Alentejo (Portugal)

Alentejo

The Alentejo Region covers an area of 27,3 thousand km² (30% of the national territory) and hosts 535,507 inhabitants (5,2% of the Portuguese population). Situated on the country’s southern area, Alentejo has Spain as western frontier and the Atlantic Ocean for eastern limit. The natural and built patrimony, the regional products, the gastronomy, the handicraft, the events and the cultural spaces, several and diversified, are part of a richness which tourist investment has intensified through the last decades.

Facts about Alentejo

¹ Relation between young population (0-14 years) and active population (15-64 years)

² Relation between old population (+65 years) and active population (15-64 years)

Government

Alentejo is one of the five administrative regions which constitute Portugal. The Portuguese government is organized from the central government, through the several ministries, to the central and regional services. Each ministry's structure may vary according to its function; however, in general, each may count on central and regional services that approximate governors to populations.

Economy

The economical, social and demographical scene reflects a situation which tends to be more negative that the one which characterizes the rest of the territory, although we may infer a progressive positive evolution. The development of a set of infrastructures, among which Beja and Évora aerodrome, the A6 highway (which connects Lisbon to Madrid), the Terminal XXI (Sines Port) and the multiple purpose investment in Alqueva, have allowed to improve, both socially and economically, the natural and human condititions that characterize the region.

Health System

The health sector in Portugal belongs to the Health Ministry (Ministério da Saúde) which is responsible for the definition of national health policies and is structured into (i)central services, (ii) personalized services and (iii) a consulting organ, which is the Conselho Nacional de Saúde. In the health sector, Alentejo is under one of the five regional administrations (Administrações Regionais de Saúde) that belong to the National Health System and intervene in health care, pharmacies, public health and external health services.  

Alentejo still is the country's region with the highest mortality rate about 15,3% in 1999, while the whole continent's rate is 10,8%. This sharp difference comes as a result of the high population's aging rate which characterizes the region's demographical evolution. The child mortality rate in the Alentejo Region (5, 2%_o in 2001) is lower than the rest of the country (5, 5%_o). According to INE and Direcção-Geral da Saúde data, we may conclude that brain-vascular diseases are the first cause of death in Alentejo and Portugal. Malignant tumours and cardiac diseases also result in high death rates.

University of Évora