In 2003, seven new cities were designated in Portugal, brigning the
number of cities from 134 to 141.  What were these seven new cities?

(Don't bother with Wikipedia, as I need this info. to update that article.)

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Clarification of Question by nelson-ga on 05 Jul 2004 19:04 PDT

Articles in English or Portuguese are acceptable.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 06 Jul 2004 04:30 PDT

In checking a gazetteer, I found nine place names in Portugal that
listed populations in 2003, but not for earlier years.  These are:

Ferreiras
Montenegro
Algés
Carnaxide
Cruz Quebrada-Dafundo
Fernão Ferro
Oeiras e São Julião da Barra
Porto Salvo
Queijas


Unfortunately, I haven't yet found a way to distinguish cities from
other entitities.

Do these names look to be on the right track to you?

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Clarification of Question by nelson-ga on 06 Jul 2004 05:49 PDT

pafalafa-ga, thank you for looking into this, but I am looking for an
definitive source.  What you've listed could be concelhos
(municipalities), freguesias (parishes) or vilas (towns), not cidades
(cities). I did check www.ine.pt, but could not find the answer to
this.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 06 Jul 2004 08:34 PDT

Still haven't found the seven new ones, but perhaps this resource
would be of use to you:

http://alea-estp.ine.pt/html/actual/html/act43.html

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by nelson-ga on 06 Jul 2004 09:27 PDT

Very informative, especially the part where it lists the requirements
to be designated a city.  Thank you.

Hello nelson

This is the batch of seven towns which became cities in summer 2003:

Vila Nova de Santo André
Oliveira do Bairro
Mealhada
Serpa
Rebordosa
Lordelo (São Salvador de Lordelo)
Vila de Gandra


Vila Nova de Santo André
http://jfsantoandre.no.sapo.pt/vila%20nova.html
http://jfsantoandre.no.sapo.pt/cidade.html


"Elevação à categoria de cidade da vila de Oliveira do Bairro 

Submetido à votação, foi aprovado por unanimidade.

Elevação da vila da Mealhada, no concelho da Mealhada, à categoria de cidade.

Submetidos à votação, foram aprovados por unanimidade.

[2 towns are rejected as potential cities]

Elevação da vila de Serpa, no concelho de Serpa, à categoria de cidade 
Vamos, então, votar o referido projecto de lei.

Submetido à votação, foi aprovado por unanimidade.

Elevação da vila de Rebordosa, no concelho de Paredes, à categoria de cidade.

Submetidos à votação, foram aprovados por unanimidade.

Elevação da vila de Lordelo, no concelho de Paredes, à categoria de cidade 

Submetidos à votação, foram aprovados por unanimidade."

[DAR I série Nº.139/IX/1 2003.07.02 (pág. 5824)]
http://www3.parlamento.pt/PLC/DAR_FS.aspx?Tipo=DAR+I+s%c3%a9rie&tp=D&Numero=139&Legislatura=IX&SessaoLegislativa=1&Data=2003-07-02&Paginas=5824&PagIni=0&PagFim=0&Observacoes=&Suplemento=.&PagActual=0


"DECRETO N.? 72/IX
Elevação da VILA DE GANDRA, NO CONCELHO DE PAREDES, DISTRITO DO PORTO,
CATEGORIA DE CIDADE"

[DAR II série A Nº.114/IX/1 2003.07.19 (pág. 4603)]
http://www3.parlamento.pt/PLC/DAR_FS.aspx?Tipo=DAR+II+s%c3%a9rie+A&tp=A&Numero=114&Legislatura=IX&SessaoLegislativa=1&Data=2003-07-19&Paginas=4603&PagIni=0&PagFim=0&Observacoes=&Suplemento=..&PagActual=0

If those links don't work, you can access the documents from this webpage:
http://www3.parlamento.pt/PLC/Iniciativa.aspx?ID_Ini=19275


As I guess you found, many plausible search strategies didn't help at
all, and I gave up on the question. Later, I thought of looking to see
how achieving city status was described in Portuguese.
Searching with [Portugal "city status"] led to information on Montijo
becoming a city in 1985.
Next search was [Montijo 1985 cidade], and the results led me to try
"elevada" and "categoria de cidade" in searches.
Breakthrough search was ["categoria  de cidade" 2003].

Please ask if you'd like me to clarify something.

Good luck with Wikipedia!

Best wishes - Leli

Thank you for the great research.  (Of course, now Portugal has a
bunch of cities with "Town" in the name, but I guess that happens
everywhere.  Tarrytown, after all, is just a village.)

These cities (Oliveira do Bairro, Mealhada, Serpa, Rebordosa, Lordelo,
Gandra e Vila Nova de Santo André) also mentioned on

http://www.tecnicelpa.com/onlinenews/on_cat.php?cat=Geral

Leli,

Nice job!

paf

Search strategy leading to the link in my previous comment:

://www.google.pt/search?hl=pt-PT&ie=UTF-8&q=%22sete+novas+cidades%22+-site%3Abr&btnG=Pesquisar&meta=lr%3Dlang_pt

Thank you also, fp-ga.  Although my main concern was cities, that link
will be helpful for other designations.

Thank-you very much, nelson!

Glad to have helped.

Leli