about the place
Olhão, officially Olhão da Restauração, is a city in the District of Faro, in the Algarve, with 29,556 inhabitants (2021). The municipality, created in 1808, covers 130.86 km² and has 44,623 inhabitants (2021), comprising a mainland area and the Ilha da Armona, in the ria Formosa. It borders São Brás de Alportel, Tavira and Faro, and has a coastline on the Atlantic. The settlement grew from the 17th century as a fishing village, beside a large spring that is said to have given it its name; it became a parish in 1695, separating from Quelfes, and in 1765 King José I established the Compromisso Marítimo de Olhão, which quickly became the wealthiest of its kind in the Algarve. Since 2025 the municipality has five parishes: Olhão, Quelfes, Pechão, Moncarapacho and Fuseta.
