The Beira Interior region is located in the centre of
Portugal between two of the most important rivers: the Douro,
at north, and the Tejo at south. At west it makes frontier with
Spain.
It's total area is about 7812 Km²which represents
almost 9 % of the total surface of Portugal.
It is a very peculiar and interesting region where we can find
big valleys mix up with high mountains, some of which are the
highest in the all country.
Right in the middle of these mountains we can find several
of the most important water courses of the country. If you visit
the region you can easily see rivers like the Mondego, the Douro,
the Côa, the Águeda and the Zêzere. But in
what concerns subterranean water courses they are quite poor in
this region due to the inappropriate retention structures, to
the water storage and to the weak permeability of the soil.
The average high of this region is about 700 meters considering
only one morphological area called the Maciço Central.
The high altitude of the region, it's sharp mountains, and
it's disposition and distance towards the sea are the main causes
of the typical climate of the region which is generally temperate,
with an irregular level of precipitation during the year.
This region has a high forestal capacity which unfortunately
hasn't being used as it should be due to the excessive agricultural
use of the soils.
