LEON, CASTILLE LEON

León is a province of northwestern Spain, in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.

About one quarter of its population of 496,655 (2005) lives in the capital, León. The weather is cold and dry during the winter.

There are Roman Catholic cathedrals at León and Astorga. The province shares the Picos de Europa National Park (in the Picos de Europa mountain range) with Cantabria and Asturias. It has 211 municipalities.

Leonese language is officially recognised by the Statute of Castile and León. The Provincial Government of León signed accordments with language associations for promoting Leonese Language. Leonese is taught in León city, Mansilla de las Mulas, La Bañeza, Valencia de Don Juan or Ponferrada for adult people, and in sixteen schools of León city.

The province of León was born in 1833 with the new Spanish administrative organisation in regions and provinces instead of the Kingdoms. Leonese Region was composed by León, Salamanca and Zamora.

Previously, the Kingdom of León had been an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 A.D. when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their main seat from Oviedo to the city of León. The Atlantic provinces became the Kingdom of Portugal in 1139, and the eastern, inland part of the kingdom was joined to the Kingdom of Castile by 1230.

From 1296 to 1301 The Kingdom of León was again independent and after the union with Castile kept as a Kingdom until 1833, being composed by "Adelantamientos Mayores", where Leonese Adelantamiento was made with the territories between the Picos de Europa and the Duero river.
Map of Leon:

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Write by: AN - Thursday, January 8, 2009