| Summary: | The Northern Portugal, as a territorial entity, has gained institutional relevance with the adhesion of Portugal to the European project, in 1986, and the subsequent arrival of the structural funds to the country. Even though the regionalization of mainland Portugal remains unfulfilled, regional spaces have become relevant, based on the map that divides the country into NUTS2 and NUTS3. The NUTS2 have maintained their territorial form and their entities, CCDRs, have reinforced their functions. Although the Northern Portugal is a NUTS2 and a planning region active for several decades, its geographic diversity, socio-economic asymmetries together with the maintenance of the symbolic representation of former regional entities seem to make it difficult to assert itself as a territory with its own identity. Here the territorial categories that structure the supra-municipal identities of the Northern Portugal are identified, and the reasons for their current symbolic force are acknowledged. To this end, a multi-method approach was carried out, which included a geo-historical review of supramunicipal configurations, and the content analysis of both interviews and strategic documents. The results show that, as in other contexts, administrative divisions that result from top-down decisions face problems of legitimacy and recognition, as they lack symbolic content and cultural meaning. Nevertheless, considering that the identities of territories are effective instruments for improving cohesion and cooperation among territorial agents they should not be ignored. In the case of Northern Portugal, this study points to the advantage of valuing the symbolic significance of four distinct internal areas: Douro, Minho, Porto and Trás-os-Montes.
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