León (, ; ; ; ) is a

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

of northwestern Spain in the northern part of the Region of León and in the northwestern part of the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

. About one quarter of its population of 463,746 (2018) lives in the capital, León. The climate is dry, cold in winter and hot in summer. This creates the perfect environment for wine and all types of cold meats and sausages like the leonese "Morcilla" and the "Cecina". There are two famous

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedrals in the province, the main one in León and another in Astorga. The province shares the Picos de Europa National Park (in the Picos de Europa mountain range) with Cantabria and

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

. It has 211 municipalities.

History

The province of León was established in 1833 with the new Spanish administrative organisation of regions and provinces to replace former kingdoms. The greater Leonese Region was composed of the provinces of León,

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

, Palencia and Zamora. The Kingdom of León was founded in 910 A.D. when the Christian princes of

along the northern coast of the Iberian peninsula shifted their main seat from

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

to the city of León. The eastern, inland part of the kingdom was joined dynastically to the Kingdom of Castile, first in 1037–1065, then in 1077–1109 and again in 1126–1157, 1230–1296 and from 1301 onward (see: historic union of the Kingdoms of Castile and León). The western and Atlantic provinces became the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...

in 1139. The independently administered Kingdom of León, situated in the northwestern region of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, retained the status of a kingdom until 1833, although dynastic union had brought it into the Crown of Castile. The Kingdom was composed of ''Adelantamientos Mayores'', where the Leonese ''Adelantamientos'' consisted of the territories between the '' Picos de Europa'' and the Duero River. The political and military chiefs of these territories were referred to as ''Adelantados''; those chiefs began to convene as an assembly in the early 12th century, while the crown appointed the ''Merinos'' as minor and appellate judges. According to UNESCO, in 1188 the Kingdom of León developed the first Parliament in Europe, the ''Cortes de León'', which included the elected representatives of towns and cities. In 1202, that Parliament approved economic legislation to regulate trade and guilds.

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: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:358 text:357,944 bar:1887 from:0 till:389 text:389,233 bar:1900 from:0 till:401 text:401,172 bar:1910 from:0 till:419 text:419,226 bar:1920 from:0 till:436 text:436,369 bar:1930 from:0 till:462 text:461,560 bar:1940 from:0 till:509 text:508,613 bar:1950 from:0 till:551 text:551,072 bar:1960 from:0 till:591 text:591,130 bar:1970 from:0 till:563 text:562,766 bar:1980 from:0 till:524 text:523,607 bar:1990 from:0 till:526 text:525,896 bar:2000 from:0 till:489 text:488,751 bar:2010 from:0 till:493 text:493,312 bar:2020 from:0 till:456 text:456,439 TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

Languages

The Provincial Government of León signed accords with language associations for promoting the

Leonese language Leonese (''llionés, ḷḷionés, lionés'') is a set of vernacular Romance languages, Romance language varieties spoken in northern and western portions of the historical region of León (historical region), León in Spain (the modern provi ...

. Leonese is taught in the city of León, Mansilla de las Mulas, La Bañeza, Valencia de Don Juan or Ponferrada for adult people, and in sixteen schools of León. The City Council of León writes some of its announcements in Leonese in order to promote the language. In the western part of the El Bierzo, the westernmost region of the province,

Galician language Galician ( , ), also known as Galego (), is a Iberian Romance languages, Western Ibero-Romance language. Around 2.4 million people have at least some degree of competence in the language, mainly in Galicia (Spain), Galicia, an Autonomo ...

is spoken and taught at schools.

Climate

As for the temperatures, in general it is a cold climate due to the altitude and the abundance of frost (which persist from November to May), being more intense in the mountainous areas reaching -18 °C. Vega de Liordes, an enclave in the León sector of Picos de Europa belonging to the municipality of Posada de Valdeón registered on January 7, 2021.

Cuisine

''Embutidos'' * '' Cecina de León'': from beef. In the

, ''cecina'' means "meat that has been salted and dried by means of air, sun or smoke". ''Cecina de León'' is made of the hind legs of beef, salted, smoked and air-dried in the province of León, and has PGI status. * '' Botillo'': from pig. Traditionally made in the western Leonese regions, ''botiellu'' in Leonese or ''botelo'' in Galician, is a dish of meat-stuffed pork intestine. It is a culinary specialty of the county of El Bierzo and also of the region of Trás-os-Montes in Portugal. This type of '' embutido'' is a meat product made from different pieces left over from the butchering of a pig, including the ribs, tail, and bones with a little meat left on them. These are chopped; seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and other spices; stuffed in the cecum of the pig; and partly cured via smoking. It can also include the pig's tongue, shoulder blade, jaw, and backbone, but never exceeding 20% of the total volume. It is normally consumed cooked, covered with a sheet. In some parts of the province, specially close to Orbigo river it's also known as Yosco. It has PGI status. Cheese * ''Queso de Valdeón ( Valdeón cheese)'': a blue cheese produced in Posada de Valdeon, traditionally wrapped in chestnut or sycamore maple leaves before being sent to market. Wines * '' Bierzo'': in the west of the province of León and covers about 3,000 km². The area consists of numerous small valleys in the mountainous part (Alto Bierzo) and of a wide, flat plain (Bajo Bierzo). The ''

denominación de origen In Spain and Latin America, the (; )In other languages of Spain: * Catalan: (). * (). * (). is part of a regulatory geographical indication system used primarily for foodstuffs such as cheeses, condiments, honey, and meats, among others. ...

'' covers 23 municipalities. * '' Tierra de León'': in the southeast of the province of León. Sweets * Mantecadas de Astorga * Hojaldres de Astorga * Lazos de San Guillermo * Nicanores de Boñar

Municipalities

* List of municipalities in León

Comarcas

* El Bierzo * Maragatería * Tierra de Campos * La Montaña *

La Ribera La Ribera (, 'The Shore') is one of the areas of the quarter of Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera of Ciutat Vella ("the old city") of Barcelona. Overview Many of the buildings date from late Medieval times. It was a well-to-do quarter duri ...

* La Cabrera * Tierras de La Bañeza * Tierras de León

Notes and references

External links

The Official Tourism Website of the Province of Leon

Leonese Provincial Government

Leonese City Council
* San Isidro Ski Resort {{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Province of