Murcia (region)

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Región de Murcia  ( Spanish )
Murcia
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Kanarische Inseln Portugal Andorra Frankreich Vereinigtes Königreich Marokko Algerien Galicien Asturien Kantabrien Baskenland Navarra La Rioja Aragonien Kastilien und León Katalonien Madrid Kastilien-La Mancha Valencianische Gemeinschaft Balearische Inseln Extremadura Andalusien Murcia Kastilien und León Ceuta Melillamap
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Basic data
Country : SpainSpain Spain
Capital : Murcia
Area : 11,314  km²
Residents : 1,493,898  (January 1, 2019)
Population density : 132 inhabitants / km²
Expansion: North – South: approx. 134 km
West – East: approx. 119 km
ISO 3166-2 : ES-MC
Website : carm.es
Politics and administration
Autonomy since: June 9, 1982
President : Fernando López Miras ( PP )
Representation in the
Cortes Generales :
Congress : 9 seats
Senate : 6 seats
Structure : 45 Municipios
View over the city of Murcia

The Region of Murcia ( Spanish Región de Murcia , officially Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia ) is an autonomous community in southeastern Spain on the Mediterranean Sea . It is enclosed by the autonomous communities of Valencia , Castile-La Mancha and Andalusia and is identical to the province of the same name . The capital is the city of Murcia .

Geography and climate

The country is crossed by the Betic Cordillera with the Barqueros volcano .

In the southeast, north of Cabo de Palos , lies the salt water lagoon Mar Menor . In the north-west of the region rises the highest mountain in the province, the 2015 m high Revolcadores .

The Murcia region is one of the driest areas in Europe (around 300 days of sunshine / year) and is therefore in a constant state of water scarcity . Temperatures easily rise above 40 ° C in summer. The winters are relatively pleasant, but now and then minus degrees in the single-digit range are reached.

A small climatic peculiarity is the Mediterranean south coast, both on Calblanque and in the area between Águilas and Cartagena , as there is a collection of many small bays , each with a small micro-climate and therefore also their own vegetation .

population

The Murcia region has 1,493,898 ( INE , January 1, 2019) people. The population increases significantly from year to year, in 2005 it was 1,335,792. About a third of them live in the city of Murcia .

Cities

Besides the capital Murcia , the port city of Cartagena , a Carthaginian foundation, and the third largest city in the region, Lorca , are important. The next largest cities are Molina de Segura and Alcantarilla .

City of Moratalla (Murcia)
City of Mula (Murcia)

Population development of the province

The historical region of Murcia also included the province of Albacete
Area El Carxe (red)

language

Murcia has its own dialect, Murciano or Panocho . It differs significantly from the actual Castellano and contains many loan words from Arabic and Catalan . Among other things, final consonants are left out and d and s within a word. Furthermore, there are sound distortions and sometimes grammatical peculiarities. In a small area in the north-east of the region that bears the name El Carche ( El Carxe in Catalan ), Catalan is predominantly spoken.

States on the Iberian Peninsula (around 1037)

history

Already 50,000 years ago Neanderthals lived in what is now the Murcia region; Neolithic dolmens or menhirs are missing, but rock paintings are numerous (approx. 70 sites). Phoenicians , Carthaginians , Iberians , Romans and Visigoths left behind rather insignificant traces. In the years after 711, the region was overrun by the Moors . The city of Mursiya was founded in 825; in the late 9th and 10th centuries it flourished and so the name was transferred to the entire region. After the end of the Caliphate of Cordoba (1031), the Taifa Kingdom of Murcia was formed, which - with interruptions - existed until the Christian reconquest ( reconquista ) (1243 and 1266). Thereafter, most of the region was legally a separate kingdom , which was, however, de facto closely associated with the Crown of Castile ; it officially existed until its abolition in 1833.

politics

The Murcia region forms an autonomous community of Spain with a directly elected parliament and a government responsible for it. Their autonomy is based on the autonomy status of 9 June 1982. The newly formed autonomous community also took over the tasks of the self-governing bodies of the province of Murcia.

In order to overcome the water shortage, the government of the Murcia region supported the Hidrológico Nacional plan operated by the previous Spanish government, which has since been canceled, and carried out a campaign for it under the slogan “Agua para todos” (“Water for all”). As a result, she became enemies with the northern Spanish regions, which opposed this ecologically questionable aqueduct project.

Political structure

The Murcia region is politically divided into 45 municipalities ( municipios ) as local authorities. The Municipios are in turn subdivided into Pedanías or Diputaciones .

The boundaries of the Municipios of the Murcia region

The largest municipalities in the region (data from INE , as of January 1, 2019) are:

local community Residents
Murcia 453.258
Cartagena 214,802
Lorca 94,404
Molina de Segura 71,890
Alcantarilla 42,048
Mazarron 32.209
Cieza 34,988
Águilas 35,301
Yecla 34,432
Torre-Pacheco 35,676
San Javier 32,489
local community Residents
Totana 32.008
Caravaca de la Cruz 25,760
Jumilla 25,600
San Pedro del Pinatar 25,476
Las Torres de Cotillas 21,471
Alhama 22,077
La Unión 20,225
Archena 19.301
Mula 16,883
Fuente Álamo de Murcia 16,583
Los Alcázares 16,138
Comarcas of the Murcia region

Above the level of the municipality there is also a subdivision of the region of Murcia into comarcas , which does not fulfill any official tasks: see: Comarcas of Murcia

economy

Most of the Murcia region is still very agricultural. It is the largest producer of vegetables, fruits and flowers in Europe. It produces excellent rice in the Calasparra area and has large wine-growing areas near the towns of Bullas, Yecla and Jumilla.

Nevertheless, the construction and tourism sectors are the region’s major economic drivers. In tourism, golf is currently increasingly being used , 63 golf courses are planned , which are classified as ecologically questionable due to their location in a semi-desert and the constant scarcity of water.

Other sectors represented in the region include shipbuilding , furniture construction and canning factories.

Compared with the GDP of the EU expressed in purchasing power standards, the region achieved an index of 73 (EU - 28: 100) (2015). The unemployment rate in 2005 was 8%.

With a score of 0.863, Murcia ranks 12th among the 17 autonomous communities in Spain in the Human Development Index .

Famous sons and daughters of the region

Sports

Web links

Commons : Murcia (Region)  - 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. ine.es
  3. Eurostat. Retrieved April 15, 2018 .
  4. eds-destatis.de ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 292 kB).
  5. ^ Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab. Retrieved August 12, 2018 .

Coordinates: 37 ° 59 ′  N , 1 ° 27 ′  W