Extremadura (Extremaduran: Estremaura) is an
autonomous community
of western Spain
whose
capital city is Mérida
. It includes the provinces of Cáceres
and Badajoz
. Extremadura borders Portugal
to the west,
and it is an important area for wildlife, particularly with the
major reserve at Monfragüe
, which was designated a National Park in 2007, or
the project of the International Tagus
River
Natural Park (Parque Natural Rio Tajo
internacional). 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
).
Geography
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).
Mountain systems
To the
north of Extremadura rise the sierras of the Sistema
Central
, composed of the Sierra de Gredos
, the Sierra de
Béjar where it reaches its highest altitude in the Calvitero at
2401 m and Sierra de
Gata
which separates Extremadura from Castile.
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.
Hydrographic network
There are four different
hydrographic
basins:
- The
basin of the Tagus, with two
principal tributaries: to the right: the Tiétar and the Alagón
and to the left: the Almonte, Ibor, Salor and the Sever.
The
tributaries on the right edge carry a large quantity of water,
which feed the gorges of the Sistema Central where the rainfall is abundant and the winter
brings a great quantity of snow.
- The
basin of the Guadiana
, which has principal tributaries: to the right:
Guadarranque and Ruecas to the left: Zújar
which is its
plentiful tributary and the Matachel.
- The basin of the Guadalquivir with
only 1411 km² in Extremadura (2.45% of total).
- The
basin of the Duero
with only
35 km² in Extremadura (0.04% of the basin).
Climate
The climate of Extremadura is Mediterranean, except to the north,
where it is continentalized, 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.
Temperatures
The average yearly temperature fluctuates between 16 and 17°C year
to year. In the north of Extremadura, the average temperatures are
lower than those in the south, with temperatures gradually rising
as you go south to 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.
Population
| Most populous
cities |
| Position |
Municipality |
Population |
| 1 |
Badajoz |
145,257 |
| 2 |
Cáceres |
115,207 |
| 3 |
Mérida |
54,915 |
| 4 |
Plasencia |
49,785 |
| 5 |
Don
Benito |
39,051 |
| 6 |
Almendralejo |
33,424 |
| 7 |
Villanueva de la Serena |
26,978 |
| 8 |
Navalmoral de la Mata |
18,089 |
| 9 |
Zafra |
16,417 |
| 10 |
Montijo |
15,648 |
|
As of 2006-01-01, the population of Extremadura is 1,086,373
inhabitants, representing 2.74% of the Spanish population
(44,708,964).
The population density is very low (25.81 people/km²) if compared
to Spain (84.42 people/km²).
The most
populous province is that of Badajoz, with a population of 673,474 and a population
density of 30.94 people/km². With an area of
21,766 km², it is the largest province in Spain.
412,899 people live
in the province of
Cáceres, which has an area of 19,868 km², and thus the
largest province in Spain after Badajoz's.
The most
important urban centers are Badajoz (143,748 inhabitants), Cáceres (90,218), Mérida (53,915) and Plasencia (39,874).
Immigration to Extremadura
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. 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
Kazakhstanis with 1.
Historical development
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 made until 1717. That year
326,358 people were counted.
From this period, the population grew steadily until the 1960s
(1,379,072 people in 1960). After 1960, emigration to more
prosperous regions of Spain and Europe drained the
population.
Municipalities
Extremadura consists of 383 municipalities, 164 are from the
Province of Badajoz and the other 219 are from the Province of
Cáceres.
Languages
The only language that is officially recognized is Spanish, but
other languages are also spoken:
Agriculture
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.
History
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,
Pedro de Alvarado, Pedro de Valdivia,Inés Suárez, Francisco de Orellana, Pedro Gomez
Duran y Chaves and Vasco Nunez 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).
Notable people
Extremadura has important artists as:
Soraya Arnelas –
Eurovision Song Contest 2009
was in the 24th (penultime) of 25 partipants countries. Spanish
Representative, Luis Pastor (singer), Roberto Iniesta (singer),
Pablo Guerrero (singer), Bebe (singer),
Alberto Porro Carmona "Al Carmona"
(music conductor), Esteban Sánchez (pianist), Isabel Gemio (TV),
Maruchi Leon (TV), Agustín Bravo (TV), Gecko Turner (singer),
Eduardo Naranjo (painter), Dolores Morcillo (painter), Enrique
Jiménez Carrero (painter) or Juan Barjola (painter), Extremoduro
(rock band)
See also
References
, Portuguese of Herrera de Alcántara
, Portuguese of Cedillo
, as well as Portuguese of Valencia de
Alcántara
and La
Codosera
. The
majority of these varieties of Portuguese are endangered. Some
Extremaduran schools teach these as a foreign language, but not
usually to the level of fluency.
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