Andalusia: Difference between revisions

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Andalusia Andalucía Template:Es icon
Autonomous Community
Flag Coat of arms
Motto(s):  Andalucía por sí, para España y la humanidad (English: Andalusia for itself, for Spain and Humankind)
Map of Andalusia
Country	Spain
Capital	Seville
Government
• President	José Antonio Griñán (PSOE)
Area (17.2% of Spain; Ranked 2nd)
• Total	87,268 km2 (33,694 sq mi)
Population  (2009)
• Total	8,285,692
• Density	95/km2 (250/sq mi)
• Pop. rank	1st
• Percent	17.84% of Spain
Demonym
ISO 3166-2	AN
Anthem	"La bandera blanca y verde"
Official languages	Spanish (Andalusian)
Statute of Autonomy	December 30, 1981, 2002 (statute revised), 2007 (revised again)
Parliament	Cortes Generales
Congress seats	62 of 350
Senate seats	40 of 259
Website	www.juntadeandalucia.es

Andalusia (Spanish: Andalucía) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the most populous (8,285,692 inhabitants en 2009) and the second largest, in terms of land area, of the seventeen autonomous communities of the Kingdom of Spain. Its capital and largest city is Seville (Spanish: Sevilla). The region is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and Almería.

Andalusia is in the south of the Iberian peninsula, immediately south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha; west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea; east of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean; and north of the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Spain from Morocco, and the Atlantic Ocean. The small British overseas territory of Gibraltar shares a three-quarter-mile land border with the Andalusian province of Cádiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar.

Andalusia has three major geographic subregions. In the north, the mountainous Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the the plains of Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha on Spain's Meseta Central. South of that, the one can distinguish Upper Andalusia—generally the Baetic Cordillera—from Lower Andalusia—the Baetic Depression of the valley of the Guadalquivir.

The name Andalusia traces back to the Arabic language Al-Andalus and, indeed, Andalusia was the center of power in medieval Muslim-dominated Iberia. Besides the Muslim or "Moorish" influences, the region's history and culture have been influenced by the earlier Carthaginian, and Roman empires, and, of course, the Castilian and other Christian North Iberian nationalities who conquered the area from the Muslims in the during the latter phases of the Reconquista.

Since the Industrial Revolution, Andalusia has been an economically poor region in comparison with the rest of Spain or of today's European Union at large. Agriculture and the service sectors predominate in the ecomomy. The region has, however, a rich culture and a strong cultural identity. Many cultural phenomena that are seen internationally as distinctively Spanish—for example, flamenco, bullfighting, and certain Muslim-influenced architectural styles—are largely or entirely Andalusian in origin.

The name Andalucía

Map of the Iberian peninsula dated 1770. The Kingdoms of Jaén, Cordoba and Seville are collectively referred to under the name Andalucía, while the Kingdom of Granada appears under its individual name.

The Spanish toponym (place name) Andalucía (immediate source of the English Andalusia) was introduced into the Spanish language in the 13th century under the form el Andalucía. (That el does not indicate masculine grammatical gender; Spanish avoids using the feminine article la before words beginning with the a sound.) This was a Castilianization of Al-Andalusiya, the adjectival form of the Arabic language al-Andalus, the name of the Iberian territories under the Muslim rule from 711 to 1492. The etymology of al-Andalus is itself somewhat controversial (see al-Andalus), but it entered the Arabic language even before such time as this area came under Muslim rule.

Like the Arabic term al-Andalus, in historical contexts the Spanish term Andalucía or the English term Andalusia do not necessarily refer to the exact territory designated by these terms today. Initially, the term referred exclusively to territories under Muslim control; later, it was applied to some of the last Iberian Islamic territories to be conquered, though not always to exactly the same ones. In the Estoria de España (also known as the Primera Crónica General) of Alfonso X of Castile, written in the second half of the 13th century, the term Andalucía is used with three different meanings:

1. As a literal translation of the Arabic al-Ándalus when Arabic texts are quoted.
2. To designate the territories the Christians had conquered by that time in the Guadalquivir valley and in the Kingdoms of Granada and Murcia. In a document from 1253, Alfonso X styled himself Rey de Castilla, León y de toda Andalucía ("King of Castile, León and all of Andalusia").
3. To designate the territories the Christians had conquered by that time in the Guadalquivir valley (the Kingdoms of Jaén, Cordoba and Seville) but not the the Kingdom of Granada. This was the most common significance in the Late Middle Ages and Early modern period.

