Axarquía

Location of Axarquía comarca
Street in Frigiliana

Axarquía (Spanish pronunciation: [axarˈki.a]) is a comarca of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is the wedge-shaped area east of Málaga. Its name is possibly traced back to Arabic الشرقية‏ ("Ash-sharquía", meaning "the eastern region"). It extends along the coast and inland. Its coastal towns make up the Costa del Sol Oriental. The natives of the region are called axárquicos.

Its capital is Vélez-Málaga. The Vélez, Algarrobo and Torrox rivers all run through the region. Its highest mountain is La Maroma, highest point of the Sierra de Tejeda, Penibaetic System.[1]

The Axarquía comarca is also known as Axarquía-Costa del Sol, for it includes the Costa del Sol Oriental sector of the Costa del Sol, east of Málaga city made up of Rincón de la Victoria, Vélez-Málaga, Algarrobo, Torrox and Nerja municipal terms.[2]

Etymology

The Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy defines the word "jarquía" (xarquía in the old Castilian) as "district or territory located east of a great city and dependent on it" and says that it proceeds from Arabic شرقية ‏  Šarqiyya, meaning "eastern part" or " eastern." It coincides with the region of Axarquia which lies in the east of Málaga. The Royal Academy, in its spelling of the Spanish Language, 1999 edition, explains that in the old Castilian consonant fricative phoneme ⟨x⟩ represented the deaf palatal [ʃ] as in English sh sound, found in words like xarquía, Don Quixote, etc.

Municipalities

Alcaucín, Alfarnate, Alfarnatejo, Algarrobo, Almáchar, Árchez, Arenas, Benamargosa, Benamocarra, El Borge, Canillas de Aceituno, Canillas de Albaida, Colmenar, Comares, Cómpeta, Cútar, Frigiliana, Iznate, Macharaviaya, Moclinejo, Nerja, Periana, Rincón de la Victoria, Riogordo, Salares, Sayalonga, Sedella, Torre del Mar, Torrox, Totalán, Vélez-Málaga and La Viñuela.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Montañas de la Axarquía: Travesía Maroma-Lucero
  2. ↑ Fernando Almeida García & Damián López Cano, La Costa del Sol Oriental: un conflicto territorial entre el turismo, la agricultura y la urbanización metropolitana. Baética: Estudios de arte, geografía e historia, ISSN 0212-5099, Nº 25, 2003 , pg. 67-80

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Axarquía.

Coordinates: 36°50′N 04°10′W / 36.833°N 4.167°W