The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) is developed by Eurostat, and employed in both Portugal and the entire European Union for statistical purposes. The NUTS branch extends from NUTS1, NUTS2 and NUTS3 regions, with the complementary LAU (Local Administrative Units) sub-categorization being used to differentiate the local areas, of trans-national importance.
Developed by Eurostat and implemented in 1998, the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) regions, which comprises three levels of the Portuguese territory, are instrumental in European Union's Structural Fund delivery mechanisms.[1][2] The standard was developed by the European Union and extensively used by national governments, Eurostat and other EU bodies for statistical and policy matters.[3][4] Until 4 November 2002, the Sistema Estatístico Nacional (SEN) used a NUTS codification system that was distinct from the Eurostat system. With the enactment of Decree Law 244/2002 (5 November 2002), published in the Diário da República, this system was abandoned in order to harmonize the national system with that of Eurostat.
- ^ The NUTS system was approved by Community Legislation in 1998, but only entered into function in 2003 through enacting regulations.
- ^ University of Coimbra (2010), p.2
- ^ Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Portuguese language) Archived 2007-03-16 at the Wayback Machine – Nomenclatura das Unidades Territoriais para fins Estatísticos 2002, accessed May 2006
- ^ de Informação Geográfica (Portuguese language)[permanent dead link] – Biblioteca de Mapas Administrativos, accessed May 2006