From an administrative point of view, Granada remained separate for many years even after the completion of the Reconquista due, above all, to its emblematic character as the last territory conquered, and as the seat of the important Real Chancillería de Granada, a court of last resort. Still, the reconquest and repopulation of Granada was accomplished largely by people from the three existing Christian kingdoms of Andalusia, and Granada came to be considered a fourth kingdom of Andalusia. The often-used expression "four kingdoms of Andalusia" dates back in Spanish at least to the mid-18th century.

Symbols

Main articles: Coat of arms of Andalusia and Flag of Andalusia

Portrait of Blas Infante, executed in azulejos, located on the avenue in Jerez de la Frontera named in his honor.

The Andalusian coat of arms shows the figure of a young Hercules and two lions between the two pillars of Hercules that tradition situates on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar. An inscription below, superimposed on an image of the flag of Andalusia reads Andalucía por sí, para España y la Humanidad ("Andalusia by herself, for Spain and Humanity"). Over the two columns is a semicircular arch in the colors of the flag of Andalusia, with the Latin words Dominator Hercules Fundator superimposed.

The official flage of Andalusia consists of three equal horizontal stripes, colored green, white, and green respectively; the Andalusian coat of arms is superimposed on the central stripe. It was designed by Blas Infante and approved in the Assembly of Ronda (a 1918 gathering of Andalusian nationalists at Ronda). The green symbolizes hope and union, and the white symbolizes peace and dialogue. Blas Infante considered these to have been the colors most used in regional symbols throughout the region's history. According to him, the green came in particular from the standard of the Umayyad Caliphate and represented the call for a gathering of the populace. The white symbolized pardon in the Almohad dynasty, interpreted in European heraldry as parliament or peace. Other writers have justified the colors differently, with some Andalusian nationalists referring to them as the Arbonaida, meaning white-and-green in Mozarabic, a Romance language that was spoken in the region in Muslim times.

Click to hear an instrumental version of the Andalusian anthem.

The anthem of Andalusia was composed by José del Castillo Díaz (director of the Municipal Band of Seville, commonly known as Maestro Castillo) with lyrics by Blas Infante. The music was inspired by Santo Dios, a popular religious song sung at harvest time by peasants and day laborers in the provinces of Málaga, Seville, and Huelva. Blas Infante brought the song to Maestro Castillo's attention; Maestro Castillo adapted and harmonized the traditional melody. The lyrics appeal to the Andalusians to mobilize and demand tierra y libertad ("land and liberty") by way of agrarian reform and a statute of autonomy within Spain.

The Parliament of Andalusia voted unanimously in 1983 that the preamble to the Statute of Autonomy recognize Blas Infante as the Father of the Andalusian Nation (Padre de la Patria Andaluza), which was reaffirmed in the reformed Statute of Autonomy submitted to popular referendum February 18, 2007. The preamble of the present 2007 Statute of Autonomy defines Andalusia's "Historic Nationality" (Spanish: Nacionalidad Histórica) as a "National Reality" (Realidad Nacional). The original 1981 statute defined it simply as a "Nationality" (Nacionalidad).

The regional holiday, the Día de Andalucía, is celebrated on February 28, and commemorates the 1980 automony referendum.

The honorific title of Hijo Predilecto de Andalucía ("Favorite Son of Andalucia") is granted by the Junta of Andalusia to those whose exceptional merits benefited Andalusia, for work or achievements in natural, social, or political science. It is the highest distinction given by the Autonomous Community of Andalusia.

