| Extremadura Extremadura (Spanish) Estremaura (Extremaduran) |
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| — Autonomous Community — | |||
| Extremadura | |||
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| Anthem: Himno de Extremadura | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Spain | ||
| Capital | Mérida | ||
| Provinces | Cáceres, and Badajoz | ||
| Government | |||
| • Type | Devolved government in a constitutional monarchy | ||
| • Body | Junta de Extremadura | ||
| • President | José Antonio Monago Terraza (PP) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 41,634 km2 (16,075 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 5th | ||
| Population (2009) | |||
| • Total | 1,097,744 | ||
| • Rank | 12th | ||
| • Density | 26.4/km2 (68.3/sq mi) | ||
| Demonym | Extremaduran, Extremenian extremeño (m), extremeña |
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| ISO 3166 code | ES-EX | ||
| Statute of Autonomy | February 26, 1983 | ||
| Official languages | Spanish | ||
| Patron Saint | |||
| Legislature | |||
| Assembly | 65 deputies | ||
| Congress | 10 deputies (out of 350) | ||
| Senate | 10 senators (out of 264) | ||
| Website | www.juntaex.es | ||
Extremadura (Spanish pronunciation: [ekstɾemaˈðuɾa]; Extremaduran: Estremaura, IPA: [estɾemaˈuɾa]) is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west. To the north it borders Castile and León (provinces of Salamanca and Ávila); to the south, it borders Andalusia (provinces of Huelva, Seville, and Córdoba); and to the east, it borders Castile-La Mancha (provinces of Toledo and Ciudad Real)
It is an important area for wildlife, particularly with the major reserve at Monfragüe, which was designated a National Park in 2007, and the project of the International Tagus River Natural Park (Terreno Natural Río Tajo Internacional). The government of Extremadura is called Junta de Extremadura. Extremadura is known because many of the conquerors of the New World were born there. Francisco Pizarro and Hernán Cortes were second cousins and both were born in Extremadura. Pizarro conquered the Incan Empire and Cortes conquered Mexico. Many others conquerors were born in Extremadura.
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Extremadura is contained within 37° 57' N, 40° 85' N latitude and 4° 39' W, 7° 33' W longitude.
The area of Extremadura is 41,633 km², making it the 5th largest of the Spanish autonomous communities.
It is located in the Southern Plateau (a subdivision of the Central Plateau).
In the center is the Sierra de las Villuercas which reaches an altitude of 1603 m on the Pico [Peak] Villuercas, Sierra de Montánchez and the Sierra de San Pedro, which form part of the Montes de Toledo.
To the south rises the Sierra Morena which separates Extremadura from Andalusia with Sierra de Tentudía where the highest altitude of these mountains in Extremadura is Pico Tentudía with 1104 m.
There are four different hydrographic basins:
The climate of Extremadura is Mediterranean, except to the north, where it is continental, and to the west, where the influence of the Atlantic makes the climate milder.
In general, it is characterized by its very hot and dry summers, with great droughts, and its long and mild winters due to the oceanic influence because of its proximity to the Atlantic coast of Portugal.
The yearly temperature fluctuates between an average minimum of 4°C and an average maximum of 33°C. In the north of Extremadura, the average temperatures are lower than those in the south, with temperatures gradually rising south towards the Sierra Morena, where they drop because of the altitude.
During the summer, the average temperature in July is greater than 26 °C, at times reaching 40 °C.
The winters are mild with the lowest temperatures being registered in the mountainous regions, with an average temperature of 7.5 °C.
The average snowfall is 40 cm mainly occurring in January and February.
| Most populous cities[1] | |||||||
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| Position | Municipality | Population | |||||
| 1 | Badajoz | 146,832 | |||||
| 2 | Cáceres | 92,187 | |||||
| 3 | Mérida | 55,568 | |||||
| 4 | Plasencia | 40,105 | |||||
| 5 | Don Benito | 39,051 | |||||
| 6 | Almendralejo | 33,424 | |||||
| 7 | Villanueva de la Serena | 26,978 | |||||
| 8 | Navalmoral de la Mata | 17,103 | |||||
| 9 | Zafra | 16,417 | |||||
| 10 | Montijo | 15,648 | |||||
As of January 1, 2009, the population of Extremadura is 1,102,410 inhabitants, representing 2.36% of the Spanish population (46,745,807).
The population density is very low (25 people/km²) compared to Spain as a whole.
