Editing Comarca (section)

===Historical===
From the [[Middle Ages]] until the 16th century, the ''comarcas'' corresponded to the large administrative divisions of Portugal. There were six such traditional divisions: [[Entre-Douro-e-Minho]], [[Trás-os-Montes Province|Trás-os-Montes]], [[Beira, Portugal|Beira]], [[Estremadura Province (historical)|Estremadura]], [[Alentejo]] and [[Algarve]], of which the last had the honorary title of "kingdom". In the 16th century, the ''comarcas'' started gradually to be referred to as "provinces".

The name "''comarca''" was then applied to the new administrative and judicial subdivisions of the provinces, created in the 17th century. Each ''comarca'' corresponded to the territorial area of jurisdiction of a ''[[corregedor]]'', a high-ranking administrative and judicial officer who represented the Crown in the district.

In the 19th century, the ''comarcas'' were replaced by separate administrative and judicial divisions to reflect the implementation of the separation of executive and judicial powers. The new administrative divisions became the [[Administrative divisions of Portugal#Districts|administrative districts]] and the new judicial divisions kept the name ''comarca''.