Geography

The Sevillian historian Antonio Domínguez Ortiz wrote that:

…one must seek the essence of Andalusia in its geographic reality on the one hand, and on the other in the awareness of its inhabitants. From the geographic point of view, the whole of the southern lands is too vast and varied to be embraced as a single unit. In reality there are not two, but three Andalusias: the Sierra Morena, the Valley [of the Guadalquivir] and the [Cordillera] Penibética…

Location

Andalusia has a surface area of 87,597 square kilometres (33,821 sq mi), 17.3 percent of the territory of Spain. Andalusia alone is comparable in extent and in the variety of its terrain to any of several of the smaller European countries. To the east is the Mediterranean Sea; to the west the Atlantic Ocean; to the north the Sierra Morena constitutes the border with the Meseta Central; to the south, the self-governing British overseas territory of Gibraltar and the Strait of Gibraltar separate it from Africa.

Climate

Locations of the principal Andalusian climate types.

Andalusia sits at a latitude between 36º and 38º44' N, in the warm-temperate region. In general, it experiences a Mediterranean climate, with dry summers influenced by the Azores High, but subject to occasional torrential rains and extremely hot tempertures. In the winter, the tropical anticyclones move south, allowing cold polar fronts to penetrate the region. Still, within Andalusia there is considerable climatic variety. From the extensive coastal plains one may pass to the valley of the Guadalquivir, barely above sea level, then to the highest altitudes in the Iberian peninsula in the peaks of the Sierra Nevada. In a mere 50 kilometres (31 mi) one can pass from the subtropical coast of the province of Granada to the snowy peaks of Mulhacén. Andalusia also includes both the dry Tabernas Desert in the province of Almería and the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park in the province of Cádiz, which experiences Spain's greatest rainfall.

Annual rainfall in the Sierra de Grazalema has been measured as high as 4.346 millimetres (0.1711 in) in 1963, the highest ever recorded for any location in Iberia. Andalusia is also home to the driest place in continental Europe, the (Cabo de Gata, with only 117 millimetres (4.6 in) of rain per year.

In general, as one goes from west to east, away from the Atlantic, there is less precipitation. "Wet Andalusia" includes most of the highest points in the region, above all the Sierra de Grazalema but also the Serranía de Ronda in western Málaga. The valley of the Guadalquivir has moderate rainfall. The Tabernas Desert in Almería, Europe's only true desert, has less than 75 days with any measurable precipitation, and some particular places in the desert have as few as 50 such days. Much of "dry Andalusia" has more than 300 "sunny" days a year.

The average temperature in Andalusia throughout the year is over 16 °C (61 °F). Averages in the cities range from 15.1 °C (59.2 °F) in Baeza to 18.5 °C (65.3 °F) in Málaga. Much of the Guadalquivir valley and the Mediterranean coat has an average of about 18 °C (64 °F); in the eastern province of Almería, averages over 20 °C (68 °F) are common (for example, 21.5 °C (70.7 °F) at Cuevas del Almanzora). The coldest month is January when Granada at the foot of the Sierra Nevada experiences an average temperature of 6.4 °C (43.5 °F). The hottest are July and August, with an average temperature of 28.5 °C (83.3 °F) for Andalusia as a whole. Córdoba is the hottest provincial capital, followed by Seville.

The Guadalquivir valley has experienced the highest temperatures recorded in Europe, with a maximum of 46.6 °C (115.9 °F) recorded at Córdoba and Seville, according to AEMET, the State Meteorological Agency.) There are other claimed, higher records, but they are dubious because they were recorded with inadequate instruments. The mountains of Granada and Jaén have the coldest temperatures in southern Iberia, but do not reach continental extremes (and, indeed are surpassed by some mountains in northern Spain). In the cold snap of January 2005, Santiago de la Espada (Jaén) experienced a temperature of −21 °C (−6 °F) and the ski resort at Sierra Nevada National Park—the sourthernmost ski resort in Europe—dropped to −18 °C (0 °F). Sierra Nevada Natural Park has Iberia's lowest average annual temperature, (3.9 °C (39.0 °F) at Pradollano, where the ski resort is located) and its peaks remain snowy practically year-round.

