Andalusia

Andalusia Andalucía(Spanish)
Autonomous community
Flag Coat of arms
Motto(s): Andalucía por sí, para España y la Humanidad ( "Andalusia by itself, for Spain and humanity" )
Anthem: "La bandera blanca y verde" "The White and Green flag"
Map of Spain with Andalusia highlighted
Coordinates:37°23′N5°59′W
Country	Spain
Statute of Autonomy	28 February 1980 / 18 February 2007(current version)
Capital (and largest city)	Seville
Provinces	Almería,Cádiz,Córdoba,Jaén,Málaga,Granada,Huelva,Seville
Government
• Type	Devolved governmentin aconstitutional monarchy
• Body	Council of Andalusia
• President	Juan Manuel Moreno(PP-A)
• Vice President	Juan Marín(Cs)
Legislature	Parliament of Andalusia
National representation	Parliament of Spain
Congress seats	61 of 350 (17.4%)
Senate seats	41 of 265 (15.5%)
Area (17.2% of Spain)
• Total	87,268 km2(33,694 sq mi)
• Rank	2nd
	17.2% of Spain
Population (2016)
• Total	8,388,107
• Rank	1st
Demonym(s)	Andalusian andaluz,-za
Official languages	Spanish
GDP
• Rank	17th
• Total (2019)	€110.9 billion
• Per capita	€19.107 (17th)
HDI
• HDI (2019)	0.873 (very high·14th)
Time zone	CET(UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST(UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	ES-AN
Telephone code(s)	+34 95
Currency	Euro(€)
Official holiday	February 28
Website	www.juntadeandalucia.es

Andalusia(Spanish:Andalucía) is thefirst in populationamong the 17Autonomous communitiesinSpainand thesecondin area. The territory is divided into eightprovinces:Almería,Cádiz,Córdoba,Granada,Huelva,Jaén,MálagaandSeville.Its capital is the city ofSeville(Spanish:Sevilla).

Andalusia is in the south of theIberian peninsula,just to the south of the autonomous communities ofExtremaduraandCastile-La Mancha;west of the autonomous community ofMurciaand theMediterranean Sea;east ofPortugaland theAtlantic Ocean;and north of theMediterranean Seaand theStrait of Gibraltar.The smallBritish Overseas TerritoryofGibraltarshares a land border with the Andalusian province of Cádiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar.

History

The name Andalusia is the modern version of theArabic languageAl-Andalus(الأندلس), name used by theMuslimMoors for all of the territory of theIberian Peninsulaunder their control. During that period, northernIberian Peninsulawas controlled byChristiankings and the southernIberian Peninsulawas controlled byMoors.

In 711CE,the Moors invaded theIberian Peninsula,then controlled byChristiansofVisigothicorigin. By 719 theMoorsconquered all of the peninsula except for a small area in the northernPyreneesMountains. TheMoorsused the nameAl-Andalusfor all of the territory of theIberian Peninsulaunder their control.

Christiansin the north waged war for more than sevencenturiesagainst theMoors,gradually taking over more and more of the southern areas. This process of war is called theReconquista(a Spanish andPortugueseword meaning "toconquestagain "). In the year 1492 underSpanish Inquisition,King FerdinandandQueen Isabellaof Spain retook the laststrongholdin the southern area atGranada.In that same year, the majorityMuslimMoorsandSephardi Jewswere forced to leaveSpain,other who want stay in Andalusia got baptized and became Catholic Christians.

Symbols

The Andalusiancoat of armsshows the figure ofHerculesand twolionsbetween the twopillars of Herculesthattraditionputs on both sides of theStrait of Gibraltar.The words below readAndalucía por sí, para España y la Humanidad( "Andalusia by herself, for Spain and Humanity" ). Over the two columns is anarchin the colors of the flag of Andalusia, with theLatinwordsDominator Hercules Fundator.

The officialflagof Andalusia has three equal horizontalstripes,colored green, white, and green respectively; the Andalusian coat of arms is on the central stripe. It was approved in ameetingin 1918 ofAndalusian nationalistsatRonda,a city in theprovinceofMálaga.

An instrumental version of the Andalusian anthem.

Theanthemof Andalusia wascomposedby José del Castillo Díaz withlyricsby Blas Infante. The music was inspired bySanto Dios,areligiousfolk songsung atharvesttime bypeasants.

