Baix Maestrat Explained

Baix Maestrat
Native Name Lang:es
Settlement Type:Comarca
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Spain
Subdivision Type1:Autonomous community
Subdivision Type2:Province
Subdivision Name2:Castellón
Seat Type:Capital
Seat:Vinaròs
Parts Type:Municipalities
Parts Style:list
P1:Alcalà de Xivert, Benicarló, Càlig, Canet lo Roig, Castell de Cabres, Cervera del Maestre, Chert/Xert, La Jana, Peñíscola, La Pobla de Benifassà, Rossell, La Salzadella, San Rafael del Río, Sant Jordi/San Jorge, Sant Mateu, Santa Magdalena de Pulpis, Traiguera, Vinaròs
Area Total Km2:1221.32
Population Total:81871
Population As Of:2019
Population Density Km2:auto
Population Demonym: 
Population Note:[1]
Blank Name Sec1:Largest municipality
Blank Info Sec1:Vinaròs
Timezone1:CET
Utc Offset1:+1
Timezone1 Dst:CEST
Utc Offset1 Dst:+2
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Area Code Type:Dialing code

Baix Maestrat (ˈbajʒ maesˈtɾat/; Spanish; Castilian: Bajo Maestrazgo pronounced as /es/) is a coastal comarca located in the north of the province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. The capital of the comarca is Vinaròs.

Municipalities

The comarca is composed of 18 municipalities, listed below with their surface areas, their populations at the 2011 Census and according to the latest official estimates (for i January 2019) and their population density in 2019:

MunicipalitySurface
Area
in km2
Population
(2011)
[2]
Population
(2019)
[3]
Density
per km2
(2019)
Vinaròsalign=right 95.46align=right 28,267align=right 28,682align=right 300.46
Benicarlóalign=right 47.86align=right 26,355align=right 26,912align=right 562.31
Peniscolaalign=right 78.97align=right 7,822align=right 7,612align=right 96.39
Alcalà de Xivertalign=right 167.56align=right 7,826align=right 6,680align=right 39.87
Sant Mateualign=right 64.62align=right 2,062align=right 1,963align=right 30.38
Càligalign=right 27.47align=right 2,178align=right 1,950align=right 70.99
Traigueraalign=right 59.76align=right 1,586align=right 1,378align=right 23.06
Sant Jordi/San Jorgealign=right 36.49align=right 1,007align=right 972align=right 26.64
Rossellalign=right 74.93align=right 1,133align=right 937align=right 12.51
Santa Magdalena de Polpísalign=right 66.49align=right 844align=right 768align=right 11.55
La Salzadellaalign=right 49.92align=right 846align=right 704align=right 14.10
Xertalign=right 82.51align=right 846align=right 701align=right 8.50
La Janaalign=right 19.50align=right 766align=right 675align=right 34.56
Canet lo Roigalign=right 68.67align=right 828align=right 674align=right 9.82
Cervera del Maestratalign=right 93.24align=right 686align=right 575align=right 6.17
San Rafael del Ríoalign=right 21.15align=right 526align=right 469align=right 22.17
La Pobla de Benifassàalign=right 136.00align=right 288align=right 202align=right 1.49
Castell de Cabresalign=right 30.72align=right 20align=right 17align=right 0.55

Data from National Institute of Statistics 2019

Geography

The comarca borders to the north-west with the province of Teruel (Aragon), to the north-east with the province of Tarragona (Catalonia), to the east with the Mediterranean Sea, to the south with the comarca of Plana Alta (Castellón, Valencia) and to the west with the comarcas of Alt Maestrat (Castellón, Valencia) and Els Ports (Castellón, Valencia).

Within the comarca lies Serra d'Irta, an 18.8 km long mountain range and the largest undeveloped coastal area within the Valencian Community. The range includes the Natural Park of Serra d'Irta, which was declared a protected area by the Valencian Regional Government on July 16, 2002.

Economic activities

The area's traditional economic activities include agriculture (citrus fruits, olive trees, artichokes) and fishing. Artichokes from Benicarló are covered by a geographic designation of origin.

Historical delimitations

See main article: Comarques of the Valencian Community.

The current comarca of Baix Maestrat also includes the historical subcomarcas of Tinença de Benifassà and Plana de Vinaròs. The localities of Albocàsser and Tírig (today located in Alt Maestrat), and Les Coves de Vinromà, Sarratella, La Torre d'en Doménec, and Vilanova d'Alcolea (in Plana Alta), were also formerly part of the historic comarca.

See also

References

40.4708°N 0.4747°W

Notes and References

  1. Official estimate as at 1 January 2019: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Madrid, 2019.
  2. Census of 1 November 2011: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Madrid, 2019.
  3. Official estimate as at 1 January 2019: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Madrid, 2019.