Terrain

Locations of the principal features of the Andalusian terrain.

El Veleta from the summit of El Mulhacén.

The height of land is one of the principal factors that configure the natural world. Mountain ranges affect climate, the network of rivers, soils and their erosion, bioregions, and even human economies insofar as they rely on natural resources.

The Andalusian terrain offers a vast range of altitudes and slopes. Andalusia has the Iberian peninsula's highest mountains and nearly 15 percent of its terrain over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). The picture is similar for areas under 100 metres (330 ft) (with the vast Baetic Depression), and for the variety of slopes.

The Atlantic coast is overwhelmingly beach and gradually sloping coasts; the Mediterranean coast has many cliffs, above all in the Malagan Axarquía and in Granada and Almería. This asymmetry divides the region naturally into Upper Andalusia (two mountainous areas) and Lower Andalusia (the broad basin of the Guadalquivir).

The Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the the plains of Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha on Spain's Meseta Central. Although sparsely populated, this is not a particularly high range, and its highest point, the 1,323-metre (4,341 ft) peak of La Bañuela in the Sierra Madrona, lies outside of Andalusia. Within the Sierra Morana, the gorge of the Despeñaperros forms a natural frontier between Castile and Andalusia.

The Baetic Cordillera consists of the parallel mountain ranges of the Cordillera Penibética near the Mediterranean coast and the Cordillera Subbética inland, separated by the Surco Intrabético. The Subbético is quite discontinuous, offering many passes that facilitate transportation, but the Penibético forms a strong barrier between the Mediterranean coast and the interior. The Sierra Nevada, part of the Cordillera Penibética in the Province of Granada, has the highest peaks in Iberia: El Mulhacén at 3,478 metres (11,411 ft) and El Veleta at 3,392 metres (11,129 ft).

Lower Andalusia, the Baetic Depression, the basin of the Guadalquivir, lies between these two mountainous areas. It is a nearly flat territory, open to the Gulf of Cádiz in the southeast. Throughout history, this has been the most populous part of Andalusia.

Hydrography

Rivers and basins of Andalusia.

Andalusia has rivers that flow into both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Flowing to the Atlantic are the Guadiana, Odiel-Tinto, Guadalquivir, Guadalete, and Barbate. Flowing to the Mediterranean are the Guadiaro, Guadalhorce, Guadalmedina, Guadalfeo, Andarax (also known as the Almería) and Almanzora. Of these, the Guadalquivir is the longest in Andalusia and fifth longest on the Iberian peninsula, at 657 kilometres (408 mi).

The Guadalquivir as it passes through Córdoba.

The rivers of the Atlantic basin are characteristically long, run through mostly flat terrain, and have broad river valleys. As a result, at their mouths are estuaries and wetlands, such as the marshes of Doñana in the delta of the Guadalquivir, and wetlands of the Odiel. In contrast, the rivers of the Mediterranean Basin are shorter, more seasonal, and make a precipitous descent from the mountains of the Baetic Cordillera. Their estuaries are small, and their valleys are less suitable for agriculture. Also, being in the rain shadow of the Baetic Cordillera means that they receive a lesser volume of water.

The following hydrographic basins can be distinguished in Andalusia. On the Atlantic side are the Guadalquivir basin; the Andalusian Atlantic Basin with the sub-basins Guadalete-Barbate and Tinto-Odiel; and the Guadiana basin. On the Mediterranean side is the Andalusian Mediterranean Basin and the very upper portion of the basin of the Segura.

Soils

Pedogenesis—soil evolution—underlies many other environmental factors, both biological and otherwise. The soils of Andalusia can be divided into three large areas.

The Sierra Morena, due to its morphology and the acidic content of its rocks, developed principally relatively poor, shallow soils, suitable only for forests. In the valleys and in some areas where limestone is present, deeper soils allowed farming of cereals suitable for livestock. The more complicated morphology of the Baetic Cordillera makes it more heterogeneous, with the most heterogeneous soils in Andalusia. Very roughly, in contrast to the Sierra Morena, a predominance of basic (alkaline) materials in the Cordillera Subbética, combined with a hilly landscape, generates deeper soils with greater agricultural capacity, suitable to the cultivation of olives.

