Asturias

Comunidad Autónoma del Principado de
Asturias

(In Detail)
Capital	Oviedo
Area  - total  - % of Spain	Ranked 10th 10 604 km² 2,1%
Population  - Total (2003)  - % of Spain  - Density	Ranked 12th 1 056 789 2,5% 99,65/km²
Demonym  - English  - Spanish	Asturian astur, asturiano/a
Statute of Autonomy	January 11, 1982
ISO 3166-2	O
Parliamentary representation  Congress seats  Senate seats	9 2
President	Vicente Alberto Álvarez Areces (PSOE)
Gobierno del Principado de Asturias

The Principality of Asturias (Asturian: Asturies) is a province and an autonomous community of Spain on the north coast facing the Bay of Biscay (Spanish: Golfo de Vizcaya).

The capital is Oviedo; Asturias was formerly called the province of Oviedo. Other noteworthy cities are the major seaport Gijón and the industrial city of Avilés. Other cities include Cangas de Onís, Cangas del Narcea, Grado, Langreo, Mieres, Villaviciosa. See also List of municipalities in Asturias.

The autonomous community is bordered on the east by Cantabria, on the south by Castile-Leon (Castilla-León) (province of León), on the west by Galicia (province of Lugo), and on the north by the Bay of Biscay.

At one point, Asturias was one of the last remnants of Christian Spain; for this reason, the heir to the Spanish throne automatically takes the title of Prince of Asturias, much as the heir to the British throne is the Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay.

Asturias shares the Parque Nacional Picos de Europa (in the Picos de Europa mountain range) with Cantabria and with León province.

See also

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Referenced By