Covilhã is a city and a municipality in the Centro region, Portugal. The city proper had 33,691 inhabitants in 2021. The municipality population in 2021 was 46,455 in an area of 555.60 square kilometres (214.52 sq mi). It is located in the Beiras e Serra da Estrela subregion and Beiras and Serra da Estrela Intermunicipal Community. The municipal holiday is October 20. Sometimes referred to as town of wool and snow, Covilhã is one of the main urban centres of the historical Beira Interior region. The proximity of the mountains offers dramatic scenery and a great environment for those fond of hiking, camping, mountain climbing and skiing. With an industrial tradition historically focused on textile industry supplied by an abundance of wool produced in the area since antiquity, but with a more diversified industry in contemporaneity, Covilhã, which was once known as the "Portuguese Manchester", is also a university city nowadays awarding degrees from aeronautical engineering to medicine to philosophy.

The Central Region or Central Portugal is one of the statistical regions of Portugal. The cities with major administrative status inside this region are Coimbra, Aveiro, Viseu, Caldas da Rainha, Leiria, Castelo Branco, Torres Vedras, Tomar, and Guarda. It is one of the seven Regions of Portugal. It is also one of the regions of Europe, as given by the European Union for statistical and geographical purposes. Its area totals 28,462 km2 (10,989 sq mi). As of 2011, its population totalled 2,327,026 inhabitants, with a population density of 82 inhabitants per square kilometre.