Province of Ourense

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ourense
Provincia de Ourense

Province

Flag

Coat of arms

Country

Spain

Autonomous community

Galicia

Capital

Ourense

Government

• Body

Deputación de Ourense

• President

José Manuel Baltar Blanco (PPdeG)

Area

• Total

7,273 km² (2,808 sq mi)

Population (2008)

• Total

336,009

• Rank

36th

Demonym

ourensán (m), ourensá (f)

ISO 3166 code

ES-OR

Parliament

14 deputies (out of 75)

Congress

4 deputies (out of 25)

Senate

4 senators (out of 19)

Website

www.depourense.es

Ourense is a province of northwestern Spain, in the southeastern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Pontevedra in the west, Lugo in the north, León and Zamora in the east, and by Portugal in the south. With an area of 7,278 square km it is the only landlocked province in Galicia. The provincial capital, Ourense, is the largest population centre, with the rest of the province being predominantly rural.

Denomination

Orense is the name and traditional Castilian spelling recommended by the Royal Spanish Academy and commonly used among Spanish speakers.^[1] Nevertheless, Ourense (in Galician) is the official name adopted by Parliament in Spain, according to Law 2/1998.^[2]

Geography

Ourense is surrounded by mountains on all sides. These mountains historically isolated the province from the more populated Galician coast. Until a highway was built in recent years linking Ourense with Vigo in the west and Benavente in the east, the only quick way for people to enter or leave the province was by railway.

The principal river system is the Miño-Sil, the fertile valleys of which produce corn (maize) and grapes for wine. Due to the many rapids these rivers are not navegable, but they have been harnessed for hydroelectric power. The Sil flows through a deep canyon and has become a sought-after tourist site for its river cruises and spectacular views.

The Limia is an important river that begins north of Xinzo de Limia and flows south towards Portugal. The Tâmega River, another important Portuguese river begins north of Verín.

The mountainous terrain and isolation have kept the province economically challenged and encouraged much emigration to the rest of Spain and to the New World. There is some wine production along the Miño valley and near Verín. There is also considerable pig breeding and potato growing, especially around the area of Xinzo da Limia, in the drained lakebed of Antela, which until the 1960s was the largest fresh-water lake in Spain.

Protected areas

The province has several protected areas with different qualifications: Natural parks:

Baixa Limia-Serra do Xures
Natural Park de la Sierra de Enciña da Lastra
El Invernadeiro

Demography

Of the province's population of 343,768 (2002), three-tenths live in the capital Ourense 107,732hab. (INE 2009). There are 92 municipalities in Ourense. Other than the capital the most important are O Barco de Valdeorras, Verín, Ribadavia, Allariz, A Rua, O Carballiño, Viana do Bolo, and Xinzo de Limia.

Ourense province population c. 1900
District	population
City of Ourense	15,194
Towns, Villages and Hamlets	389,117
All the province (Total):	404,311
(Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911) s:User:Tim Starling/ScanSet PNG demo

Economy

Industries include chemical manufacture, milk production, water bottling near Verín, and clothing manufacture near the capital city of Ourense. One of the largest poultry processing companies is also located in the industrial zone near that city.

Although not a major tourist center, tourism contributes somewhat to the economy: the spectacular scenery of the river valleys attracts holidaymakers, there are several preserved medieval towns (Allariz and Ribadavia).

External links

v t e Municipalities in Province of Ourense

Allariz Amoeiro A Arnoia Avión Baltar Bande Baños de Molgas Barbadás O Barco de Valdeorras Beade Beariz Os Blancos Boborás A Bola O Bolo Calvos de Randín Carballeda de Avia Carballeda de Valdeorras O Carballiño Cartelle Castrelo de Miño Castrelo do Val Castro Caldelas Celanova Cenlle Chandrexa de Queixa Coles Cortegada Cualedro Entrimo Esgos Gomesende A Gudiña O Irixo Larouco Laza Leiro Lobeira Lobios Maceda Manzaneda Maside Melón A Merca A Mezquita Montederramo Monterrei Muíños Nogueira de Ramuín Oímbra Ourense Paderne de Allariz Padrenda Parada de Sil O Pereiro de Aguiar A Peroxa Petín Piñor A Pobra de Trives Pontedeva Porqueira Punxín Quintela de Leirado Rairiz de Veiga Ramirás Ribadavia Riós A Rúa Rubiá San Amaro San Cibrao das Viñas San Cristovo de Cea San Xoán de Río Sandiás Sarreaus Taboadela A Teixeira Toén Trasmiras A Veiga Verea Verín Viana do Bolo Vilamarín Vilamartín de Valdeorras Vilar de Barrio Vilar de Santos Vilardevós Vilariño de Conso Xinzo de Limia Xunqueira de Ambía Xunqueira de Espadanedo

v t e Provinces of Spain

A Coruña Álava Albacete Alicante Almería Asturias Ávila Badajoz Balearic Islands Barcelona Biscay Burgos Cáceres Cádiz Cantabria Castellón Ciudad Real Córdoba Cuenca Girona Granada Guadalajara Gipuzkoa Huelva Huesca Jaén Las Palmas León Lleida Lugo Madrid Málaga Murcia Navarre Ourense Palencia Pontevedra La Rioja Salamanca Segovia Seville Soria Tarragona Tenerife Teruel Toledo Valencia Valladolid Zamora Zaragoza

Coordinates: 42°10′N 7°30′W / 42.167°N 7.500°W / 42.167; -7.500

References

↑ "Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas". Real Academia Española. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
↑ "Boletín Oficial del Estado". Ministerio de la Presidencia. Retrieved 1 May 2012.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.