Huelva () is a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of southern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, in the western part of the

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

. It is bordered by

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, the provinces of

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, and

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

, and the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The rias ...

. Its area is 10,148 km². Its population is 483,792 (2005), of whom about 30% live in the capital, and its population density is 47.67/km². It contains 79 municipalities. The economy is based on

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

. The famous

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, ...

mines have been worked since before 1000 BC, and were the major source of copper for the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. As an indication of the scope of ancient mining, sixteen million tons of Roman slag have been identified at the Roman mines. British companies resumed large-scale mining in 1873; the district is the namesake of the

Rio Tinto Group Rio Tinto Group is an Anglo-Australian Multinational corporation, multinational company that is the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP). The company was founded in 1873 when of a group of investors purchased a mine ...

. The province contains

Palos de la Frontera Palos de la Frontera () is a town and municipality located in the southwestern Spanish province of Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is situated some from the provincial capital, Huelva. According to the 2015 census, the cit ...

, and

Moguer Moguer is a municipality and small city located in the province of Huelva, Andalusia, Spain. According to the 2022 census, it has a population of 22,623. Its surface area is , and its population density is . The present site of Moguer had been h ...

, where

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

sailed out of on his first voyage in 1492, and shares the

Parque Nacional de Doñana Parque is the Galician, Portuguese and Spanish word for " park", and may refer to: * Parque (TransMilenio), a metro station in Bogotá, Colombia * Parque (Lisbon Metro), in Portugal * Parque (Santurce), a subbarrio in San Juan, Puerto Rico * Jim ...

, located mainly in Almonte.

Government and administration

Population

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) ImageSize = width:600 height:auto barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:550 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:50 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:10 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo PlotData= color:skyblue width:20 shift:(-50,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till bar:1877 from:0 till:209 text:209,194 bar:1887 from:0 till:240 text:240,067 bar:1900 from:0 till:258 text:258,143 bar:1910 from:0 till:296 text:295,898 bar:1920 from:0 till:332 text:331,527 bar:1930 from:0 till:355 text:355,441 bar:1940 from:0 till:375 text:375,180 bar:1950 from:0 till:370 text:369,722 bar:1960 from:0 till:405 text:404,517 bar:1970 from:0 till:403 text:403,405 bar:1980 from:0 till:419 text:418,584 bar:1990 from:0 till:443 text:443,476 bar:2000 from:0 till:463 text:462,579 bar:2010 from:0 till:520 text:519,895 bar:2020 from:0 till:524 text:524,278 TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

Tourism

The delayed tourist development of the province has allowed better city planning than in other regions on the Spanish coast. The nuclei of Islantilla and

Isla Canela Isla Canela is a small island located south of the town of Ayamonte, in Andalusia, Spain, in Province of Huelva. The mouth of the Guadiana River is next to the island, and Portugal (across the river) can be easily seen from Isla Canela. Isla Ca ...

are an example of this attempt to plan in a more coherent form. Although in a smaller scale in comparison to other regions, urban pressure continues. Previous developments that had little planning until recent time are El Rompido, El Portil, Mazagón and Matalascañas (Torre de la Higuera). Although Punta Umbría had its beginnings like pedanía de Cartaya, after the democratization of summer tourism, it began its urban development for its proximity to the capital and its location on the beach. Present development would not endure without tourist activity and its vacation housing. Other tourist areas are Nuevo Umbría, Nuevo Portil, Punta del Moral, La Antilla and Urbasur. The marismas de Isla Cristina, next to the towns of

Ayamonte Ayamonte (; pt, Aiamonte) is a town and municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Huelva, Andalusia. It is located near the border with Portugal on the mouth of the Guadiana River. According to the 2015 census, the city had a population ...

and

Isla Cristina Isla Cristina is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the province of Huelva (province), Huelva, Spain. According to the 2009 census, the city has a population of 21,324 inhabitants. Port of Isla Cristina, Isla Cristina r ...

, are a protected nature reserve. Of note is Huelva's recent classification of “rural tourism” for its interior mountain range.

Green electricity

Huelva has 388

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units, International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), ...

s (MW) of

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

, 68 MW

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

power, and 66 MW of

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...

. A 220

kilovolt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defi ...

transmission line In electrical engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable or other structure designed to conduct electromagnetic waves in a contained manner. The term applies when the conductors are long enough that the wave nature of the transmi ...

has been constructed to send power to the main grid as well as improving connections between Spain and Portugal."Iberdrola Renewables starts up the largest wind power facility in Spain".
''EuropaPress'', 11 February 2010. Retrieved: 16 June 2012.

References

External links