Provinces of Spain

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Province
Category Province
Location Spain
Found in Autonomous community
Created by Royal Decree (30/11/1833)
Created 1883
Number 50
Populations 95,258–6,458,684
Areas 1,980–21,766 km²
Government Provincial council
Subdivisions Comarca
Municipality

Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces (Spanish: provincias, IPA: [pɾoˈβinθjas]; sing. provincia).[note 1] These closely follow the pattern of the territorial division of the country carried out in 1833. The only major change of provincial borders since that time has been the sub-division of the Canary Islands into two provinces rather than one.

Historically, the provinces served mainly as transmission belts for policies enacted in Madrid, as Spain was a highly centralised state for most of its history. However, since the adoption—in the period of the Spanish transition to democracy—of the current system of autonomous communities, the importance of the provinces has declined. They nevertheless remain electoral districts for national elections and as geographical references: for instance in postal addresses and telephone codes. A small town would normally be identified as being in, say, Valladolid province rather than the autonomous community of Castile and León. The provinces were the "building-blocks" from which the autonomous communities were created; consequently no province is divided between more than one of these communities.

Most of the provinces—with the exception of Álava/Araba, Asturias, Bizkaia/Vizcaya, Cantabria, Gipuzkoa/Gipúzcoa, Illes Balears/Islas Baleares, La Rioja, Las Palmas, and Nafarroa/Navarra—are named after their principal town. Only two capitals of autonomous communities—Mérida in Extremadura and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia—are not also the capitals of provinces. Seven of the autonomous communities comprise no more than one province each: Asturias, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, and Navarre. These are sometimes referred to as "uniprovincial" communities.

The table below lists the provinces of Spain. For each, the capital city is given, together with an indication of the autonomous community to which it belongs and a link to a list of municipalities in the province. The names of the provinces and their capitals are ordered alphabetically according to the form in which they appear in the main Wikipedia articles describing them. Where they have different forms in one or other of the official languages of Spain, these forma are also indicated in subsequent alphabetical order.

