   faro () is a city and a municipality in the faro district of the algarve region, in southern portugal. it is the southernmost city in continental portugal.detail regional map, algarve- southern portugal, isbn 3-8297-6235-6 the population in 2011 was 64,560,instituto nacional de estatÃ­stica in an area of 202.57&nbsp;kmÂ².direÃ§Ã£o-geral do territÃ³rio the city proper has 50.000 inhabitants. it is the seat of the faro district and capital of the algarve region. the algarve and faro district cover the same territory. ==history==   thumb|left|100px|estoi palace, faro the ria formosa lagoon attracted human occupants from the palaeolithic age until the end of pre-history. during that time a settlement grew up &ndash; ossonoba &ndash; which was an important town during the period of roman occupation and, according to historians, the forerunner of present-day faro. from the 3rd century onwards and during the visigothic period it was the site of an episcopal see. with the advent of moorish rule in the 8th century ossonoba retained its status as the most important town in the southwest corner of the iberian peninsula. in the 9th century it became the capital of a short-lived princedom and was fortified with a ring of defensive walls. at this time the name santa maria ("shantamariyyat al-gharb" in arabic) began to be used instead of ossonoba in the 10th 
Cities_in_Portugal Faro,_Portugal Faro_Municipality Municipalities_of_the_Algarve Populated_places_in_Faro_District Port_cities_and_towns_in_Portugal Seaside_resorts_in_Portugal Towns_of_the_Algarve