Country Spain Area rank Ranked 38th Official language(s) Valencian and Spanish Capital Castellón de la Plana University Jaume I University | Autonomous community Valencian Community Demonym(s) Castellonense Parliament Cortes Generales Population 587,508 (2014) | |
Clubs and Teams Villarreal CF, CD Castellón, Villarreal CF C Points of interest Columbretes Islands, Castillo de Peñíscola, Costa del Azahar, Desert de les Palmes, Penyagolosa Destinations Castellón de la Plana, Peniscola, Morella - Castellón, Benicàssim, Onda - Castellón | ||
Spain firefighters battle huge blaze in castellon province
Castellón ([kasteˈʎon]) or Castelló ([kasteˈʎo]) is a province in the northern part of the Valencian Community, Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Valencia to the south, Teruel to the west, Tarragona to the north, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the east. The western side of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area.
Contents
- Spain firefighters battle huge blaze in castellon province
- Map of CastellC3B3n Spain
- Geography
- Economy
- Comarques
- References
Map of Castell%C3%B3n, Spain
Geography
Castellón's capital is Castellón de la Plana (Valencian: Castelló de la Plana). The province had a population of 501,237 in 2002, 30% of whom were residing in the capital, 60% in its metropolitan area, and 85% along the coastline. As of 2012, the population had since grown to 604,564 people. The province, and in particular its idle large airport, has become a symbol of the wasteful spending and corruption prior to the Spanish financial crisis.
It is a bilingual territory, with many inhabitants speaking both Spanish and the local, co-official language of Valencian. Spanish and Catalan are closely related and understandable to a fair degree Catalan. There are marked distinctions in vocabulary and grammar which puts Catalan closer to Occitan in southern France and would make it difficult for a monolingual speaker of Spanish to understand. Usage is a source of some controversy and political but not to the degree as in Catalonia where the upper classes preferred Catalan to Spanish and thus preserved the vitality of the language in the national consciousness of the majority of the people there.
Other major cities of the province include Villarreal, Borriana, La Vall d'Uixó and Vinaròs. There are 135 municipalities in Castellón; see List of municipalities in Castellón.
Economy
Traditionally, the economy of Castellón has been focused on the production of citrus and vegetables (Nules and Benicarló). Since the 17th century, Castellón has developed an important ceramic and ceramic tile industry (Onda, L'Alcora, Nules, Castellón and Villarreal) and nowadays most of the Spanish tile producers are concentrated in the province. Also, furniture (Benicarló and Vinaròs) and chemical industries (Benicarló and Castellón) are present.
Traditional industries such as shoe and footwear (La Vall d'Uixó), fishing (Castellón, Vinaròs) and textiles (Vilafranca and Morella), have given way to a service-based economy due to the increasing importance of tourism in the economy of the province.
Comarques
The province is historically subdivided into the following comarques: