The province of Badajoz () 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 western

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 ...

located in 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 ...

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

. It was formed in 1833. It is bordered by the provinces of Cáceres in the north, Toledo,

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ; en, "Royal City") is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. History It was founde ...

in the east, Córdoba in the south-east,

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

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 ...

in the south and

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 ...

in the west. With an area of , it is the largest province in Spain. The other province of Extremadura, Cáceres, is the second largest with 19,868 km² in area. The province has a relatively lower population density in comparison to other provinces in Spain. , the province has a population of 669,943 inhabitants. Its capital is the city 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 ...

History

The province enjoyed great prominence during 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 ...

when Mérida was made one of the capital cities. When the

Visigoth The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...

period ended and the Moors had invaded Spain, the Ibn-al-Aftas dynasty established a great cultural and scientific centre in the province. Many of the explorers who set out to conquer the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

were from this province.

Geography

Topography

Although many districts have low ranges of hills, the surface is more often a desolate and monotonous plain, flat or slightly undulating. Its one large river is the

Guadiana The Guadiana River (, also , , ), or Odiana, is an international river defining a long stretch of the Portugal-Spain border, separating Extremadura and Andalusia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal). The river's basin extends from the e ...

, which traverses the north of the province from east to west, fed by many tributaries; but it is only at certain seasons that the river-beds fill with any considerable volume of water, and the Guadiana may frequently be forded without difficulty. The climate is

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...

with great extremes of heat in summer and of cold in winter, when fierce north and north-west winds blow across the plains. Mountains, pastures and Mediterranean forests are important geographical features of this province.

Administrative divisions

The Province of Badajoz is divided into 165 municipalities. After Badajoz, the capital, the main towns in the province are

Almendralejo Almendralejo () is a town in the Province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. It is situated 45 km south-east of Badajoz, on the main road and rail route between Mérida and Seville. , it has a population of 33,975. It was the site of a battle a ...

, Azuaga,

Don Benito Don Benito () is a Spanish town and municipality in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, near the left bank of the Guadiana river. According to the 2014 census, the municipality has a population of 37,011. History Don Benito dates from the 15t ...

Olivenza Olivenza () or Olivença () is a town in southwestern Spain, near the Portuguese border, on a historically disputed section of the Portugal–Spain border. Its territory is administered by Spain as a municipality belonging to the province of Bad ...

Jerez de los Caballeros Jerez de los Caballeros () is a town of south-western Spain, in the province of Badajoz. It is located on two hills overlooking the River Ardila, a tributary of the Guadiana, 18 km east of the Portuguese border. The old town is surrounded by a M ...

, Mérida,

Zafra Zafra () is a town situated in the Province of Badajoz (Extremadura, Spain), and the capital of the comarca of Zafra - Río Bodión. It has a population of 16,677, according to the 2011 census. Zafra is the hometown of Fray Ruy Lopez, author ...

, Montijo and

Villanueva de la Serena Villanueva de la Serena is a city in the Province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. It has a population of 26,111 (2010) and forms part of a larger urban area with the neighbouring town of Don Benito. History Founded in the thirteenth century as ...

. There are also traditional

comarcas A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

(shires, but with no administrative role) in the province, including

La Siberia La Siberia is a comarca in the northeastern portion of the province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. Its capital is the municipality of Herrera del Duque. The comarca is bordered to the north by the provinces of Các ...

and

Llanos de Olivenza Llanos de Olivenza is a comarca in the province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, western Spain. It borders with Portugal in the west. Municipalities * Alconchel * Almendral * Barcarrota * Cheles * Higuera de Vargas * Nog ...

. The capital city of Badajoz is the most important commercial center of the province. The Council of Badajoz has its seat in this city.

Demographics

The province of Badajoz has 673,559 inhabitants (INE 2019), with a population density in 2018 of 31.07 inhabitants/km², below the national average (91.13 inhabitants/km²). It is the twenty-third most populated province in the country, just behind Toledo. It exceeds in almost 280 000 inhabitants to Cáceres (396 487), the other

n province. 22.26% of its inhabitants live in the city of Badajoz, which, with a population of 150702 (INE 2019), stands out as the most populated urban centre in the province. The next city by population is Mérida, which with 59335 inhabitants (INE 2019), is home to 8.81% of the province's total population.

