Castellón (officially in ca-valencia, Castelló) 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 ...

in the northern part of the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...

. It is bordered by the provinces of

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

to the south,

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel Province. It has a population of 35,675 in 2014 making it the least populated provincial capital in the country. It is noted for its harsh climate, with ...

to the west,

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

to the north, and by the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

to the east. The western side of the province is in the

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

ous

Sistema Ibérico The Iberian System ( es, Sistema Ibérico, ) is one of the major systems of mountain ranges in Spain. It consists of a vast and complex area of mostly relatively high and rugged mountain chains and massifs located in the central region of th ...

area.

Geography

Castellón's capital is

Castellón de la Plana Castellón de la Plana (officially in ca-valencia, Castelló de la Plana), or simply Castellón ( ca-valencia, Castelló, link=no) is the capital city of the province of Castellón, in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is located in the east ...

(). The province had a population of 579,962 at the start of 2019, 30% of whom were residing in the capital, 60% in its metropolitan area, and 85% along the coastline. As of the 2011 Census, the population had grown to 594,423 people, but has since declined.Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, Madrid, 2019. The province, and in particular its idle large

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

, has become a symbol of the wasteful spending prior to the 2008-14 Spanish financial crisis. It is a bilingual territory whose inhabitants speak both Spanish and the local co-official language

Valencian Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the El Carche comarca in Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance language also known as Catal ...

. Other major cities of the province include

Vila-real Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

, Borriana,

La Vall d'Uixó La Vall d'Uixó (, also known as ''Vall-llarga'', ''Vall del Duc'' or simply as ''La Vall''; es, Vall de Uxó) is a town situated in eastern Spain, in the Valencian province of Castelló. La Vall is located 25 km to the south of the provi ...

and

Vinaròs Vinaròs () is a city located in eastern Spain and the capital of the Baix Maestrat in the province of Castelló. It is in the border between the Valencian Country and Catalonia. Vinaròs is a fishing harbour and tourist destination. History T ...

. There are 135 municipalities in Castellón; see

List of municipalities in Castellón This is a list of the 135 municipalities in the province of Castelló (''Castellón'' in Castillian Spanish) in the Valencian Country, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonad ...

. Castellón is the home of

Penyagolosa Penyagolosa (, es, Peñagolosa) is a mountain in the Alcalatén area, Valencian Community, Spain. Geologically it is part of the Iberian System, located at the eastern end of Iberian Peninsula. Its peak is at 1,813 meters above sea level a ...

, the highest mountain of the province and the second highest one in the

. It is widely considered to be one of the most emblematic Valencian mountains. The Greenwich Meridian (the Prime Meridian) passes through the province; there are localities with commemorative monuments such as La Pobla Tornesa, Castellón or Almassora (Paseo Marítimo), and in Castellon it intersects the 40th parallel, and the exact point can be visited at the Meridian Park.

Population development

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:800 height:auto barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:600 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:289 text:288,765 bar:1887 from:0 till:293 text:292,822 bar:1900 from:0 till:318 text:318,260 bar:1910 from:0 till:334 text:334,181 bar:1920 from:0 till:325 text:325,211 bar:1930 from:0 till:318 text:317,899 bar:1940 from:0 till:320 text:320,443 bar:1950 from:0 till:330 text:330,257 bar:1960 from:0 till:343 text:342,649 bar:1970 from:0 till:387 text:386,516 bar:1980 from:0 till:432 text:431,893 bar:1990 from:0 till:447 text:446,744 bar:2000 from:0 till:485 text:484,566 bar:2010 from:0 till:594 text:594,423 bar:2020 from:0 till:586 text:585,590 TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

Economy

Traditionally, the economy of Castellón has been focused on the production of citrus and vegetables (

Nules Nules is a town in eastern Spain, in the province of Castellón (Valencian Community). Located 18 km to the south of the province's capital, at 13 m over sea level, it has 13,750 inhabitants (2010 data), living in Nules Town, Nules Beach and ...

and

Benicarló Benicarló () is a city and municipality in the north of the province of Castelló, part of the Valencian Community, in the Mediterranean Coast between the cities of Vinaròs and Peníscola, not too far south from the Ebre River. Tourism, ag ...

). Since the 17th century, Castellón has developed an important ceramic and ceramic tile industry ( Onda, L'Alcora,

and

) and nowadays most of the Spanish tile producers are concentrated in the province. Also, furniture (

and

) and chemical industries (Benicarló and Castellón) are present. There is a large oil refinery in Castellón de la Plana. Traditional industries such as shoe and footwear (

), fishing (Castellón,

) and textiles (

Vilafranca Vilafranca is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Ports, in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. Prior to 2022, it was part of a different ''comarca'', l'Alt Maestrat. Its official Spanish language name is Villafranca del Cid ...

and Morella), have given way to a service-based economy due to the increasing importance of tourism in the economy of the province.

Tourism

The Province of Castellón has varied landscapes and heritage that supports a growing tourist industry. The largest seaside and beach resorts include Benicàssim,

Orpesa Oropesa del Mar ( ca-valencia, Orpesa) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of the Valencian community, ''comarca'' of Plana Alta in the Valencian Community, Spain. References

Municipalities in the Province of Ca ...

, Vinaròs, Borriana,

Peníscola Peníscola () or Peñíscola (), anglicised as Peniscola, is a municipality in the Province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. The town is located on the Costa del Azahar, north of the Serra d'Irta along the Mediterranean coast. It is a po ...

, Benicarló, etc. There are opportunities for rural tourism in the interior, as well as monumental towns like Morella,

Vilafamés Vilafamés is a municipality located in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populo ...

Sant Mateu Sant Mateu is a town and municipality in eastern Spain, in the province of Castellón, part of the autonomous community of Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most pop ...

Segorbe Segorbe is a municipality in the mountainous coastal province of Castelló, autonomous community of Valencia, Spain. The former Palace of the Dukes of Medinaceli now houses the city's mayor. Segorbe's bull-running week (''semana de Toros'') in ...

, mineral springs at Montanejos, Benassal,

Catí Catí is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Alt Maestrat, Castellón, Valencia, Spain. The municipality of Catí limits with the following municipal terms: Ares del Maestrat, Morella, Chert, Tírig, La Salzadella, Sant Mateu and Albocàss ...

, etc. More than 50% of the hotel beds are concentrated in Peniscola, which is the third most popular tourist destination in the Valencian Community after Benidorm and

Comarques

The province is historically subdivided into the following

comarques This is a list of the 42 ''comarques'' (singular ''comarca'', , ) into which Catalonia is divided. A ''comarca'' is a group of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the US or a district or council in the UK. However, in the context ...

: *

Alcalatén Alcalatén is a comarca in the province of Castellon, Valencian Community, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(E ...

Alt Maestrat Alt Maestrat (; es, Alto Maestrazgo) is a comarca in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto ...

Alto Mijares Alto Mijares (Valencian: ''Alt Millars'') is a ''comarca'' in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_mot ...

Alto Palancia Alto Palancia (Valencian: ''Alt Palància'') is a comarca in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community (Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto ...

* Baix Maestrat *

Plana Alta Plana Alta is a ''comarca'' in the province of Castelló in the Valencian Country (Spain). The largest town in the comarca is Castelló de la Plana, which is also the capital and largest town in the province. Municipalities The ''comarca'' ...

Plana Baixa Plana Baixa ( es, Plana Baja) is a ''comarca'' in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. The main source of water for irrigation in the area is the Millars River. Municipalities The ''comarca'' is composed of 20 municipaliti ...

Ports A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

Notes

References

External links

.
Meridian Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castello, Province of