Andalusia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Andalusia (disambiguation).
Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía
Flag of Andalucía Coat-of-arms of 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
Map of Andalucía
Capital Seville
Official languages Spanish
Area
 – Total
 – % of Spain		 Ranked 2nd
 87,268 km²
 17.2%
Population
 – Total (2007)
 – % of Spain
 – Density		 Ranked 1st
 8,059,431
 17.84
 91.39/km²
Demonym
 – English
 – Spanish
 Andalusian
 Andaluz, andaluza
Statute of Autonomy
 December 30, 1981
 – Congress seats
 – Senate seats


 62
 40
President Manuel Chaves González (PSOE)
ISO 3166-2 AN
www.juntadeandalucia.es
Alamillo Bridge, Seville designed by Santiago Calatrava
Alamillo Bridge, Seville designed by Santiago Calatrava
Malecón of La Caleta, Cádiz
Malecón of La Caleta, Cádiz

Andalusia (Spanish: Andalucía) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the most populous and the second largest, in terms of its land area, of the seventeen autonomous communities of the Kingdom of Spain. The capital and largest city is Seville. The region is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Sevilla, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and Almería.

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.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Tartessians and Phoenicians

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 BC. The most important settlement was Cadiz (Gdr or Gdz in Hebrew) around 1100 BC.

[edit] Carthaginians and Romans

With the fall of the Phoenician cities, Carthage became the dominant sea power of 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.

[edit] Vandals and Visigoths

The Vandals moved briefly through the region during the 5th century AD 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.

[edit] Muslim period

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 over 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 Andalusia, 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.

It should be noted that under the Muslims, the name "Al-Andalus" was applied to a much larger area than the present Spanish province, and at some periods it referred to nearly the entire Iberian peninsula; it survived, however, as the name of the area where Muslim rule and culture persisted the longest.

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.

The Court of the Lions in Alhambra.
The Court of the Lions in Alhambra.

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.

[edit] Administrative divisions

Muslim architecture in Mezquita, Córdoba.
Muslim architecture in Mezquita, 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
A map of the Provinces of Andalusia.
A map of the Provinces of Andalusia.

Other important Andalusian cities are:

[edit] Economy

Andalusia is traditionally an agricultural area, but the service sector (particularly tourism, retail sales, and transportation) now predominates. The construction sector, now growing very quickly, also makes an important contribution to the region’s economic fabric. The industrial sector is less developed than in other regions in Spain. As of early 2008, the regional economy is experiencing sustained growth.[1]

According to the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadística, the GDP per capita of Andalusia (€17,401, 2006) is still the second lowest in Spain. At the same time, the economic growth rate for the 2000-2006 period was 3.72%, one of the highest in the country.[2]

[edit] Transports and commerce

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

[edit] Government and politics

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


[edit] Monuments

Muslim architecture in Medina Azahara: Salón Rico.
Muslim architecture in Medina Azahara: Salón Rico.

[edit] Native or famous people from Andalusia

Main article: List of Andalusians

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Labour market information – Spain – Andalucía", European Commission, European Job Mobility Portal. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
  2. ^ "La renta per cápita andaluza alcanza los 17.401 euros, la segunda más baja de España", Diario de Sevilla, 28 December 2007, pg. 40

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Provinces of Andalusia
Provinces: Almería · Cádiz · Córdoba · Granada · Huelva · Jaén · Málaga · Sevilla
 Flag of Spain
v • d • e
Administrative divisions of Spain
Flag of Spain

Coordinates: 37°22′N 5°59′W / 37.367, -5.983