The district of Braga belongs to the traditional province of Minho, limiting at north with the district of Viana do Castelo and Spain, at with the district of Vila Real, at south with the district of Oporto and at west by the Atlantic Ocean.
It is a very rugged territory, dominated by high altitudes in the east, near the Spanish border and the border with the district of Vila Real, and down to the western coastline, in a relief cut by the valleys of several rivers that flows from northeast to southwest.
In the district, there are several dams, being the most known, the Dam of Vilarinho das Furnas, on the Homem River Upper. In the low Cávado, there is located the Dam of Penide and in the high Cávado, there are the Caniçada Dam, the Salamonde Dam and the Venda Nova Dam. On Rio Ave there are some small dams and the Ermal Dam, much larger.
The district capital, Braga is the oldest town in Portugal and one of the oldest Christian cities in the world, founded at the time of the ancient Roman Empire, with the name of Bracara Augusta, with more than two thousand years of history as a city. The area of the district is 2673 km ², with a resident population in 2011 of 848 185 inhabitants.
In the district of Braga, there is also the city of Guimarães, designated as the "birthplace" of Portugal, because there was established the administrative center of the Portucalense Condate(which gave rise to the formation of Portugal, in 1143) by D. Henrique and his son D. Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal.
The city played an important role in the Battle of São Mamede, rolled out in the Campo de Sao Mamede, on the periphery of the city, on June 24 of 1128, between the army of the King Afonso Henriques and the troops of his mother, D. Teresa and the Galician count Fernão Peres de Trava, and with the victory of D. Afonso Henriques, turned decisive for the formation of Portugal.
Guimarães is currently one of the most important historical cities of Portugal, with its historical center considered Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2001 by UNESCO.
