The coastline of Entre Minho e Douro is level and unbroken except by the estuaries of the main rivers; inland, the elevation gradually increases towards the north and east, where several mountain ranges mark the frontier. Of these, the most important are the Serra da Peneda (), between the rivers Minho and
Lima; the
Serra do Gerez (), on the
Galician border; the Serra da Cabreira (), immediately to the south; and the
Serra do Marão (), in the extreme south-east. As its name implies, the province is bounded by two rivers, the Douro on the south, and the Minho, or Miño, on the north. Some old maps show areas south of the Douro River belonging to the old Entre-Douro-e-Minho territory, while other old maps make the province exactly match the current
Viana do Castelo District,
Braga District and
Porto District. Nevertheless, if the name Entre-Douro-e-Minho ("
Between-Douro-and-Minho") was strictly taken in account, the latter definition would make sense. There are three other large rivers which, like the Minho, flow west-south-west into the Atlantic. The Lima or Antela (Spanish Limia) rises in Galicia, and reaches the sea at
Viana do Castelo; the
Cávado springs from the southern foothills of La Raya Seca, on the northern frontier of
Trás-os-Montes, and forms, at its mouth, the small harbour of
Esposende; and the
Ave descends from its sources in the Serra da Cabreira to
Vila do Conde, where it enters the
Atlantic. A large right-hand tributary of the Douro, the
Tâmega, rises in Galicia, and skirts the western slopes of the Serra de Marão. == History ==