Salamanca () is a

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

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") , ...

, 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 administr ...

of Castile and León (Castilla y León). It is bordered by the provinces of

Zamora Zamora may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe Spain * Zamora, Spain, a city in the autonomous community of Castilla y León * Province of Zamora, a province in the autonomous community of Castilla y León * Associated with the city and ...

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peo ...

Ávila Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila. It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m a ...

, and Cáceres, and on the west by

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

. It has an area of 12,349 km² and in 2018 had a population of 331,473 people. It is divided into 362 municipalities, 11

comarca 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 " ...

s, 32 mancomunidades and five judicial districts. Of the 362 municipalities, more than half are villages with fewer than 300 people.

History

The Vettones occupied the areas of the current Spanish provinces of Salamanca and Ávila, as well as parts of Cáceres, Toledo and Zamora. They were a pre-Roman people of Celtic culture. Their numerous archaeological sites exist throughout the province, and several locality names have Vettone origin, some of which are quite important. This is the case of Salamanca (''Salmantica''), Ledesma (''Bletisama'') and Ciudad Rodrigo (''Augustobriga''). Vettone villages were often established on the banks of rivers or on mountains. Examples include Salamanca and Ledesma, built along the Tormes, Bermellar, El Castillo (Saldeana) Moncalvo (Hinojosa de Duero), Picon de la Mora (Picones) and Castro de Yecla la Vieja ( Yecla de Yeltes) next to Huebra, Ciudad Rodrigo, Irueña (Fuenteguinaldo) and Lerilla (Zamarra) on the banks of the Agueda and

Castro de Las Merchanas Castro is a Romance language word that originally derived from Latin '' castrum'', a pre-Roman military camp or fortification (cf: Greek: ''kastron''; Proto-Celtic:''*Kassrik;'' br, kaer, *kastro). The English-language equivalent is ''chester''. ...

( Lumbrales), in a loop of the Camaces. The area between La Armuña and Salamanca marked the border between Vettones and Vaccaei, the other pre-Roman people of the province. They were situated in the northeast area of the province.

Geography

Salamanca Province is situated in western Spain, in the western part of Castile and León. It has average altitude of 823 meters, but there are large variations throughout the province, with being the highest point at the peak of the

Ceja Canchal The Canchal de la Ceja is a 2,428 metres high mountain in Spain. Etymology ''Canchal'' means ''scree''; the name ''Ceja'' (literally ''eyebrow'') comes from the peculiar shape of the snowfield located below the summit on the North face of ...

in the Sierra de Béjar range, and being the lowest point in the valley of the Salto de Saucelle. Also of note is the Sierra de Francia mountain range. The Salamanca hydrographic network is mainly formed by the Duero basin. The most important rivers are the Duero, Tormes, Águeda, Huebra, and Yeltes rivers. The region is well-irrigated with a number of dams and reservoirs, and with more 3,400 million cubic meters, it is the province with the third highest water storage capacity in Spain, second only to the Province of Badajoz and the

Province of Cáceres The province of Cáceres ( ; es, provincia de Cáceres, ) is a province of western Spain, and makes up the northern half of the autonomous community of Extremadura. Its capital is the city of Cáceres. Other cities in the province include Pl ...

. Of particular note is the Almendra Dam, five kilometres from the village of Almendra. Constructed between 1964 and 1970, the dam forms part of the hydroelectric system known as ''the Duero Drops'', along with the Castro, Ricobayo, Saucelle and Villalcampo. It is one of the largest reservoirs in Spain with an area of and 2.5 billion cubic metres of water. The dam itself is more than half a kilometre wide and, at a height of , it is one of Spain's tallest structures.

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:650 height:auto barincrement:28 PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:420 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:20 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:5 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo PlotData= color:skyblue width:20 shift:(-50,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till bar:1877 from:0 till:289 text:288,884 bar:1887 from:0 till:321 text:320,569 bar:1900 from:0 till:326 text:326,233 bar:1910 from:0 till:352 text:352,486 bar:1920 from:0 till:342 text:342,264 bar:1930 from:0 till:357 text:356,882 bar:1940 from:0 till:399 text:398,706 bar:1950 from:0 till:415 text:415,127 bar:1960 from:0 till:416 text:415,813 bar:1970 from:0 till:380 text:380,133 bar:1980 from:0 till:365 text:364,305 bar:1990 from:0 till:358 text:357,801 bar:2000 from:0 till:346 text:345,609 bar:2010 from:0 till:350 text:350,018 bar:2020 from:0 till:329 text:329,245 TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

Landmarks

There are

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

cathedrals at Salamanca and Ciudad Rodrigo. The Old Cathedral of Salamanca was founded by Bishop

Jerome of Périgord Jerome of Périgord (died 30 June 1120), in Spanish Jerónimo, was a French monk who became the bishop of several dioceses in Spain. He was a companion of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar ("El Cid"), and in 1097 or 1098 became the Rom ...

, in the 12th century and completed in Romanesque/Gothic style in the 14th century. It is dedicated to Santa Maria de la Sede (Saint Mary of the See). The New Cathedral of Salamanca was constructed between the 16th and 18th centuries in the Late Gothic and Baroque styles. Building began in 1513 and the cathedral was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

in 1733. It was commissioned by Ferdinand V of Castile of Spain. It was declared a national monument by royal decree in 1887.

Notes and references

External links