Evolution of the population of the province of Badajoz since 1842

The population in the province of Badajoz has been characterized by a constant growth until the 1960s, when a strong exodus towards more prosperous areas of the country began, mainly

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, reducing the population by almost 200 000 inhabitants in a matter of 20 years. Since the 1980s the population has stagnated below 700 000, with a slight growth until 2010, when the trend is again reversed and the province loses population again. If we observe the trend by municipalities, we can see how the municipalities located in the mountains to the east and south of the province are constantly losing population while those located near the population centres of Badajoz, Mérida, Don Benito or Almendralejo are growing. 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:28 PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:860 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:100 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:20 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo PlotData= color:skyblue width:20 shift:(-50,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till bar:1842 from:0 till:296 text:295,923 bar:1877 from:0 till:428 text:428,015 bar:1887 from:0 till:476 text:476,273 bar:1900 from:0 till:519 text:519,079 bar:1910 from:0 till:594 text:593,550 bar:1920 from:0 till:651 text:651,156 bar:1930 from:0 till:703 text:703,389 bar:1940 from:0 till:747 text:746,678 bar:1950 from:0 till:818 text:817,703 bar:1960 from:0 till:850 text:849,570 bar:1970 from:0 till:702 text:701,709 bar:1980 from:0 till:644 text:643,519 bar:1990 from:0 till:650 text:650,388 bar:2000 from:0 till:655 text:654,882 bar:2010 from:0 till:692 text:691,799 bar:2020 from:0 till:672 text:672,137 TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

Economy

The economic production differs according to the region and locality. Thus the big cities like

, Mérida,

and others, offer and live from services and to a lesser extent from general industries of medium type. In the regions of Guadiana, Tierra de Mérida - Vegas Bajas, Vegas Altas and part of Tierra de Badajoz, and in Tierra de Barros besides the traditional source of agricultural wealth, there is a flourishing industry of agro-livestock transformation. In other regions more distant from urban centres and the main roads, such as Campiña Sur, La Serena and La Siberia, the main source is the primary sector, i.e. agriculture and perhaps even more livestock (sheep and pig). The agricultural sector is dominated by irrigated areas in the Guadiana Valley (Badajoz, Montijo, Mérida, Don Benito-Villanueva), the predominant olive groves in Tierra de Barros, and the vineyards, extensive in Tierra de Barros and in Llerena (Campiña Sur). The industrial sector, although less developed and very low in proportion to national activity, has a proportion of employed population similar to the agro-livestock sector: 12.13% (up to 26% if we include construction) compared to 14% (primary sector). The two main cities of the province stand out: Badajoz and Mérida, with their respective industrial parks; and the towns of Jerez de los Caballeros, Don Benito-Villanueva and Almendralejo. The tertiary sector is the most predominant sector in the province (61.87% of the population employed), where the business (Almendralejo and Zafra), commercial (Badajoz) and tourism and administrative (Mérida) sectors stand out.

Tourist destinations

The economy of the province is based on

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

and

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 ...

. Some of the popular tourist destinations of the province include Badajoz,

Fregenal de la Sierra Fregenal de la Sierra (originally Frexnal or Frexenal) is a municipality located in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. Geography Fregenal de la Sierra is located in the Sierra Suroeste comarca (county), among the small hills and ravi ...

, Llerena, Mérida,

, Alange, Alburquerque and Almendralejo. The popular dishes include hare, partridge and various pork products. Cornalvo Nature Reserve, the ancient structure of Roman Theatre in Mérida, National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida, Alcazaba City Wall and Ibn Marwan Monument and Espantaperros Tower of Badajoz Fortress are popular tourist spots. The National Museum of Roman Art was designed in 1980 by architect José Rafael Moneo Vallés and completed in 1985. The architect designed the museum to have a Roman feel and look. Romans used to control present-day Spain, also known as the Iberian Peninsula, in the years following their arrival around 295 BC. Today, Mérida has the greatest number of noteworthy Roman buildings still surviving. It is also famous on an archaeological basis. The museum exhibits remnants of Roman infrastructure and dwellings, including those showing Christian influences like a basilica, and tombs. Inspiration for the National Museum of Roman Art dates back to 1838, when the city located the museum in a church, Santa Clara.Lapunzina, A. (2005). ''Reference guides to national architecture: Architecture of Spain''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

Notes and references

External links

Diputación de Badajoz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Badajoz, Province of States and territories established in 1833