Fátima is a city in the municipality of Ourém, Beira Litoral Province, in the Central Region and Médio Tejo intermunicipal community of Portugal, with 71.29 km² of area and 11,788 inhabitants (2011). Its population density is 162.7 inhabitants/km². The homonymous civil parish encompasses several villages and localities of which the city of Fátima, with a population of 7,756 residents, is the largest.
The civil parish has been permanently associated with the Marian apparitions that were purportedly witnessed by three local shepherd children at the Cova da Iria in 1917. The Catholic Church later recognized these events as "worthy of belief". A small chapel was built at the site of the apparition, now known as Our Lady of Fátima, beginning in 1918, and a statue of her installed. The chapel and statue have since been enclosed within the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima, a shrine complex containing two minor basilicas. Associated facilities for pilgrims, including a hotel and medical centre, have also been built over the decades within and around the Sanctuary. The city has become an important international destination for religious tourists, receiving between 6 and 8 million pilgrims yearly.
Fátima is located on the Estremenho Limestone Massif, on the flanks of the Serra de Aire, approximately 356 metres (1,168 ft) above sea level. The geology of the Serras de Aire and Candeeiros gives rise to an arid landscape with a rocky ground interspersed with limestone outcroppings. There are various geological formations in the region including sinkholes, uvalas and polje (like the Polje de Minde-Mata), as well as karst grottoes, caves with stalactites and stalagmites, in addition to lapiez fields.
The trees in this area are primarily dominated by holly oak (Quercus rotundifolia), Portuguese oak (Quercus faginea), strawberry trees (Arbutus unedo), buckthorn (Rhamnus alaternus), mastic (Pistacia lentiscus), bay laurel (Laurus nobilis) and olive trees, all of which are resistant to both the winter precipitation extremes and the summer drought . There are also areas of savannah, strips of land bounded by walls of loose stone. Pine and eucalyptus forests are also common in the outskirts of the city.
The parish contains the following localities: Aljustrel, Alvaijar, Amoreira, Boleiros, Casa Velha, Casal Farto, Chã, Charneca, Cova da Iria, Eira da Pedra, Fátima, Giesteira, Lombo da Égua, Maxeira, Moimento, Moita Redonda, Moitas, Montelo, Pederneira, Poço de Soudo, Ramila, Vale de Cavalos and Valinho de Fátima.
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