| Soria | |
| Type: | Province |
| Coordinates: | 41.6667°N -42°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Spain |
| Subdivision Type1: | Autonomous community |
| Subdivision Name1: | Castile and León |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Soria |
| Leader Title: | President |
| Area Total Km2: | 10,303 |
| Area Rank: | Ranked 23rd |
| Area Note: | 2.04% of Spain |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Official language(s) |
| Blank Info Sec1: | Castilian |
| Population Total: | 90040 |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Rank: | Ranked 50th |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Demonym: | Spanish; Castilian: Soriano/a |
| Population Note: | 0.20% of Spain |
| Blank Name Sec2: | Parliament |
| Blank Info Sec2: | Cortes Generales |
| Blank1 Name Sec2: | Congress seats |
| Blank2 Name Sec2: | Senate seats |
| Website: | dipsoria.es |
Soria is a province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. Most of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area.
It is bordered by the provinces of La Rioja, Zaragoza, Guadalajara, Segovia, and Burgos. Soria is the least populous of all of Spain's provinces,[1] with a density of around 9 inhabitants/km2—one of the lowest in the European Union. The average population density of provinces in Spain and European Union are 83.6 and 116 inhabitants per square km respectively.[2] In comparison, the Soria province is less dense than some northern parts of the Nordic countries. Of the province's population of 91,487 (2002), nearly 40% live in the capital, Soria. 26.7% of its population was above 65 years of age while the nation's average is 16.9%.[2] There are 183 municipalities in Soria, of which nearly half are hamlets of under 100 people[2] and of which only 12 have more than 1,000 people. The cathedral town of the province is El Burgo de Osma.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
ImageSize = width:600 height:auto barincrement:30PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20DateFormat = x.yPeriod = from:0 till:200TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalAlignBars = lateScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:20 start:0ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:5 start:0BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo
PlotData= color:skyblue width:20 shift:(-50,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till bar:1900 from:0 till:155 text:155,277 bar:1910 from:0 till:162 text:162,011 bar:1920 from:0 till:159 text:159,392 bar:1930 from:0 till:163 text:162,681 bar:1940 from:0 till:166 text:165,855 bar:1950 from:0 till:165 text:164,575 bar:1960 from:0 till:152 text:152,426 bar:1970 from:0 till:117 text:117,462 bar:1981 from:0 till:101 text:100,719 bar:1991 from:0 till:95 text:94,537 bar:2000 from:0 till:91 text:90,911 bar:2010 from:0 till:95 text:95,258 bar:2020 from:0 till:88 text:88,884TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"
The province's most important agricultural products are cereals. In the 1950s, there were a total of 70,000 hectares cultivated land, but excessive fragmentation and lack of mechanization resulted in a very low productivity.[3] In 1960, while the agricultural sector accounted for 69% of workers in the province, 70% of farms were used exclusively for animal rearing. There are currently about 100,000 hectares of land in the province dedicated to the cultivation of wheat and other 100,000 hectares for barley cultivation.[4]
The indigenous forest resources are also being exploited for timber, resin and collecting mushrooms. Marble quarries are located in Espejón while Sierra de Toranzo and Ólvega have iron mines. Magnetite sources are also being exploited in Borobia.[5] The capital city Soria is an important tourist destination. While the agricultural sector has a very high contribution to GDP of the province, the industrial sector represents a small proportion, just over 20% of GDP.[2] Apart from these the province also has important food, wood processing, furniture production and auxiliary automotive components industries.
Soria has 183 municipalities divided in 10 comarcas:
The province's coat of arms bears the motto Soria pura, cabeza de estremadura, which means "Soria the pure, head of the borderland",[6] as Soria was centuries ago on the expanding borders between the northern Christian kingdoms and the territories then held by the Muslims.
See main article: List of municipalities in Soria.