Finally, the Baetic Depression and the Surco Intrabético have deep, rich soils, with great agricultural capacity. In particular, the alluvial soils of the the Guadalquivir valley and plain of Granada have a loamy texture are and particularly suitable for intensive irrigated crops. In the hilly areas of the countryside, there is a double dynamic: the depressions have filled in with older lime-rich material, developing the deep, rich, dark clay soils the Spanish call bujeo, or tierras negras andaluzas, excellent for dryland farming. In other zones, the whiter albariza provides an excellent soil for vineyards.

Despite their marginal quality, the poorly consolidated soils of the sandy coastline of Huelva and Almería have been successfully used in recent decades for the hothouse cultivation under clear plastic of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and other fruits.

Flora

File:Andalucia flora.jpg

Floristic provinces of Andalusia.

Biogeographically, Andalusia forms part of the Western Mediterranean subregion of the Mediterranean Basin, which falls within the Boreal Kingdom. Five floristic provinces fall, in whole or in part, within Andalusia: along much of the Atlantic coast, the Lusitanian-Andalusian littoral or Andalusian Atlantic littoral; in the north, the southern portion of the Luso-Extremaduran floristic province; covering roughly half of the region, the Baetic floristic province; and in the extreme east, the Almerian portion of the Almerian-Murcian floristic province and (coinciding roughly with the upper Segura basin) a small portion of the Castilian-Maestrazgan-Manchegan floristic province. These names derive primarily from past or present political geography: "Luso" and "Lusitanian" from Lusitania, one of three Roman provinces in Iberia, most of the others from present-day Spanish provinces, and Maestrazgo being an historical region of northern Valencia.

Oaks, rhododendrons and ferns in the Los Alcornocales Natural Park.

In broad terms, the typical vegetation of Andalusia is Mediterranean woodland, characterized by leafy xerophile perennials, adapted to the long, dry summers. The dominant species of the climax community is the Holm Oak or Holly Oak (Quercus ilex). Also abundant are Cork Oak (Quercus suber), various pines, and Spanish Fir (Abies pinsapo). Due to cultivation, olive (Olea europaea) and almond (Prunus dulcis) trees also abound. The dominant understory is composed of thorny and aromatic woody species, such as Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Thyme (Thymus), and Cistus. In the wettest areas with acidic soils, the most abundant species are the Oak and Cork Oak, and the cultivated Eucalyptus. In the woodlands, leafy hardwoods of genus Populus (poplars, aspens, cottonwoods) and Ulmus (elms) are also abundant; poplars are cultivated in the plains of Granada.

The Andalusian woodlands have been much altered by human settlement, the use of nearly all of the best land for farming, and frequent forest fires. The degraded forests become shrubby and combustible garrigue. Extensive areas have been planted with non-climax trees such as pines. There is now a clear conservation policy for the remaining forests, which survive almost exclusively in the mountains.

Fauna

The Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus)

The biodiversity of Andalusia extends to its fauna as well. More than 400 of the 630 vertebrate species extant in Spain can be found in Andalusia. Spanning the Mediterrnean and Atlantic basins, and adjacent to the Strait of Gibraltar, Andalusia is on the migratory route of many of the numerous flocks of birds that travel annually from Europe to Africa and back.

The Andalusian wetlands host a rich variety of birds. Some are of African origin, such as the Red-knobbed Coot (Fulica cristata), the Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), and the Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus). Others originate in Northern Europe, such as the Greylag Goose ('Anser anser). Birds of prey (raptors) include the Spanish Imperial Eagle (also known as Adalbert's Eagle, Aquila adalberti, the Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus), and both the Black and Red Kite (Milvus migrans and Milvus milvus).