The nationalholiday,theDía de Andalucía,is celebrated on 28 February.

Geography

Andalusia is one of the 17 Spanish autonomous communities and is in the southwestern region of theEuropean Union.It has a surface area of 87,597 square kilometres (33,821 sq mi), 17.3 percent of the territory of Spain. Byarea,it is the second Spanish autonomous community.

The natural limits of Andalusia are: to the south, theAtlantic Oceanand theMediterranean Sea;to the north, theSierra Morena,mountain rangethat separates Andalusia from the autonomous communities ofExtremaduraandCastilla-La Mancha;to the west isPortugal;and to the east isMurcia.

Relief

Locations of the principal features of the Andalusian terrain.

Mulhacénpeak, north face

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 Baetic Depression), and for the variety ofslopes.

The Atlanticcoastis mostly beach and graduallyslopingcoasts; the Mediterranean coast has manycliffs.These differences divide the region naturally into Upper Andalusia (two mountainous areas) and Lower Andalusia (the broadbasinof the Guadalquivir).

The three maingeographicalregions of Andalusia are:

1. TheSierra Morenaseparates Andalusia from theplainsof Extremadura and Castile–La Mancha on Spain'sMeseta Central.Although few people live there, this is not a particularly highrange.
2. TheBaetic Cordilleraconsists of theparallelmountain ranges of theCordillera Penibéticanear the Mediterranean coast and theCordillera Subbéticato the north. The Cordillera Subbética 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 the Iberian peninsula:Mulhacénat 3,481 metres (11,421 ft) andVeletaat 3,324 metres (10,906 ft).
3. Lower Andalusia orvalleyof theGuadalquiviris between these two mountainous areas. It is a nearly flat territory, open to the Atlantic Ocean in the southeast. Throughout history, this has been the part of Andalusia where there are more people.

Climate

Olive treesinJaén,Andalusia.

In general, Andalusia has aMediterranean climate,except in the Valley of Granada (Spanish:Vega de Granada), with occasional heavy rains and extremely hot temperatures.

Rainfall decreases from west to east. The place in Andalusia with the highestrainfallis in the Sierra de Grazalema (2,138 millimetres (84.2 in) per year) and the driest place is Cabo de Gata, the place with the least amount of rainfall in Europe with only 117 millimetres (4.6 in) of rain per 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) inBaezato 18.5 °C (65.3 °F) inMálaga.Much of the Guadalquivir valley and the Mediterranean coast has an average of about 18 °C (64 °F). The coldest month is January whenGranadaat 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.Córdobais the hottest provincial capital, followed bySeville.

The Guadalquivir as it passes through Córdoba.

The mountain ranges are cooler than the plains and have a higher rainfall with some snow in winter. The Sierra Nevada, above 3,000 m (9,843 ft), issnowcovered for most of the year.

Rivers

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

Administrative divisions

Andalusia consists of eightprovinces.Each of the Andalusian provinces bears the same name as its capital:

Provinces of Andalusia

Province	Capital	Population	Area (km2)	Municipalities
Almería	Almería	702,286	8,774	102
Cádiz	Cádiz	1,243,344	7,436	44
Córdoba	Córdoba	805,375	13,550	75
Granada	Granada	922,375	12,531	168
Huelva	Huelva	521,220	10,148	79
Jaén	Jaén	669,636	13,489	97
Málaga	Málaga	1,624,145	7,308	101
Seville	Seville	1,927,109	14,042	105

People

TheAndalusiansare the inhabitants ofAndalusiaof the southern region inIberian Peninsula.Traditional maleCircumcisionis usually performed due toIslamicinfluence, especially in theProvince of Granada.They are generally considered an ethnically distinct peoples because of the two of the most important markers of distinctiveness: their own language and an awareness of a presumed common origin. Andalusian is said to be a distinct dialect ofSpanish,according to theAndalusian nationalism. The Andalusians have a rich culture which includes the famousflamencostyle of music and dance, even though it was adopted by the SpanishCalówho have changed it and monopolized into their own culture.

References

• Joseph O'Callaghan, A History of Medieval Spain, 1975, Cornell University Press.

Other websites

• Official portal
• Official Tourism Website of Andalusia