The province of Burgos is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Palencia, Cantabria, Vizcaya, Álava, La Rioja, Soria, Segovia, and Valladolid. Its capital is the city of Burgos. Since 1964, archeologists have been working at numerous areas of the Archeological Site of Atapuerca, where they have found ancient hominid and human remains, the former dating to more than one million years ago, with artifacts from the Paleolithic and Bronze Ages of man. The site has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The province has an area of 14,300 km² and a population of 352,273 (2002), of whom nearly half live in the capital. The only large towns apart from Burgos are Miranda de Ebro and Aranda de Duero. Many of the province's 371 municipalities have fewer than 100 inhabitants. The Sierra de la Demanda, the northwesternmost end of the Sistema Ibérico, is located in Burgos Province.[1]
The most important rivers in the province are the Ebro and the Duero. The river Duero is in the south of the province and leads to the Atlantic Ocean at Porto, Portugal. Planted near it is a notable vineyard, Ribera de Duero. The north and south-east of the province are mountainous. The Ebro flows to the Mediterranean Sea.
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In the Bureba Pass area, archeologists have found evidence of occupation by hominids and humans for more than one million years. Discoveries have included the earliest hominid skull in Europe.
The Celtiberian region that became Burgos was inhabited by the Morgobos, Turmodigos, Berones and perhaps also the Pelendones, the last inhabitants of the northern part of the Celtiberian region. According to the Greek historian Ptolemy, the principal cities included: Brabum, Sisara, Deobrigula, Ambisna Segiasamon and Verovesca (briviesca). Under Roman colonization, it was part of Hispania Citerior ("Hither Spain") and then Hispania Tarraconensis.
In the fifth century, the Visigoths drove back the Suevi. In the eighth century, the Arabs occupied all of Castiles, although for such a brief period that they left no trace of their occupation. Alfonso III the Great, king of León reconquered the area around the middle of the ninth century, and built many castles for the defence of Christendom. Gradually the area was reconquered. The region came to be known as Castile (Latin castella), i.e. "land of castles". In the eleventh century, Burgos became the capital of the Kingdom of Castile.
The province of Burgos is divided in 10 comarcas.
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