Provinces of Spain
Province name Capital Autonomous community Lists of municipalities
La Corunna (English); La Coruña (Spanish)
A Coruña (Galician)
La Corunna (English); La Coruña (Spanish); A Coruña (Galician) Flag of Galicia.svg Galicia Municipalities
Álava.svg Álava (Spanish); Araba (Basque) Vitoria (Spanish); Gasteiz (Basque) Flag of the Basque Country.svg Basque Country Municipalities
Bandera provincia Albacete.svg Albacete Albacete Bandera Castilla-La Mancha.svg Castile–La Mancha Municipalities
Alicante (Spanish); Alacant (Valencian) Alicante (Spanish); Alacant (Valencian) Flag of the Land of Valencia (official).svg Valencian Community Municipalities
Almería Almería Flag of Andalucía.svg Andalusia Municipalities
Asturias Oviedo Flag of Asturias.svg Asturias Municipalities
Ávila Ávila Flag of Castile and León.svg Castile and León Municipalities
Badajoz Badajoz Flag of Extremadura with COA.svg Extremadura Municipalities
Balearic Islands (English); Islas Baleares (Spanish); Illes Balears (Catalan) Palma de Mallorca (Spanish); Palma (Catalan) Flag of the Balearic Islands.svg Balearic Islands Municipalities
Barcelona Barcelona Flag of Catalonia.svg Catalonia Municipalities
Biscay (English); Vizcaya (Spanish); Bizkaia (Basque) Bilbao (Spanish); Bilbo (Basque) Flag of the Basque Country.svg Basque Country Municipalities
Burgos Burgos Flag of Castile and León.svg Castile and León Municipalities
Cáceres Cáceres Flag of Extremadura with COA.svg Extremadura Municipalities
Cádiz Cádiz Flag of Andalucía.svg Andalusia Municipalities
Cantabria Santander Flag of Cantabria.svg Cantabria Municipalities
Castellón (Spanish); Castelló (Valencian) Castellón de la Plana (Spanish); Castelló de la Plana (Valencian) Flag of the Land of Valencia (official).svg Valencian Community Municipalities
Ciudad Real Ciudad Real Bandera Castilla-La Mancha.svg Castile–La Mancha Municipalities
Cordova (English); Córdoba (Spanish); Cordova (English); Córdoba (Spanish) Flag of Andalucía.svg Andalusia Municipalities
Cuenca Cuenca Bandera Castilla-La Mancha.svg Castile–La Mancha Municipalities
Guipúzcoa.svg Guipuscoa (English); Guipúzcoa (Spanish); Gipuzkoa (Basque) San Sebastián (Spanish); Donostia (Basque) Flag of the Basque Country.svg Basque Country Municipalities
Gerona (Spanish); Girona (Catalan) Gerona (Spanish); Girona (Catalan) Flag of Catalonia.svg Catalonia Municipalities
Bandera de la provincia de Granada (España).svg Granada Granada Flag of Andalucía.svg Andalusia Municipalities
Flag Guadalajara Province.svg Guadalajara Guadalajara Bandera Castilla-La Mancha.svg Castile–La Mancha Municipalities
Huelva Huelva Flag of Andalucía.svg Andalusia Municipalities
Flag of Huesca (province).svg Huesca Huesca Bandera de Aragón Aragon Municipalities
Bandera provincia Jaén contorno hispanofrancés.svg Jaén Jaén Flag of Andalucía.svg Andalusia Municipalities
Flag of La Rioja (with coat of arms).svg La Rioja Logroño Flag of La Rioja (with coat of arms).svg La Rioja Municipalities
Provincia de Las Palmas - Bandera.svg Las Palmas Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Flag of the Canary Islands.svg Canary Islands Municipalities
Bandera de León.svg León (Spanish); Llión (Leonese) León (Spanish) Flag of Castile and León.svg Castile and León Municipalities
Lérida (Spanish); Lleida (Catalan) Lérida (Spanish); Lleida (Catalan) Flag of Catalonia.svg Catalonia Municipalities
Lugo Lugo Flag of Galicia.svg Galicia Municipalities
Madrid Madrid Bandera de la Comunidad de Madrid Community of Madrid Municipalities
Málaga Málaga Flag of Andalucía.svg Andalusia Municipalities
Murcia Murcia Bandera de la Región de Murcia Region of Murcia Municipalities
Navarre (English); Navarra (Spanish); Nafarroa (Basque) Pamplona (Spanish); Iruña (Basque) Bandera de Navarra.svg Navarre Municipalities
Orense (Spanish); Ourense (Galician) Orense (Spanish); Ourense (Galician) Flag of Galicia.svg Galicia Municipalities
Palencia Palencia Flag of Castile and León.svg Castile and León Municipalities
Pontevedra Pontevedra Flag of Galicia.svg Galicia Municipalities
Salamanca Salamanca Flag of Castile and León.svg Castile and León Municipalities
Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife Flag of the Canary Islands.svg Canary Islands Municipalities
Segovia Segovia Flag of Castile and León.svg Castile and León Municipalities
Seville (English); Sevilla (Spanish) Seville (English); Sevilla (Spanish) Flag of Andalucía.svg Andalusia Municipalities
Soria Soria Flag of Castile and León.svg Castile and León Municipalities
Tarragona Tarragona Flag of Catalonia.svg Catalonia Municipalities
Teruel Teruel Bandera de Aragón Aragon Municipalities
Toledo Toledo Bandera Castilla-La Mancha.svg Castile–La Mancha Municipalities
Valencia (Spanish); València (Valencian) Valencia (Spanish); València (Valencian) Flag of the Land of Valencia (official).svg Valencian Community Municipalities
Banderaprovvalladolid.svg Valladolid Valladolid Flag of Castile and León.svg Castile and León Municipalities
Zamora Zamora Flag of Castile and León.svg Castile and León Municipalities
Saragossa (English); Zaragoza (Spanish) Saragossa (English); Zaragoza (Spanish) Bandera de Aragón Aragon Municipalities

See also

Notes

  1. ^ In other languages of Spain:

External links