53 Facts About Andalusia

Andalusia is located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe, immediately south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha; west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea; east of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean; and north of the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar.

Andalusia is the only European region with both Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines.

Main mountain ranges of Andalusia are the Sierra Morena and the Baetic System, consisting of the Subbaetic and Penibaetic Mountains, separated by the Intrabaetic Basin.

Andalusia has historically been an agricultural region, compared to the rest of Spain and the rest of Europe.

Anthem of Andalusia was composed by Jose del Castillo Diaz with lyrics by Blas Infante.

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Andalusia alone is comparable in extent and in the variety of its terrain to any of several of the smaller European countries.

Andalusia sits at a latitude between 36° and 38° 44' N, in the warm-temperate region.

Andalusia includes both the dry Tabernas Desert in the province of Almeria and the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park in the province of Cadiz, which experiences Spain's greatest rainfall.

Andalusia has rivers that flow into both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

Soils of Andalusia can be divided into three large areas: the Sierra Morena, Cordillera Subbetica, and the Baetic Depression and the Surco Intrabetico.

In broad terms, the typical vegetation of Andalusia is Mediterranean woodland, characterized by leafy xerophilic perennials, adapted to the long, dry summers.

Several theories postulate that the first hominids in Europe were in Andalusia, having passed across the Strait of Gibraltar; the earliest known paintings of humanity have been found in the Caves of Nerja, Malaga.

Andalusia then went through a period of protohistory, when the region did not have a written language of its own, but its existence was known to and documented by literate cultures, principally the Phoenicians and Ancient Greeks, wide historical moment in which Cadiz was founded, regarded by many as the oldest city still standing in Western Europe; another city among the oldest is Malaga.

Andalusia was the major staging ground for the war with Rome led by the Carthaginian general Hannibal.

Andalusia profited from the Spanish overseas empire, although much trade and finance eventually came to be controlled by other parts of Europe to where it was ultimately destined.

The Regional Government of Andalusia includes the Parliament of Andalusia, its chosen president, a Consultative Council, and other bodies.

Autonomous Community of Andalusia was formed in accord with a referendum of 28 February 1980 and became an autonomous community under the 1981 Statute of Autonomy known as the Estatuto de Carmona.

That article was set out for regions like Andalusia that had been prevented by the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War from adopting a statute of autonomy during the period of the Second Spanish Republic.

The region's highest court, the High Court of Andalusia is not part of the Autonomous Government, and has its seat in Granada.

Unlike in some of Spain's other autonomous communities, under the original 1981 Statute of Autonomy, the comarcas of Andalusia had no formal recognition, but, in practice, they still had informal recognition as geographic, cultural, historical, or in some cases administrative entities.

Andalusia is traditionally an agricultural area, but the service sector now predominates.

Still, according to the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, the GDP per capita of Andalusia remains the second lowest in Spain, with only Extremadura lagging behind.

In monetary terms, by far the most productive and competitive agriculture in Andalusia is the intensive forced cultivation of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and other fruits grown under hothouse conditions under clear plastic, often in sandy zones, on the coasts, in Almeria and Huelva.

Andalusia has a long tradition of animal husbandry and livestock farming, but it is restricted mainly to mountain meadows, where there is less pressure from other potential uses.

The CAC Malaga Archived 20 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine is the most visited museum of Andalusia and has offered exhibitions of artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Gerhard Richter, Anish Kapoor, Ron Mueck or Rodney Graham.

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Lack of high-quality fossil fuels in Andalusia has led to a strong dependency on petroleum imports.

Still, Andalusia has a strong potential for the development of renewable energy, above all wind energy.

Andalusia has a tradition of higher education dating back to the Modern Age and the University of Granada, University of Baeza, and University of Osuna.

Andalusia has international, national, regional, and local media organizations, which are active gathering and disseminating information .

Andalusia has two public television stations, both operated by Radio y Television de Andalucia :.

Patrimony of Andalusia has been shaped by its particular history and geography, as well as its complex flows of population.

Andalusia has been home to a succession of peoples and civilizations, many very different from one another, each impacting the settled inhabitants.

All have shaped the Spanish patrimony in Andalusia, which was already diffused widely in the literary and pictorial genre of the costumbrismo andaluz.

Andalusia, which has never shown the swagger nor petulancy of particularism; that has never pretended to the status of a State apart, is, of all the Spanish regions, the one that possesses a culture most radically its own.

Andalusia has been the birthplace of many great artists: the classic painters Velazquez, Murillo, and Juan de Valdes Leal; the sculptors Juan Martinez Montanes, Alonso Cano and Pedro de Mena; and such modern painters as Daniel Vazquez Diaz and Pablo Picasso.

Since the Neolithic era, Andalusia has preserved important megaliths, such as the dolmens at the Cueva de Menga and the Dolmen de Viera, both at Antequera.

Some greatest architecture in Andalusia were developed across several centuries and civilizations.

Traditional architecture of Andalusia retains its Roman with added Persian and Egyptian influences brought by Arabs, with a marked Mediterranean character strongly conditioned by the climate.

Some greatest Renaissance buildings in Andalusia are from the then-kingdom of Jaen: the Jaen Cathedral, designed in part by Andres de Vandelvira, served as a model for the Cathedral of Malaga and Guadix; the centers of Ubeda and Baeza, dating largely from this era, are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Andalusia has such Baroque-era buildings as the Palace of San Telmo in Seville, the Church of Our Lady of Reposo in Campillos, and the Granada Charterhouse.

Andalusia plays a significant role in the history of Spanish-language literature, although not all of the important literature associated with Andalusia was written in Spanish.

Music of Andalusia includes traditional and contemporary music, folk and composed music, and ranges from flamenco to rock.

Each sub-region in Andalusia has its own unique customs that represent a fusion of Catholicism and local folklore.

All the different regions of Andalusia have developed their own distinctive customs, but all share a connectedness to Catholicism as developed during baroque Spain society.

Territory now known as Andalusia fell within the sphere of influence of ancient Mediterranean mythological beliefs.

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The principal characteristic of the local popular form of Catholicism is devotion to the Virgin Mary; Andalusia is sometimes known as la tierra de Maria Santisima .

Andalusia is the site of such pilgrim destinations as the Santuario de Nuestra Senora de la Cabeza in Andujar and the Hermitage of El Rocio in Almonte.

Andalusia produces D O vinegar and brandy: D O Vinagre de Jerez and D O Brandy de Jerez.

Traditional dress of 18th-century Andalusia was strongly influenced by within the context of casticismo .

Andalusia has a great artisan tradition in tile, leather, weaving, marquetry, and ceramics, lace, embroidery, ironwork, woodworking, and basketry in wicker, many of these traditions a heritage of the long period of Muslim rule.

Andalusia's strongest showing in sports has been in table tennis.

Andalusia hosted the 1999 World Championships in Athletics, the 2005 Mediterranean Games and the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1996, among other major events.

Andalusia has had a sister region relationship with Buenos Aires, since 2001; and with Cordoba .