Almería (province)

Spanish Province
name = Almería
full-name = Almería


coat-of-arms = Escudo de la Provincia de Almería.svg
motto =
anthem =


capital = Almería
language = Spanish
area = 8,774.87
area-rank = 27
area-magnitude =
area-percent =
pop = 635,850
pop-rank = 24
pop-percent =
pop-date = 2006
density = 72.5
english-name =
spanish-name = Almeriense
local-lang =
local-name =
autonomous-community = Andalusia
government =
president =
website = http://www.dipalme.org/

Almería is a province of southern Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Granada, Murcia, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is Almería.

Its area is 8,769 km². Its population is 546,499 (2002) with a density of 62.32/km². It contains 101 municipalities.Almeria belongs to the Autonomus Community of Andalucia, in Southern Spain.

Geography

Europe's only desert is found in AlmeríaFact|date=February 2008, and is part of the National Park of Sierra Nevada (in the Sierra Nevada mountain range), which it shares with Granada province.

The desert landscape and climate that characterizes part of the province have made it an ideal setting for Western films, especially during the 1960s. Because of the demand for these locations, quite a number of Western towns were built near the [http://www.dipalme.org/servicios/informacion/Informacion.nsf/referencia/Patronato+Provincial+de+Turismo+Turismo+PT-CINE-POBLADOS-ING Desert of Tabernas] . Films such as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "A Fistful of Dollars" were shot here. Years later the film of "800 Bullets" was filmed in the same place. Large sections of "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Patton" were shot there as well.

The principal river is Rio Andarax (Andarax River), which is located near Granada in the Alpujarras. The [http://www.almeriware.net/almediam/images/Fotografia/Humedales/Humedales_002.htm Beninar pressure] , which is located near Darrical, gives part of the water needed in the production in greenhouses.

Fauna

Interesting and unique species of animals native to the Alto Almanzora are in process of extinction.

Economy

The most important economic activity is greenhouse farming. Millions of tons of vegetables are exported to other European countries and other parts of the world each year. Tourism is also a key sector of the economy, due to the sunny weather and attractive areas such as Roquetas de Mar, Aguadulce, Almerimar, Vera or Cabo de Gata.

The principal industrial activity is in the Macael (Comarca del Marmol) "canteras" marble quarrying area in the Sierra de los Filabres region from Macael Viejo to Chercos, Lijar and Cobdar which produce in excess of 1.3 million tons. The Cantoria, Fines, Olula del Rio and Purchena area of the Alto Almanzora valley is fast becoming the regional megalopolis through high imports and exports and employment in local, national and international marble processing. All the tourist accommodations and construction throughout coastal Spain has driven high demand and brought huge modernisation. Small "pueblos" of agriculturalists have given rise to computerized machining factories.

The German-Spanish [http://www.caha.es/ Calar Alto Astronomical Observatory] is one of the most important observatories of Spain. France's Michelin operates a research center in Cabo de Gata and in Tabernas there is a solar energy research center, [http://www.psa.es/ PSA] .

History

The rich customs and Fiestas of the denizens retain links deep into the past, unto the Moors, the Romans, the Greeks, and the Phoenicians.

During the taifa era, it was ruled by the Slavic Banu al-Amiri from 1012 to 1038, briefly annexed by Valencia (1038-1041), then given by Zaragoza to the Banu Sumadih dynasty until its conquest by the Almoravids in 1091. Some centuries later, it became part of the kingdom of Granada.

Largest salad

On September 29, 2007, Pulpí, in Almería (province), Spain tossed the world's largest salad, with 6,700 kilograms (14,740 pounds) of lettuce, tomato, onion, pepper and olives, supervised by 20 cooks over 3 hours. A Guinness World Records judge was present to confirm the new record. The salad was prepared in a container 18m (59ft) long and 4.8m (15.7ft) wide. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7020354.stm BBC NEWS, Spanish town in largest salad bid] ]

ee also

*List of municipalities in Almería
*Palomares hydrogen bombs incident

External links

*es icon [http://www.dipalme.org/ Diputación Provincial de Almería] (Provincial government)
* En icon [http://www.search-almeria.com Search Almeria] - Description, information and photographs of Almeria.
* [http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/servtc5/ventana/resultadoEspacios.do?provincia=04&tipoEspacio=-1&nombreEspacio=-1 Protected Natural Areas of Almeria]

References