Chaves (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʃavɨʃ]) is a municipality and municipal seat of an area (591.3 km²) 10 km south of the Spanish border and 22 km south of Verín (Spain) in the northern Portugal. The municipality is the second most populous of the old district of Vila Real (the district capital, Vila Real, is 60 km south on the A24 toll-free motorway). Its origins are the Roman civitas Aquæ Flaviæ, and has developed into a population of 44,186 (2004), of which, 17,535 are residents of the urbanized town of Chaves.