Pombal, Portugal
# Pombal, Portugal

Pombal (Portuguese pronunciation: (listen)) is a city and a municipality located in the Leiria District in the sub region of Pinhal Litoral in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,217, in an area of 626.00 $km^2.$ The population of the city of Pombal proper is about 18,000 inhabitants.

The municipality is served by a railway station which is part of the Linha do Norte, the main Portuguese railway line that connects its two largest cities, Lisbon and Porto.

The Mayor is Luís Diogo de Paiva Morão Alves Mateus since 2013, elected by the Social Democratic Party. The municipal holiday is November 11 and celebrates St. Martin's Day.

In 2017, an 82-foot-long skeleton of a possible sauropod dinosaur was uncovered in a Pombal property owner's backyard.

## Parishes

Administratively, the municipality is divided into 13 civil parishes (freguesias):

* Abiul
* Almagreira
* Carnide
* Carriço
* Guia, Ilha e Mata Mourisca
* Louriçal
* Meirinhas
* Pelariga
* Pombal
* Redinha
* Santiago e São Simão de Litém e Albergaria dos Doze
* Vermoil
* Vila Cã

## Heritage sites

* Castle of Pombal
* House of the Marquis of Pombal

## Notable people

* Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal (1699-1782 in Pombal) a Portuguese statesman and diplomat, chief minister to King Joseph I, 1750 to 1777
* Pedro Roma (born 1970 in Pombal) a football goalkeeper with 386 club caps, mainly for Académica
* Carlos Mota Pinto (born 1936 in Pombal) a politician and the 7th Prime Minister of the Third Portuguese Republic
