1
Quantile classes
Hover (or tap) a parish to see the figures; click to open its page. Geometry: CAOP2025, Direção-Geral do Território (simplified).

The 13 parishes of Melgaço

Sorted by resident population (2021 Census, 2025 geography). Click a header to sort; hover a row to highlight it on the map.

Download CSV parish list (UTF-8)

#ParishPopulationArea (km²)Inhab./km²
1União das freguesias de Vila e Roussas2.30011,51199,8
2Paderne1.03012,8580,2
3União das freguesias de Chaviães e Paços5598,4865,9
4São Paio5359,9553,8
5União das freguesias de Castro Laboreiro e Lamas de Mouro503106,094,7
6Alvaredo4924,36112,8
7União das freguesias de Parada do Monte e Cubalhão47729,8416,0
8Penso4458,8550,3
9União das freguesias de Prado e Remoães4453,67121,3
10Cristoval4225,5675,9
11Cousso2397,2333,1
12Gave18018,649,7
13Fiães14611,2113,0
INE code (DTMN)
1603
Resident population
7.773
Area
238,25 km²
Density
32,6 inh./km²
Parishes
13
Share of district population
3,4%
Rank in the district (population)
10th of 10
National rank (population)
206th of 308
National rank (density)
210th of 308
National rank (area)
136th of 308

INE, Censos 2021 (população residente, ind. 0014525, via dados.gov.pt); DGT, CAOP2025 (área e freguesias)

2021 Census in detail

Men
3.452 (44,4%)
Women
4.321 (55,6%)
Portuguese nationality
7.591 (97,7%)
Foreign nationality
182 (2,3%)
Ageing index
572,1 elderly per 100 young people
Private households
3.432
Average household size
2,21 people
Dwellings
7.846
Buildings
7.194
With higher education (15+)
9,6% (692)
Unemployment rate
4,60%

Population by age group

0-14578 · 7,4%15-24519 · 6,7%25-643.369 · 43,3%65+3.307 · 42,5%
Residents by age group (7.773 in total).

Source: INE, Censos 2021 (API de indicadores) — indicators 0014630, 0014631, 0014627, 0014623, 0014621, 0014635, 0014636, 0012328, 0012481, 0014632, licence CC BY 4.0.

2025 local elections

Municipal council

Registered
9.499
Voters
5.149 (54,21%)
Seats
5
ListVotes%Seats
PPD/PSD.CDS-PP (elected council president)2.72953,00%3
PS2.09940,77%2
CH641,24%0
PCP-PEV470,91%0

Municipal assembly

Registered
9.499
Voters
5.149 (54,21%)
Seats
15
ListVotes%Seats
PPD/PSD.CDS-PP2.63751,21%8
PS2.23643,43%7
PCP-PEV611,18%0

Source: SGMAI — resultados oficiais das Autárquicas 2025. Official results; only the list that elects the council president is marked (the person’s name is not in these results).

Contacts

Mayor
José Albano Esteves Domingues
Address
Largo Hermenegildo Solheiro, 4960-551 Melgaço
Telephone
251410100
Email
geral@cm-melgaco.pt
Website
www.cm-melgaco.pt

Source: DGAL — Portal Autárquico, Lista de Presidentes e contactos dos Municípios (atualizada 04/09/2026).

On the web

Q491888 · Wikipedia · www.cm-melgaco.pt/

Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Neighbouring municipalities

Arcos de Valdevez (20,6 km) · Monção (17,8 km)

Straight-line distance to the centroid of the district/region of Viana do Castelo: 31,7 km.

Source: DGT, CAOP2025 (CC BY 4.0) — adjacência de limites; distância em linha reta entre centróides (licence CC BY 4.0).

Location in the district

Population (inh.)
  • 7.773 – 8.632
  • 8.921 – 11.044
  • 13.623 – 15.797
  • 17.816 – 20.718
  • 41.164 – 85.778
Density (inh./km²)
  • 32,6 – 46,3
  • 60,6 – 62,5
  • 82,2 – 84,3
  • 115,7 – 116,3
  • 128,5 – 268,9
Area (km²)
  • 108,5 – 117,1
  • 136,5 – 138,2
  • 182,1 – 211,3
  • 238,3 – 319,0
  • 320,3 – 447,6
Quantile classes · current municipality
Melgaço highlighted. Click a neighbouring municipality to open its page. Geometry: CAOP2025, Direção-Geral do Território (simplified).

Compare Melgaço with other municipalities… · Compare parishes…

Other municipalities of the district of Viana do Castelo

Arcos de Valdevez · Caminha · Monção · Paredes de Coura · Ponte da Barca · Ponte de Lima · Valença · Viana do Castelo · Vila Nova de Cerveira

Sources: INE, 2021 Census (resident population) · DGT, CAOP2025 (area and parishes) · more details · Data updated on 24/09/2026