circundantes

Circundantes is an adjective used in Portuguese and Spanish to describe areas that lie around or near a reference point, typically a city, town, or region. In urban planning and geography, circundantes refers to the areas, municipalities, districts, or neighborhoods that border the core city and form its surrounding zone. The term helps distinguish the immediate periphery from the inner city or more distant territories, and it can describe both urbanized and rural areas within a surrounding belt of municipalities. The circundantes may be part of a metropolitan area or region and may share infrastructure, services, and planning policies with the central city.

Etymology: from circundar, formed from circum- meaning around and the verb suffix that yields an adjective sense, roughly "surrounding." Usage: In Spanish, "municipios circundantes" is common; in Portuguese, "municípios circundantes" or "áreas circundantes." The term is common in administrative and planning contexts; in everyday language, "periferia" is often used for outer zones, while circundantes emphasizes proximity to the core.

See also: periferia, área metropolitana, municipio circundante, comarca.