Province of León explained

León
Native Name:Asturian; Bable; Leonese; Asturleonese: Llión
Type:Province
Coordinates:42.6667°N -6°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Spain
Subdivision Type1:Autonomous community
Subdivision Name1:Castilla y León
Seat Type:Capital
Seat:León
Leader Title:President
Area Total Km2:15581
Area Rank:Ranked 7th
Area Note:3.08% of Spain
Population Total:463,746
Population As Of:2018
Population Rank:Ranked 30th
Population Density Km2:auto
Population Demonym:Leonese
Population Note:1.08% of Spain
Website:dipuleon.es

León (pronounced as /es/; in Asturian; Bable; Leonese; Asturleonese pronounced as /ʎiˈoŋ/; pronounced as /gl/) is a province of northwestern Spain in the northern part of the Region of León and in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.

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 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. 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 and Zamora.

The Kingdom of León was founded in 910 A.D. when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the Iberian peninsula shifted their main seat from Oviedo 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 in 1139.

The independently administered Kingdom of León, situated in the northwestern region of the Iberian Peninsula, 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.[1]

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.[2] In 1202, that Parliament approved economic legislation to regulate trade and guilds.[3]

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:30PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20DateFormat = x.yPeriod = from:0 till:600TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalAlignBars = lateScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:100 start:0ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:50 start:0BackgroundColors = 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:456,439TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

Languages

See also: Leonese language. The Provincial Government of León signed accords with language associations for promoting the Leonese language. 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 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 -35.8C on January 7, 2021.[4] [5]

Cuisine

Embutidos

Cheese

Wines

Sweets

Municipalities

Comarcas

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Jular Pérez-Alfaro, Cristina. Los Adelantados y Merinos Mayores de León (siglos XIII-XV). 1990. Universidad de León. 84-7719-225-1. León, Spain.
  2. Web site: The Decreta of León of 1188 - The oldest documentary manifestation of the European parliamentary system United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. www.unesco.org. en. 2023-07-07.
  3. Book: Keane, John. Democracy. 2016-01-31. Columbia University Press. 9780231539500. New York Chichester, West Sussex. 10.7312/blau17412-110. 91. The Life and Death of Democracy.
  4. Web site: Vega de Liordes (León) bate este jueves el récord histórico de temperatura mínima en España con -35,8 grados. elDiario.es. 7 January 2021. 12 January 2021. Spanish . Vega de Liordes (León) beats this Thursday the historical record for the minimum temperature in Spain with -35.8 degrees.
  5. Web site: Spain records coldest ever temperature at minus 35.8 degrees Celsius. 12 January 2021.