The province of Ciudad Real () 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 out ...

in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha,

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") , ...

. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca,

Albacete Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, t ...

, Jaén, Córdoba,

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 populati ...

, and Toledo. It is partly located in the old

natural region A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora an ...

of La Mancha. Its capital is

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 founded ...

. It is the third largest province by area in all of

, after Cáceres and Badajoz. The historic comarca Campo de Calatrava is located in the center of the province.

History

Ciudad Real was one of the 49 provinces in which Spain was divided in the territorial reorganization of 1833, taking its name from its largest city and capital. Its limits corresponded more or less to the historical province of La Mancha, which was part of the kingdom of Toledo. The Spanish government created the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha on 15 November 1978, as one of several autonomous regions. The new, hyphenated name was chosen to join the historic Castilla region, which extended beyond the new autonomous region, and that of the smaller historic province of La Mancha. Initially a "pre-autonomous" region, the reorganization proposal finally took effect one week after the Statute of Autonomy of Castilla–La Mancha was approved on 10 August 1982. Under this new arrangement, Castilla-La Mancha was subdivided into five provinces,

, Ciudad Real, Cuenca,

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaj ...

and Toledo, each named after its largest town and capital city. The province of Ciudad Real was further subdivided into six comarcas (administrative districts), these being: * Valle de Alcudia * Campo de Calatrava * Mancha * Montes * Montiel * Sierra Morena

Geography

The province of Ciudad Real is located in central Spain and is the third largest province in the country with an area of . To the north lies the Province of Toledo, to the northeast the Province of Cuenca, to the east the Province of Albacete, to the south lie the Provinces of Córdoba and Jaén, and to the west the

Province of Badajoz The province of Badajoz () is a province of western Spain located in the autonomous community of Extremadura. It was formed in 1833. It is bordered by the provinces of Cáceres in the north, Toledo, Ciudad Real in the east, Córdoba in the s ...

. To the northwest of the province is a separate area, the

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of Anchuras, which is sandwiched between the

and the

Province of Toledo Toledo is a province of central Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Badajoz, Cáceres, and Ávila. Its capital is the city of Toledo. ...

. The provincial capital is

. The province is part of the plateau of La Mancha, an elevated but fertile area averaging above sea level, the highest elevation being in the comarca of Campo de Montiel at . The main river, crossing the province from east to west, 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 ...

, and its right bank tributary, the Cigüela. Most of the province is an arid plain, cool in summer and very cold in winter with wide daily fluctuations. The area is agricultural, with wheat, barley, oats, sugar beet, grapes and olives being grown. Cattle are raised here and there are large flocks of sheep. In the valleys formed by the upper reaches of the Guadiana and Cigüela is a wetland area called La Mancha Húmeda. The lagoons and marshes have a resident population of wetland birds and are visited by migrating wildfowl in autumn and spring. The largest towns in the province are

, with a population of 74,960 at the 2014 census,

Puertollano Puertollano () is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha. The city has a population of 47,035 (2019). Contrasting to the largely rural character of the region, Puertollano stands out for the importance o ...

with 50,608,

Tomelloso Tomelloso () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 33,548 (2005). Main sights *Posada de los Portales (late 17th century) *Town Hall, rebuilt in 1904 *Church of ...

with 38,080,

Alcázar de San Juan Alcázar de San Juan is a city and municipality of Spain located in the province of Ciudad Real, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. It lies on the plain of La Mancha. From the 13th to the 19th century the history of Alcázar is strongly ...

with 31,650 and Valdepeñas with 30,705. Other larger municipalities with over ten thousand inhabitants are Manzanares,

Daimiel Daimiel is a municipality in Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 17,342, and a mechanical industry. The football club is Daimiel CF. The Tablas de Daimiel National Park, a well-known but endangered wetland natural res ...

, La Solana, Miguelturra,

Campo de Criptana Campo de Criptana is a municipality and town in the province of Ciudad Real in the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha (Spain). It is found in the region known as La Mancha. History Historical development The area surrounding Campo d ...

