Country
The country of Portugal is divided into Provinces.
Full Province info on Wikipedia, including a nice map.
Province
Within Portugal, one of the two northernmost provinces is Minho.
Check out this site for good info on the Portuguese Province of Minho and more in Wikipedia.
Minho Province includes the districts of Braga and Viana do Castelo.
Minho Province includes the northernmost beaches on the Atlantic, and the northern coast with Spain. Its southern border is with the Duoro Province and the Porto District.
District
Minho Province contains Braga District.
Braga District reaches as far west as Esposende, which is where the beach is.
Municipality/Concelo
Braga District contains 14 Municipalities/Concelhos, one of which is the municipality of Braga.
Map of 14 Braga Municipalities/Concelhos.
Concelho (Portuguese pronunciation: [kõˈsɐʎu, kõˈseʎu]), is the Portuguese-language term for municipality, referring to the territorial division.
Parish/Freguesia
Braga, the municipality itself (within Braga District), has administratively, 37 civil parishes (freguesias):[9]
Check out the 37 parishes of Braga district, and see a nice map.
In US terms, these are the towns that make up the ‘metro area’ of Braga.
| US Term | US Example | Pt Term | Pt Example |
| Country | United States | Country | Portugal |
| State | Arizona | Province | Minho |
| County | Maricopa | District | Braga |
| City | Phoenix | Municipality/ Concelho | Braga |
| Neighborhood | Deer Valley | Parish/ Freguesia | São Vicente |