S.L. Benfica

Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Portuguese pronunciation: [spɔɾ liʒˈboɐ i bɐ̃ȷ̃ˈfikɐ]), commonly known as Benfica, is a sports club based in Lisbon, Portugal. It is best known for its professional football team, who play in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Currently, Benfica are back-to-back Portuguese champions.

Founded in 1904 by a group of people led by Cosme Damião, Benfica is one of the "Big Three" clubs in Portugal that have never been relegated from the Primeira Liga – the other two are rivals FC Porto and Sporting CP. The team is nicknamed Águias (Eagles) for the symbol atop the club's crest, and Encarnados (Reds) for the shirt colour. Since 2003, their home ground has been the Estádio da Luz, which replaced the original one. Benfica is the most supported Portuguese club and the European club with the biggest percentage of supporters in its own country, having more than 156,000 paying members. The club's official anthem, "Ser Benfiquista", refers to its supporters who are called Benfiquistas. Benfica is honoured in three Portuguese Orders: those of Christ, of Merit and of Prince Henry.

Benfica, Rio de Janeiro

Benfica is a neighborhood in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is located near São Cristóvão and Engenho de Dentro, within the Centro (Downtown) Administrative Region.

Benfica was first populated in the 16th century, as an area of sugarcane plantation developed by Jesuit missionaries, who received an extensive donation of land, which also included present-day Engenho da Rainha and Engenho Novo, from Estácio de Sá. After the jesuits were expelled from the Portuguese Empire by the marquis of Pombal, in 1759, possessions in Benfica were granted to various private owners, and the region became further populated.

The neighbourhood has historically played a role as a resting place and point of passage to places of interest in the outskirts of Rio, most notably on the Estrada Real (Royal Road). Today, Benfica is served by the Avenida Brasil and Avenida Dom Hélder Câmara, two avenues which link downtown Rio to suburbs in the North and West Zones.

Benfica (Lisbon)

Benfica (Portuguese pronunciation: [bɐ̃ȷ̃ˈfikɐ]) is a Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Lisbon. The population in 2011 was 36,985, in an area of 8.03 km².

The biggest park of Lisbon, the Monsanto Forest Park, is mostly (until the A5 that serves as a geographic limit with other parishes of Lisbon) located in Benfica.

History

20th century

In 1959, the parish was split and gave origin to the parish of São Domingos de Benfica. In this period, Lisbon was experiencing a fast growth, in the 1950s the population of the parish was 17,843 inhabitants, forty years later it exceeded 50,000. However, in the 1990s, the population of Lisbon started to decline, with thousands of people leaving to the suburbs and the parish population declined to the present 38,500 inhabitants.

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