page_title: Póvoa de Varzim
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Póvoa de Varzim / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: Quião beach, Povoa de Varzim, Portugal
context_page_description: Póvoa de Varzim is a Portuguese city in Northern Portugal and sub-region of Greater Porto, 30 km from its city centre. It sits in a sandy coastal plain, a cuspate foreland, halfway between the Minho and Douro rivers. In 2001, there were 63,470 inhabitants, with 42,396 living in the city proper. The city expanded, southwards, to Vila do Conde, and there are about 100,000 inhabitants in the urban area alone. It is the seventh-largest urban agglomeration in Portugal and the third largest in Northern Portugal.
  Permanent settlement in Póvoa de Varzim dates back to around four to six thousand years ago; around 900 BC, unrest in the region led to the establishment of Cividade de Terroso, a fortified city, which developed maritime trade routes with the civilizations of classical antiquity. Modern Póvoa de Varzim emerged after the conquest by the Roman Republic of the city by 138 BC; fishing and fish processing units soon developed, which became the foundations of the local economy.
context_section_description: Occupying an area of 82.1 km² (31.7 sq mi), Póvoa de Varzim lies between the Cávado and Ave rivers, or, from a wider perspective, halfway between the Minho and Douro rivers on the northern coast of Portugal — the Costa Verde. It is bordered to the north by the municipality of Esposende, to the northeast by Barcelos, to the east by Vila Nova de Famalicão, and to the south by Vila do Conde. To the west, it has a shoreline on the Atlantic Ocean.
  The rocky cliffs, common features downstream of the Minho's estuary, disappear in Póvoa de Varzim, giving way to a coastal plain. The plain is located in a cuspate foreland, an old marine plateau from the Plio-Pleistocene, conferring a sandy soil to the coastal lands. The sand dunes in the Northwestern coast formed during the Little Ice Age and started piling up in the 15th or 16th century. Wandering along the coast one discerns Cape Santo André, the tip of the cuspate foreland and the Avarus Promontory, referred to by Ptolemy.
  São Félix Hill (202 m or 663 ft) and Cividade Hill (155 m or 509 ft) rise above the landscape. Despite their modest rise, the expanse of the plain makes them easy reference points on the horizon. The mountain chain known as Serra de Rates divides the municipality in two distinctive areas: the coastal plain and hills where the forests become more abundant and the soils have less sea influence. In this landscape dominated by the plain and low hills, only the hillside of Corga da Soalheira (150 m or 490 ft) in the interior, is dissimilar.
  There are no large rivers, but abundant small water streams exist. Some of these streams are permanent, such as the Este River, which feeds into the Ave. The source of the Esteiro Stream is located at the base of Cividade Hill and empties at the beach of Aver-o-Mar, while the Alto River's source is at the base of São Félix and reaches the Atlantic at Rio Alto Beach. The land is well-irrigated, springs and wells are very common, since underground water is often close to the surface.
  The forest areas suffer from strong demographic pressure and intensive agriculture. Some forests locally known as bouças are defined areas with maritime pines, oaks and eucalyptus plantations. Forests are still important in parishes surrounded by the Serra de Rates, whose flora is distinguished by the pedunculate oak or the european holly. In the 18th century, the monks of Tibães planted pines, which characterized the civil parish of Estela. In the past the Atlantic forest predominated, with trees such as oaks, ash trees, hazels, strawberry trees, holm oak, and alders.
  The granitic gneiss rocks throughout the entire coastline are home to large populations of invertebrates, fish and seaweed. These gneiss and the dunes form rich ecosystems, but are threatened by waterfront construction, holiday-makers and dune sports.
  Short-beaked common dolphins occur in large numbers in Northern Portugal. Dolphins show themselves by porpoising and bowriding along with boats just off the city of Póvoa de Varzim, where fishing activities occur. Alive or dead discarded fish while fishing can be easily caught by dolphins, which could help explain this relationship in the city's waters. The OMARE Marine Observatory also identified the Risso's dolphin and the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin in local waters. Stranded whales and dolphins and found dead occur with some frequency, natural causes, rough seas events, incidents with ships or fishing boats can explain these events.
  The city core is situated in a region dominated by old Hercynian granites, including Póvoa de Varzim Granite and Santo André Granite. A continuous area dominated by schist exists to the Northeast and vernacular architecture of the rural areas highlight the local geological diversity. Oldest rocks, from the Pre-Ordovician epoch, are found in the Schist-greywacke Complex between Rates, Laundos, and Estela. Wandering even further Northeast, there is shale of micaceous clay nature, occasionally quartzite, dating to the Devonian period, that may contain fossils.
caption: Granitic gneiss. The gneiss forms headlands and islets which submerge during high tide. This is a biologically rich and diverse environment.
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