Related Directory Categories

Sources

Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor

Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.

Andalusia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía


Flag	Coat of arms

Motto: Andalucía por sí, para España y la humanidad
(Spanish: Andalusia by herself, for Spain and for Humankind)

Anthem: La bandera blanca y verde

Capital

Seville

Official language(s)

Spanish

Area
– Total
– % of Spain

Ranked 2nd
87,268 km²
17.2%

Population
– Total (2006)
– % of Spain
– Density

Ranked 1st
7,975,672
17.84
91.39/km²

Demonym
– English
– Spanish

Andalusian
Andaluz, andaluza

Statute of Autonomy

December 30, 1981

Parliamentary
representation
– Congress seats
– Senate seats

62
40

President

Manuel Chaves González (PSOE)

ISO 3166-2

Junta de Andalucía

Alamillo Bridge, Seville designed by Santiago Calatrava

Malecón of La Caleta, Cádiz

Andalusia (Spanish: Andalucía) is an autonomous community of Spain. Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest, in terms of its land area, of the seventeen autonomous communities of the Kingdom of Spain. Its capital is Seville.

Andalusia is located south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha; west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea; east of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean; and north of the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Spain from Morocco, and the Atlantic Ocean. The small British overseas territory of Gibraltar shares a three-quarter-mile land border with the Andalusian province of Cádiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar.

1 History
2 Administrative divisions
3 Economy
4 Transports and commerce
5 Government and Politics
6 Tourism in Andalusia
7 Monuments
8 Native or Famous people from Andalusia
9 See also
10 References
11 External links

Tartessos, home of the once-powerful Tartessian civilization, was founded in Andalusia in pre-Roman times. The Phoenicians colonized several areas on the Andalusian coast during the latter part of the second millennium BCE. The most important settlement was Cadiz (Gdr or Gdz in Hebrew) around 1100 BC.

With the fall of the Phoenician cities, Carthage became the dominant sea power in the western Mediterranean and the most important trading partner for the Semitic towns along the Andalusian coast. Between the first and second Carthaginian wars, Carthage extended its control beyond Andalusia to include all of Iberia except the Basquelands. Andalusia was the major staging ground for the war vs Rome led by the Barkid Hannibal. The Romans defeated the Carthaginians and conquered Andalusia, the region being renamed Betica.

^{This short section requires expansion.}

The Vandals moved briefly through the region during the 5th century CE before settling in North Africa, after which the region fell into the hands of the Kingdom of the Visigoths who had to face the Byzantine interests in the region.

See also: Al-Andalus

The Umayyad Caliphate invasion of the Iberian peninsula in 711-718 marked the collapse of Visigothic rule. Andalucian culture was deeply influenced by half a millennium of Muslim rule during the Middle Ages. Córdoba became the largest and richest city in Western Europe and one of the largest in the world. The Moors established universities in Andalucia, and cultivated scholarship, bringing together the greatest achievements of all of the civilizations they had encountered. During that period Moorish and Jewish scholars played a major part in reviving and contributing to Western astronomy, medicine, philosophy and mathematics. With the fall of Seville in 1248 most of Andalucia came under Castilian control, leaving only the emirate of Granada under Muslim rule until it too was conquered by the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. The largest Arabic speaking population was in Andalucia, which also received Moors from other regions who were driven south by the Reconquista, and although many either converted or left later, they gave the region its distinctive character till this day.

Andalucia is known for its Moorish and Moorish influenced architecture. Notable examples include the Alhambra in Granada, the Mezquita in Córdoba, the Torre del Oro and Giralda towers. Other architectural styles include Mozarabic, such as the Reales Alcázares in Seville, and the Alcazaba in Málaga. Archaeological ruins include Medina Azahara, near Córdoba, and the Roman city of Itálica, near Seville, and at Palos de la Frontera, in the province of Huelva, the Andalusian port from which Columbus's expedition of discovery was launched.

The Spanish language spoken in the Americas is largely descended from the Andalusian dialect of Spanish, although the Spanish spoken at the Canary Islands resembles more the Spanish spoken in the Caribbean. This is due to the role played by Seville as the gateway to Spain's American territories during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Andalusia Day (in Spanish, Día de Andalucía) is celebrated on February 28, to commemorate the date of the successful referendum vote on autonomy.

The Mezquita in Córdoba

Province	Capital	Population	Density	Municipalities
Almería	Almería	635.850	72,47 hab./km²	Municipalities
Cádiz	Cádiz	1.180.817	158,80 hab./km²	Municipalities
Córdoba	Córdoba	788.287	72,47 hab./km²	Municipalities
Granada	Granada	882.184	68,70 hab./km²	Municipalities
Huelva	Huelva	483.792	47,67 hab./km²	Municipalities
Jaén	Jaén	662.751	49,09 hab./km²	Municipalities
Málaga	Málaga	1.491.287	204,06 hab./km²	Municipalities
Seville	Seville	1.813.908	129,23 hab./km²	Municipalities

Provinces of Andalusia

Other important Andalusian cities are:

El Ejido, and Roquetas de Mar, Almería
La Línea de la Concepción, Algeciras, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Rota, San Fernando, Jerez, and El Puerto, Cádiz
Almuñécar, Guadix, Loja and Motril, Granada
Linares, Úbeda and Baeza, Jaén
Antequera, Ronda, Gaucin and Marbella, Málaga
Dos Hermanas, Lebrija, Osuna and Utrera, Sevilla

According to the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadística, the GDP per capita of Andalusia (€17,251, 2006^{[citation needed]}) is still one of the lowest in Spain. At the same time, the manufacturing and service sectors have grown at a higher rate than in Spain and the rest of the Eurozone. This growth rate is expected to continue.^{[citation needed]}

The main road in the region is the European Route E15.

The Autonomous Community of Andalusia is administrated through the "Junta de Andalucia" and is one of the 4 historic regions of Spain. It has a local parliament and president.

Ths south of Spain is somewhat legendary for it's attraction to overseas visitors - especially the Brits. While inland areas such as Jaen, Cordoba and the hill villages and towns remain in part untouched by the throng of tourists, the coastal areas of Andalusia aare heavy with visitors for much of the year.

House prices and new developments continue to increase in response to the hundreds of thousands of happy holidaymakers who flock year after year to enjoy the gentle med sea and home from home comforts (Irish bars, chinese restautants, kebab vans and the like!)

The discerning visitor who wishes to enjoy something of the real Spain will head inland. A longer drive might seem like a chore, but with areas like the Sierra de Grazalema and the national parks, and the pretty white villages that hide around every mountain bend, you won't regret leaving the more obivious pleasures of the coast behind you.

Main article: List of Andalusians