, Socuéllamos,

Bolaños de Calatrava Bolaños de Calatrava is a city situated in the Ciudad Real province in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is 4 kilometers from Almagro. History The first settlement dates back to Roman times. The area became a strate ...

and Villarrubia de los Ojos. The

Tablas de Daimiel National Park Tablas de Daimiel National Park (''Parque Nacional de las Tablas de Daimiel'') is a wetland on the La Mancha plain, a mainly arid area in the province of Ciudad Real. With an area of about 3,000 hectares, the park is the smallest of Spain's fift ...

is located in the province of Ciudad Real. It is a wetland area on the La Mancha plain, an otherwise mainly arid region. It has an area of about 2,000 hectares and is the smallest of Spain's fifteen national parks. It is being expanded to include some of the neighbouring

dryland farming Dryland farming and dry farming encompass specific agricultural techniques for the non-irrigated cultivation of crops. Dryland farming is associated with drylands, areas characterized by a cool wet season (which charges the soil with virtua ...

areas. The

Cabañeros National Park Cabañeros National Park (in Spanish: ''Parque Nacional de Cabañeros'') is a national park in the Montes de Toledo, Spain. It falls within two provinces, the northwest of Ciudad Real and the southwest of Toledo. The Park was designated in 1995 ...

is shared with the neighbouring

. It has an area of and lies between the Estena and Bullaque rivers, extending into the Chorito and Miraflores mountain ranges. It contains remnants of the Iberian Mediterranean forest which used to clothe this part of Spain. In the centre of the province is the Campo de Calatrava, the geology of which is volcanic. The

Campo de Calatrava Volcanic Field The Campo de Calatrava volcanic field is a volcanic field in Spain. The volcanic field is in the centre of the province of Ciudad Real, in a region known as Campo de Calatrava. The volcanic field has an area of more than 5000 km2 and more tha ...

covers an area of and has more than three hundred individual structures. It is composed of

pyroclastic cones Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and s ...

lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions ...

s and maars, and rises to . The last known eruption was around 3,600 BC.

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: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:100 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:50 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo PlotData= color:skyblue width:20 shift:(-50,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till bar:1877 from:0 till:255 text:254,722 bar:1887 from:0 till:287 text:287,142 bar:1900 from:0 till:319 text:318,991 bar:1910 from:0 till:376 text:375,632 bar:1920 from:0 till:428 text:428,194 bar:1930 from:0 till:491 text:491,201 bar:1940 from:0 till:538 text:537,549 bar:1950 from:0 till:573 text:572,589 bar:1960 from:0 till:589 text:589,365 bar:1970 from:0 till:513 text:512,821 bar:1980 from:0 till:475 text:475,129 bar:1990 from:0 till:475 text:475,435 bar:2000 from:0 till:479 text:478,957 bar:2010 from:0 till:527 text:526,628 bar:2020 from:0 till:495 text:495,045 TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

Government and administration

Communications

The province has good communications with other parts of Spain and is on the main route between Toledo and Andalusia. The A-4 route passes from north to south between Puerto Lápice and

Almuradiel Almuradiel is a municipality in 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 muni ...

on the way from Madrid to Andalusia. The capital,

, and other locations are linked to this road by the A-43 and A-41, and the Autovía de los Viñedos motorway passes through the northeastern part of the province. Railway communications are via the Madrid–Seville high-speed rail line which has stations in the towns of Ciudad Real and Puertollano. Air travel was enabled by the opening in 2008 of the

Ciudad Real Central Airport Ciudad Real International Airport or CRIA , previously known as ''Central Airport CR'', ''Don Quijote Airport'' and ''South Madrid Airport'', is an international airport and long-storage facility, situated south of Ciudad Real in Spain. Constr ...

, which started to have international flights in June 2010. However the link to the high speed railway line was never built and the airport had financial difficulties and went into administration in October of the same year. In September 2015 it was reported that a new owner had purchased the airport.

References