Country Spain Elevation 2,066 m (6,778 ft) Population 211,447 (2013) | Region Andalusia Area 1,025 km² Province Province of Málaga | |
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Axarquía ([axarˈki.a]) is a comarca of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is the wedge-shaped area east of Málaga. Its name is possibly traced back to Arabic الشرقية ("Ash-sharquía", meaning "the eastern region"). It extends along the coast and inland. Its coastal towns make up the Costa del Sol Oriental. The natives of the region are called axárquicos.
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Map of Axarqu%C3%ADa, M%C3%A1laga, Spain
Its capital is Vélez-Málaga. The Vélez, Algarrobo and Torrox rivers all run through the region. Its highest mountain is La Maroma, highest point of the Sierra de Tejeda, Penibaetic System.
The Axarquía comarca is also known as Axarquía-Costa del Sol, for it includes the Costa del Sol Oriental sector of the Costa del Sol, east of Málaga city made up of Rincón de la Victoria, Vélez-Málaga, Algarrobo, Torrox and Nerja municipal terms.
Etymology
The Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy defines the word "jarquía" (xarquía in old Castilian) as "district or territory located east of a great city and dependent on it" and says that it proceeds from Arabic شرقية Šarqiyya, meaning "eastern part" or " eastern." It coincides with the region of Axarquia which lies in the east of Málaga. The Royal Academy, in its spelling of the Spanish Language, 1999 edition, explains that, in old Castilian, consonant fricative phoneme ⟨x⟩ represented the deaf palatal [ʃ] as in English sh sound, found in words like Axarquía, Don Quixote, Mexico, Texas etc.