Andalusian horse

Among the herbivores, are several deer (Cervidae) species, notably the Fallow Deer (Dama dama) and Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus); the European Mouflon (Ovis orientalis musimon), a type of sheep; and the Spanish Ibex (Capra pyrenaica, which despite its Latin name is no longer found in the Pyrenees). The Spanish Ibex has recently been losing ground to the Barbary sheep (ammotragus lervia), an invasive species from Africa, introduced for hunting in the 1970s. Among the small herbivores are rabbits—especially the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)—which form the most important part of the diet of the carnivorous species of the Mediterranean woodlands.

The large carnivores such as the Iberian Wolf (Canis lupus signatus) and the Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) are quite threatened, and are limited to the Doñana, Sierra Morena, and Despeñaperros. Stocks of the Wild boar (Sus scrofa), on the other hand, have been well preserved because they are a popular with hunters. More abundant and in varied situations of conservation, are such smaller carnivores as otters, nutria, very abundant foxes, the European Badger (Meles meles), the European Polecat (Mustela putorius), the Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis), el Wildcat (Felis silvestris), the Common Genet (Genetta genetta), and the Egyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon).

Other notable species are the Vipera latasti, a venomous snake, and the endemic (and endangered) fish Aphanius baeticus.

History

Carthaginians and Romans

With the fall of the Phoenician cities, Carthage became the dominant sea power of the western Mediterranean and the most important trading partner for the Semitic towns along the Andalusian coast. Between the first and second Carthaginian wars, Carthage extended its control beyond Andalusia to include all of Iberia except the Basquelands. Andalusia was the major staging ground for the war with Rome led by the Barkid Hannibal. The Romans defeated the Carthaginians and conquered Andalusia, the region being renamed Baetica.

Vandals and Visigoths

The Vandals moved briefly through the region during the 5th century AD before settling in North Africa, after which the region fell into the hands of the Kingdom of the Visigoths who had to face the Byzantine interests in the region.

Muslim period

See also: Al-Andalus

The Umayyad Caliphate conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 711–718 marked the collapse of Visigothic rule. The Berber Tariq ibn Ziyad, known in Spanish history and legend as Tariq el Tuerto (Tariq the one-eyed), was an Umayyad general who led the conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711. Andalusian culture was deeply influenced by over half a millennium of Muslim rule during the Middle Ages. The history of Al-Andalus (comes from Al Vandalus, the land of the Vandals), was one of a succession of different Islamic states. Under the caliphate, the name "Al-Andalus" was applied to a much larger area than the present Spanish region, and at some periods it referred to nearly the entire Iberian peninsula. It is nevertheless true that the Guadalquivir valley in Andalusia was the hub of Muslim power in the peninsula, with Cordoba as its capital. However, internal divisions after Almanzor sparked the decomposition of the Caliphate (1031) in many areas. The taifa of Seville was especially influential.

Andalusia under the rule of Castile

After the conquest of Toledo in 1085 by Alfonso VI, Christian rule dominated the peninsula, the main Taifas therefore had to resort to assistance from various Muslim powers across the Mediterranean. After the victory in Zalaca, Almoravid (1086) constructed a unified Al-Andalus and set up his capital in Granada, ruling until mid-twelfth century. The various Taifa kingdoms were assimilated. Almohads expansion in North Africa weakened Al-Andalus. The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), marked the beginning of the end of the Almohad dynasty. The weakness caused by the collapse of Almohad power and the subsequent creation of third Taifas kingdoms helped the rapid conquest or reconquest of Christian lands in the valley of the Guadalquivir. Cordova was conquered in 1236 and Seville in 1248. The Reconquest of Granada in 1492 put an end to Muslim domination.

On August 3, 1492 Columbus left the town of Huelva Palos de la Frontera, with the first expedition that resulted in the so-called discovery of America. Many Andalusians participated in the expedition that would end the Middle Ages and signal the beginning of modernity. Contacts between the Spanish and America, including maintenance of the colonies until the end of the colonial period, came almost exclusively through Andalusia. The reason for the importance of Andalusia is that all traffic to the new continent became, in reality, an Andalusian monopoly. This was an era of splendor and boom for the region, which became the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan of Spain and one of the most influential worldwide.

