Vila Nova de Santo André

Vila Nova de Santo André, usually just called Santo André, is a city located near the Atlantic Ocean and belonging to the municipality of Santiago do Cacém, Alentejo Litoral, in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 10,647, in an area of 75.11 km².It is a planned city built in the 1980s, to serve the region's oil industry. It is, from all of Santiago do Cacém's parishes, the one nearer to the sea and it is surrounded as follows: to the North, by Melides; to the West, by the Atlantic Ocean; to the East, by Santiago do Cacém and Santa Cruz; and to the South, by Sines. It is one of the youngest cities in the world with approximately two years as a city and 30 years since it was founded. It is mostly a residential suburb for the industrial city of Sines, from which is about 10 miles.OriginThe choice of Saint Andrew for patron of the Church that would give name to the present city (Cidade de Vila Nova de Santo André) and village (Aldeia de Santo André), simultaneously, is easily understood: Saint Andrew, brother of Saint Peter, was, like him, a fisherman, and the first of the two to meet and follow Christ. His life is intimately connected to the sea and fishing culture as so was that of the people who lived in Aldeia de Santo André. It was promoted to city (Cidade) in 2003