Porto

Portuguese Oporto

Seaport city (pop., 2001 prelim.: 262,928), northwestern Portugal. On the right (north) bank of the Douro River, Porto was called Portus Cale in Roman times and was earlier a flourishing settlement on the Douro's south bank. Held successively by the Alani, Visigoths, Moors, and Christians, it became an important port in the 14th century. Henry the Navigator was born there in 1394. It was the site of a British victory over the French in the 1809 Peninsular War. World-famous for its port wine, Porto is Portugal's second largest city and the region's commercial and industrial centre.

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