Axarquía

Axarquía
Comarca

Street in Frigiliana.

Location of Axarquía in Andalusia
Country Spain
Region Andalusia
Area
 • Total 1,025 km2 (396 sq mi)
Elevation 2,066 m (6,778 ft)
Population (2013)
 • Total 211,447
 • Density 210/km2 (530/sq mi)

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 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 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

Name Population (2009)
Alcaucín 2,469
Alfarnate 1,362
Alfarnatejo 516
Algarrobo 6,144
Almáchar 1,915
Árchez 497
Arenas 1,423
Benamargosa 1,631
Benamocarra 3,061
El Borge 1,026
Canillas de Aceituno 2,323
Canillas de Albaida 918
Colmenar 3,621
Comares 1,591
Cómpeta 3,854
Cútar 682
Frigiliana 3,071
Iznate 927
Macharaviaya 501
Moclinejo 1,256
Nerja 21,811
Periana 3,611
Rincón de la Victoria 38,666
Riogordo 3,102
Salares 214
Sayalonga 1,564
Sedella 699
Torre del Mar 21,698
Torrox 16,890
Totalán 723
Vélez-Málaga 74,190
La Viñuela 1,994

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 / 36.833; -4.167

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