Approach and Permanent Human Occupation of Mainland Portugal Coastal Zone (1096–2021)
Maria Rosário Bastos,
Olegário Nelson Azevedo Pereira,
Antero Ferreira,
Filipe Salgado,
Sérgio Lira,
João Alveirinho Dias
Affiliations
Maria Rosário Bastos
Department of Social Sciences and Management, Aberta University, 4200-055 Porto, Portugal
Olegário Nelson Azevedo Pereira
MARE—Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon, Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Antero Ferreira
CITCEM—Transdisciplinary Research Centre Culture, Space and Memory, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Porto University, 4150-564 Porto, Portugal
Filipe Salgado
CITCEM—Transdisciplinary Research Centre Culture, Space and Memory, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Porto University, 4150-564 Porto, Portugal
Sérgio Lira
CLEPUL—Centre for Lusophone and European Literatures and Cultures, University of Lisbon, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
João Alveirinho Dias
CIMA—Centre for Marine and Environmental Research, University of Algarve, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
This paper aims to enhance the understanding of the littoralization process in mainland Portugal over a broad chronological framework. Littoralization is defined as the occupation and settlement of human communities along the coast. In this case, the analysis was based on the synchronic analysis of three chronologies: from the formation of Portugal to the settlement of the fountains (1096–1325); at the dawn of modernity, marked by the Portuguese expansion (1500–1524), with the first scientific census (1860); and in the present, with data from the last census (2021). The choice of chronology was dictated by the historical sources available and allowed us to check the trend of population dispersion both in terms of latitude and longitude, the latter being the analysis of the distance of the main population centers (counties) from the coast. In the first chronological segment, there is a “safety distance” from the exposed coastlines, which is gradually blurred over time until there is an impressive coastal demographic concentration in 2021, with around 80% of people settled within 50 km of the sea. So, the management of Portugal’s territory is an unequivocal indicator of the Anthropocene even with the risks of the disappearance of some beaches.