Government and politics

Andalusia one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian Autonomous Government (Spanish: Junta de Andalucía) includes the Parliament of Andalusia, its chosen president, and a High Court.

Andalusia became an autonomous community under a 1981 Statute of Automony known as the Estatuto de Carmona. The process followed the Spanish Constitution of 1978, still current as of 2009, which recognizes and guarantees the right of automony for the various regions and nationalities of Spain. The process to establish Andalusia as an autonomous region followed Article 151 of the Constitution, making Andalusia the only autonomous community to take that particular course. That article was set out for regions like Andalusia that had been prevented by the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War from adopting a statute of autonomy during the period of the Second Spanish Republic .

The Andalusian Statute of Autonomy recognizes Seville as the region's capital. The Andalusian Autonomous Government (Junta de Andalucía) is located there. The However, the region's highest court, the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucía meets in Granada.

Administrative divisions

The provinces of Andalusia.

Each of the Andalusian provinces bears the same name as its capital.

Province	Capital	Population	Density	Municipalities
Almería	Almería	635,850	72.5 inhabitants/km²	Municipalities
Cádiz	Cádiz	1,180,817	158.8 inhabitants/km²	Municipalities
Córdoba	Córdoba	788,287	72.4 inhabitants/km²	Municipalities
Granada	Granada	882,184	68.7 inhabitants/km²	Municipalities
Huelva	Huelva	483,792	47.7 inhabitants/km²	Municipalities
Jaén	Jaén	662,751	49.1 inhabitants/km²	Municipalities
Málaga	Málaga	1,491,287	204.1 inhabitants/km²	Municipalities
Seville	Seville	1,813,908	129.2 inhabitants/km²	Municipalities

Other important Andalusian cities are:

• El Ejido, and Roquetas de Mar, (Almería)
• La Línea de la Concepción, Algeciras, San Roque, Cádiz, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Rota, San Fernando, Jerez, and El Puerto, (Cádiz)
• Almuñécar, Guadix, Loja and Motril, (Granada)
• Linares, Úbeda and Baeza, (Jaén)
• Antequera, Ronda and Marbella, (Málaga)
• Utrera, Dos Hermanas, Alcalá de Guadaíra, Osuna, Ecija and , Lebrija (Seville)

Economy

Andalusia is traditionally an agricultural area, but the service sector (particularly tourism, retail sales, and transportation) now predominates. The construction sector, now growing very quickly, also makes an important contribution to the region’s economic fabric. The industrial sector is less developed than in other regions in Spain. As of early 2008, the regional economy is experiencing sustained growth.

According to the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadística, the GDP per capita of Andalusia (€17,401; 2006) is still the second lowest in Spain. At the same time, the economic growth rate for the 2000-2006 period was 3.72%, one of the highest in the country.

Andalusia, a chameleonic region steeped in history, tradition, art and culture, is one of the world's up-and-coming MICE destinations. For whatever the event being planned, there is a staggering variety of impeccable venues, from luxury convention and meeting hotels, spas and state-of-the-art conference and congress centres, marinas and golf complexes to medieval castles, Baroque palaces, haciendas, wineries and botanical gardens.

Transport and commerce

The main road in the region is the European Route E15, and other main roads to go through Andalusia.

Three cities (Córdoba, Málaga and Seville) have a connection between them and Madrid over the high speed train (AVE), and the rest of the network is under construction.

Málaga Airport is the international airport of Andalusia, accounting for 85 percent of its international traffic. It is the only one that can offer a wide variety of international destinations.

The airport has a daily link with twenty cities in Spain and over a hundred cities in Europe (mainly in United Kingdom, Central Europe and the Nordic countries but also the main cities of Eastern Europe: Moscow, Saint Petersburg , Sofia, Riga or Bucharest), North Africa, Middle East (Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuwait) and Northern America (New York, Toronto and Montreal).

