Province of León

León, Castile and Leon ,  Spain
coat of arms	flag
Designations
Spanish name :	Leon
Leonese name :	Llion
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Castile and Leon
Capital :	Leon
Official language :	Spanish
Area :	15,582 km²
Residents :	460.001 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	29.52 inhabitants / km²
ISO 3166-2 :	ES-LE
Website :	dipuleon.es
Location of the province of León

Panorama of the Las Médulas Natural Park

The province of León ( leonesisch : Llion ) is a province in the northwest of Spain . It has 460,001 inhabitants (2019) and belongs to the autonomous region of Castile-León . The capital and largest city is León , the second largest city is Ponferrada .

In the north the province borders on Asturias and Cantabria , in the west on the Galicia region , in the south on Zamora and Valladolid and in the east on Palencia . It has an area of ​​15,581.81 km². In the very scenic province, located between the mountains of northern Spain and the plateau, there are various natural parks ( Parque nacional de los Picos de Europa , Los Ancares , the area around the former open-cast mine Las Médulas and the Cueva de Valporquero cave ).

Valporquero cave

history

The province of León was created in 1833 as part of the territorial reform initiated by Francisco Javier de Burgos . It was made up of the regions of León, Salamanca and Zamora . Until 1933, the independently administered Kingdom of Leon , which stretched over the northwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula, retained the status of a kingdom, although it was already subject to the Crown of Castile. The kingdom of Leon was founded in 910 AD when the Christian rulers of Asturias moved their capital from Oviedeo to León . The Atlantic provinces declared themselves independent in 1139. The Kingdom of Portugal emerged from them . In 1188, the Kingdom of Leon developed a parliament, which UNESCO describes as the first parliament in Europe.

language

In some areas of Léon, Leonese is spoken, an ancient dialect which, together with Asturian, forms a transition between Galician - Portuguese and actual Castilian (Spanish).

Population development of the province

When the Moors withdrew in the 9th century, the region was largely depopulated and only gradually repopulated. Since the 1960s, the mechanization and loss of importance of agriculture have again led to a population decline. With that, many regional traditions disappeared.

Largest cities and towns

(As of January 1, 2019)

local community	Residents
Leon	124.303
Ponferrada	64,674
San Andrés del Rabanedo	30,615
Villaquilambre	18,638
La Bañeza	10,338
Astorga	10,867
Villablino	8,620
Bembibre	8,705
Valverde de la Virgen	7,328
Fabero	4,493
Cacabelos	5.118

Culture

The Ruta de la Plata (Silver Road, an old Roman road) leads through the province in north-south direction and the Way of St. James (Spanish Camino de Santiago ) in east-west direction . The cathedral of Léon was a highlight of the Camino de Santiago. From a culinary point of view, air-dried sausage specialties ( embutidos ) and the wines of Bierzo and Valdevimbre-Los Oteros should be mentioned.

The regional political and cultural movement of Leonesismo , which demands more autonomy within the borders of the old kingdom of Léon, but also supports folklore, Leonese courses and regional gastronomy, has an impact beyond the province of Léon .

See also

• Kingdom of León
• Leonese language

Web links

Commons : Province of León  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
2. ^ Blaug, Ricardo ,, Schwarzmantel, JJ (John J.), 1947-: Democracy: a reader . Second ed. New York 2016, ISBN 978-0-231-53950-0 .
3. ^ The Decreta of León of 1188 - The oldest documentary manifestation of the European parliamentary system | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved February 10, 2019 .