Province of Cuenca
Cuenca | |||
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Province | |||
Cuenca provincial parliament | |||
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Map of Spain with Cuenca highlighted | |||
Coordinates: 40°00′N 2°00′W / 40.000°N 2.000°WCoordinates: 40°00′N 2°00′W / 40.000°N 2.000°W | |||
Country | Spain | ||
Autonomous community | Castilla-La Mancha | ||
Capital | Cuenca | ||
Government | |||
• President | Juan Manuel Ávila Francés (PSOE) | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 17,141 km2 (6,618 sq mi) | ||
Area rank | Ranked 5th | ||
Population (2012) | |||
• Total | 218,036 | ||
• Rank | Ranked 44th | ||
• Density | 13/km2 (33/sq mi) | ||
Demonym(s) | Spanish: Conquense | ||
Official language(s) | Spanish | ||
Parliament | Cortes Generales | ||
Website | dipucuenca.es |
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Cuenca (province). |
Cuenca is a province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha.
Geography
The province is bordered by the provinces of Valencia (including its exclave Rincón de Ademuz), Albacete, Ciudad Real, Toledo, Madrid, Guadalajara, and Teruel. The northeastern side of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area.
211,375 people (2007) live in the province. Its capital is Cuenca, where nearly a quarter of the population live, some 52,980 people. There are 238 municipalities in Cuenca.
Other populous towns and municipalities include Tarancón, San Clemente, Quintanar del Rey, Huete, Villanueva de la Jara, Motilla del Palancar, Mota del Cuervo, La Almarcha and Las Pedroñeras.
History
In 1851 Cuenca lost Requena-Utiel to the neighbouring Valencia Province with which it was developing commercial ties. Nevertheless, Requena-Utiel remained Spanish-speaking (rather than Valencian), while the loss of its most dynamic region left the province of Cuenca relatively underdeveloped economically.