The main ports are Algeciras (for freight and container traffic) and Málaga for cruise ships.

Tourism in Andalusia

Due in part to the relatively mild winter and spring climate, the south of Spain is somewhat legendary for its attraction to overseas visitors – especially tourists from Northern Europe. While inland areas such as Jaén, Córdoba and the hill villages and towns remain in part untouched by the throngs of tourists, the coastal areas of Andalusia are heavy with visitors for much of the year.

Monuments

• El Torcal, Antequera (Málaga)
• Medina Azahara, Córdoba
• Mezquita, Córdoba
• Alhambra, Granada
• Palace of Charles V Granada
• Charterhouse, Granada
• Albayzín, Granada
• Alcazaba, Málaga
• El Tajo, Ronda (Málaga)
• La Giralda, Seville
• Torre del Oro, Seville
• Plaza de España (Seville), Seville
• Seville Cathedral, Seville
• Alcázar of Seville, Seville
• Úbeda and Baeza, Jaén
• La Rabida Monastery, Palos de la Frontera (Huelva)
• Bodegas (Jerez), Jerez (Cádiz)

Native or famous people from Andalusia

Main article: List of Andalusians

• Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi
• Abd-ar-Rahman III
• Alejandro Sanz
• Alonso Cano
• Alonso Lobo
• Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
• Andrés Segovia
• Antonio Banderas
• Antonio de Nebrija
• Antonio Gala
• Antonio Machado
• Antonio Mairena
• Antonio Puerta
• Arganthonios
• Averroes (a.k.a Ibn Rushd)
• Baltasar Garzón
• Bartolomé de las Casas
• Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
• Blas Infante
• Brendan Byrne
• Camarón de la Isla
• Carmen Sevilla
• Carlos Herrera
• Carlos Marchena
• Chiquito de la Calzada
• Cristina Hoyos
• Curro Romero
• Dani Güiza
• David Bisbal
• Diego Capel
• Diego Tristán
• Diego Velázquez
• Eduardo Cansino, Sr.
• El Cordobés
• Enrique Morente
• Estrella Morente
• Eva Yerbabuena

• Federico García Lorca
• Felipe González
• Fernando Hierro
• Figaro (of Pierre Beaumarchais operas)
• Fran Perea
• Francisco Garrido Peña
• Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
• Hadrian
• Ibn Bajjah
• Isabel Pantoja
• Isidore of Seville
• Israel Galván
• Jean Reno
• Jesús Navas
• Joaquín Caparrós
• Joaquín Rubio y Muñoz
• Joaquín Sabina
• Joaquín Sánchez
• José Antonio Reyes
• Josefa Flores González (a.k.a Pepa Flores or Marisol)
• "Juanito"
• Juan de Padilla
• Juan Ramón Jiménez
• Kiko (footballer)
• Las Ketchup
• Lola Flores
• Lope de Rueda
• Los del Río
• Luis Cernuda
• Luis de Góngora

• Maimonides (a.k.a Rambam)
• Martín Alonso Pinzón
• Manolo Caracol
• Manolo Corrales
• Manolo Escobar
• Manuel de Falla
• Manuel Machado
• Manuel Orantes
• Maritornes (of Cervantes' famous novel Don Quixote)
• Miguel Ríos
• Murillo
• Paco de Lucía
• Paco León
• Paquirri
• Paz Vega
• Picasso
• Pilar Bardem
• Rafael Alberti
• Raphael (singer)
• Rocío Jurado
• Rodrigo de Triana
• Rosa López
• Sara Baras
• Seneca the Younger
• Sergio Ramos
• Soledad Miranda
• Tomatito
• Trajan
• Veronica Sánchez
• Vicente Aleixandre
• Vicente Amigo
• Vicente Yáñez Pinzón

See also

• Andalusian people
• Andalusian Spanish
• Andalusian nationalism
• Music of Andalusia
• Andalusian cuisine
• Flamenco
• The Roman Bética Route

External links

• Official Tourism Website of Andalusia
• History of the Andalusian Flag
• Official Tourism Website Alhama de Granada