Trofa Municipality (ˈtɾɔfɐ) is located in the north of the Oporto metropolitan area in Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

. The city of Trofa

Trofa, Portugal

Trofa is a city in Trofa Municipality, Portugal.The city is composed of two parishes with a population of 20,692.Parishes:* São Martinho de Bougado* Santiago de Bougado...

 is composed of two parishes with a population of 20,692; the municipality made of 8 parishes has a population of 37,416 (2001 census).

Trofa has a strong industrial

Industry

Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

 park, with various types of industry including pharmaceutical, metalworking

Metalworking

Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills,...

 and textile

Textile

A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...

 industries.

Another important center in the municipality is Vila dos Coronados

Vila dos Coronados

Vila do Coronado , Population 8203 is made of two parishes located 8km southeast of the city of Trofa is one of the Industrial centers of the municipality....

.

Parishes

The 8 parishes of Trofa are:

• Alvarelhos
• Covelas
• Guidões
• Muro
• São Mamede de Coronado
• São Martinho de Bougado (Trofa)
• São Romão do Coronado
• Santiago de Bougado (Trofa)

History

Trofa has had an important role due to its geographic location between Porto

Porto

Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

 and Braga

Braga

Braga , a city in the Braga Municipality in northwestern Portugal, is the capital of the Braga District, the oldest archdiocese and the third major city of the country. Braga is the oldest Portuguese city and one of the oldest Christian cities in the World...

/Guimarães

Guimarães

Guimarães Municipality is located in northwestern Portugal in the province of Minho and in the Braga District. It contains the city of Guimarães.The present Mayor is António Magalhães Silva, elected by the Socialist Party.-Parishes:-Economy:...

, being located in the border of Douro and Minho, but still inside of the district of Porto, which led to Trofa being mentioned in the time of the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 ("trofa" means frontier in Arab). An important factor of its growth was the construction of railways in the beginning of the 20th century, which led to rapid growth.