The most populous province is that of Badajoz, with a population of 691,715 and a population density of 31.78 people/km². With an area of 21,766 km², it is the largest province in Spain. 413,766 people live in the province of Cáceres at a density of 20.83 people/km², having an area of 19,868 km², making it the largest province in Spain after Badajoz.
The most important urban centers are Badajoz (148,334 inhabitants), Cáceres (94,179), Mérida (57,127) and Plasencia (41,447).
In the Extremaduran territory there live 29,068 foreigners, according to the INE census of January 1, 2007, of which 16,647 live in the province of Badajoz and 12,421 residing in province of Cáceres. The largest immigrant community is Moroccan with 9,218 people, followed by the Romanian with 4,324 and then the Portuguese with 3,492 people. There are 98 Icelanders. Brazilians account for 1,676 and Colombians make up 1,409. Of immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa, the largest community is Senegalese with 88 people. Of those from Asia, the Chinese make up the largest group with 631 people, followed by Kazakhs with 1.
The Extremaduran population, according to the 1591 census of the provinces of the Kingdom of Castile, was around 540,000 people, making up 8% of the total population of Spain. No other census was performed until 1717, when 326,358 people were counted as living in Extremadura.
From this period, the population grew steadily until the 1960s (1,379,072 people in 1960[2]). After 1960, emigration to more prosperous regions of Spain and Europe drained the population.
Extremadura is divided into 383 municipalities, 164 are part of the Province of Badajoz and the other 219 are part of the Province of Cáceres.
There are also traditional comarcas in Extremadura, like Las Villuercas and Las Hurdes, but these don't have much official recognition.
The only language that is officially recognized is Spanish, but other languages are also spoken:
Wild Black Iberian pigs roam in the area and consume acorns from oak groves. These pigs are caught and used for the cured ham dish jamón ibérico. The higher the percentage of acorns eaten by the pigs, the more valuable (and expensive) the ham. Iberian Ham that can boast an acorn-fed average of 90%+ of the pigs diet can be sold for more than twice as much as ham whose pigs ate on average less than 70% of acorns, for example. In the US, Iberian Ham directly from Extremadura, bone-in, was illegal until around 2005. At that time, enough U.S. restaurants were in demand for the delicacy that Spain decided to ship it bone-out, which the U.S.D.A.'s health codes would (and continue to) approve.
Lusitania, an ancient Roman province approximately including current day Portugal (except for the northern area today known as Norte Region), and a central western portion of the current day Spain, covered in those times today's Autonomous Community of Extremadura. Mérida (capital of Extremadura), became the capital of the Roman Lusitania province, and one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire.
Extremadura was the source of many of the most famous Spanish conquerors ("conquistadores") and settlers in America. Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Gonzalo Pizarro, Juan Pizarro, Hernando Pizarro, Hernando de Soto, Pedro de Alvarado, Pedro de Valdivia, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca Inés Suárez, Alonso de Sotomayor, Francisco de Orellana, Pedro Gomez Duran y Chaves and Vasco Núñez de Balboa were all born in Extremadura and many towns and cities in America carry a name from their homeland: Mérida is the name of the administrative capital of Extremadura, and also of important cities in Mexico and Venezuela; Medellín is now a little town in Extremadura, but also the name of the second largest city in Colombia; Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico and its name is due to a transcription mistake of Alburquerque, another town in Extremadura. The two (to date) Spanish astronauts, Miguel López-Alegría and Pedro Duque, also have family connections in Extremadura. King Ferdinand II of Aragon died in the village of Madrigalejo, Cáceres in 1516. Pedro de Valdivia founded numerous cities in Chile with names from small villages in Extremadura, such as Valdivia and La Serena. The capital Santiago de Chile was founded as "Santiago de Nueva Extremadura" (Santiago of New Extremadura).
Extremadura has produced many musicians, including: Soraya Arnelas (singer), Luis Pastor (singer), Roberto Iniesta (singer of rock band Extremoduro), Pablo Guerrero, Bebe (singer), Alberto Porro Carmona a.k.a. Al Carmona (music conductor), Esteban Sánchez (pianist), Gecko Turner (singer).
Isabel Gemio (TV), Maruchi Leon (TV), Agustín Bravo (TV),
Eduardo Naranjo (painter), Dolores Morcillo (painter), Enrique Jiménez Carrero (painter), Juan Barjola (painter), Jesús Delgado Valhondo (poet)
Many legendary Spanish conquistadors hailed from Extremadura, including Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro, who conquered the Aztec and Inca empires respectively.
José Calderón (basketball) a National Basketball Association player.
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