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Andalucia)
Andalusia (Andalucía in Spanish) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities that constitute Spain. Its capital is Sevilla.
Located in the south of the country, Andalusia is bounded on the north by Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha, on the east by Murcia, on the south by the Mediterranean Sea and Gibraltar, and on the west by Portugal. Tartessos, the capitol of a once great power, was located in Andalusia.
The early history of Andalusia can be found in the entry Hispania Baetica the name of the Roman province that corresponds to the region. The Islamic history can be found in the entry al-Andalus; "Andalusia" derives from this name the Moors gave to this land.
The Spanish spoken in the Americas is largely descended from the Andalusian dialect of Castilian Spanish due to the role played by Seville as the gateway to Spain's American colonies in the 16th and 17th centuries.
A lot of Moorish architecture is found in Andalusia, because it was the last stronghold of the Moors before they were conquered by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492. The most famous are The Alhambra in Granada, the Mezquita in Córdoba and the Torre del Oro and Giralda towers in Sevilla. Archaeological remains include Medina Azahara , near Córdoba.
Andalusia is divided in 8 provinces:
Major cities in Andalusia are:
Andalusia is the home of flamenco music. Andalusia has an anthem written by Blas Infante :
- La bandera blanca y verde,
- vuelve tras siglos de guerra.
- A decir Paz y Esperanza,
- bajo el sol de nuestra tierra.
- ¡Andaluces, levantáos!
- ¡Pedid tierra y libertad!
- Sea por Andalucia libre,
- España y la Humanidad.
- Los andaluces queremos
- volver a ser lo que fuimos.
- Hombres de luz que a los hombres,
- Alma de hombres les dimos.
- ¡Andaluces, levantáos!
- ¡Pedid tierra y libertad!
- Sea por Andalucia libre,
- España y la Humanidad.
The Macarena is an aspect of the Virgin Mary recognized in Andalusia, Spain. It is the title given to Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza (Our Lady of Hope), in Seville. It is also the name of a neighbourhood in Seville and a common first name for Andalusian women.
External links
- Statute of Autonomy http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/SP/Junta_de_Andalucia/CDA/Paginas/JDA-IndiceSimbo
los/0,16390,,00.html (in Spanish)
- Government of Andalusia http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/ (in Spanish)
- Parliament of Andalusia http://www.parlamento-and.es/ (in Spanish)
- Basic statistical data for Andalusia http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/institutodeestadistica/dtbas/dtb03/dtb03.pdf (in Spanish, .pdf format)
Last updated: 02-07-2005 06:32:59