Home > Provinces of Spain

Formerly of greater importance, since the arrival of the autonomous community system the provinces have had fewer powers. They are still used as electoral districts, in postal addresses, and as geographical referents. (A small town would be identified as being in Valladolid province sooner than as being in Castile-Leon, for example.)

Most of the provinces are named after their principal town. There are only two cities that are capitals of autonomous communities without being capitals of provinces: Mérida in Extremadura and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.

Seven autonomous communities are composed of only one province: Asturias, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, La RiojaThis is about the Spanish province; La Rioja is also a city and a province in Argentina. Comunidad Autonoma de La Rioja Capital Logrono Area total % of Spain Ranked 16th 5 045 km² 1,0% Population Total (2003) % of Spain Density Ranked 17th 281 614 0,7% 55, MadridMadrid is one of Spain's seventeen autonomous communities, located in the centre of the country. It is coterminous with the province of Madrid, and contains the city of Madrid which is the capital of the province, the community, and the country. Madrid is, MurciaMurcia is one of Spain's seventeen autonomous communities, located in the southeast of the country between Andalucia and Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast. It consists of one province, and contains the city of Murcia which is the capital of the provinc, and NavarreComunidad Foral de Navarra / Nafarroa ko Foru Komunitatea Capital Pamplona Official languages Castilian; Basque co-official in some areas Area total % of Spain Ranked 11th 10 391 km² 2,2% Population Total (2003) % of Spain Density Ranked 15th 569 628 1,4%.

The table below lists the provinces of Spain. For each, the capital city is given, along with the autonomous community it is a part of, and a link to a list of municipalities in the province.