search
Spain provinces map
Spain map regions provinces. Spain provinces map (Southern Europe - Europe) to print. Spain provinces map (Southern Europe - Europe) to download. Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces as its shown in Spain provinces map (Spanish: provincias, IPA: [pɾoˈβinθjas]; sing. provincia). These closely follow the pattern of the territorial division of the country carried out in 1833. The only major change of provincial borders since that time has been the sub-division of the Canary Islands into two provinces rather than one. Historically, the provinces served mainly as transmission belts for policies enacted in Madrid, as Spain was a highly centralised state for most of its history.
Most of the provinces—with the exception of Álava/Araba, Asturias, Bizkaia/Vizcaya, Cantabria, Gipuzkoa/Gipúzcoa, Illes Balears/Islas Baleares, La Rioja, Las Palmas, and Nafarroa/Navarra—are named after their principal town as its mentioned in Spain provinces map. Only two capitals of autonomous communities—Mérida in Extremadura and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia—are not also the capitals of provinces. Seven of the autonomous communities comprise no more than one province each: Asturias, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, and Navarre. These are sometimes referred to as "uniprovincial" communities.
Spain division by Province has endured, almost unchanged, since 1833 as you can see in Spain provinces map. In 1978 the creation of the Comunidades Automonas became a constitutional mandate, implemented by statute between 1979 and 1983. Each Comunidad contains at least one Province. Seven Comunidades have just one Province each with the same name as its Comunidad (Madrid, Asturias, Cantabria, Navarre, La Rioja, Murcia and the Balearic Islands) whilst others have eight or nine (as Andalucia and Castille & Leon respectively).
Spain Provinces are the second level subdivision of areas, between the first level Autonomous Communities such as Andalucia and the third level Comarcas (Departments) such as Axarquia as its shown in Spain provinces map. The fourth level divisions are the Municipalities, the smallest administrative divisions, which can consist of a city or town plus outlying hamlets, or a group of villages. Before the Comunidades Autonomas were introduced Provinces had greater powers. They are still used as electoral districts, in postal addresses, phone codes, and for geographical reference.