Province of Soria

Soria is a province of central Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. Most of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area.

Demographics

It is bordered by the provinces of La Rioja, Zaragoza, Guadalajara, Segovia, and Burgos. Soria is the least populous of all of Spain's provinces,<ref name=Crw>Template:Cite web</ref> with a density of around 9 inhabitants/km²—one of the lowest in the European Union. The average population density of provinces in Spain and European Union are 83.6 and 116 inhabitants per square km respectively.<ref name=Demographics>Template:Cite web</ref> In comparison, the Soria province is less dense than some northern parts of the Nordic countries.

Of the province's population of 91,487 (2002), nearly 40% live in the capital, Soria. 26.7% of its population was above 65 years of age while the nation's average is 16.9%.<ref name=Demographics/> There are 183 municipalities in Soria, of which nearly half are hamlets of under 100 people<ref name=Demographics/> and of which only 12 have more than 1,000 people. The cathedral town of the province is El Burgo de Osma.

Population development

The historical population is given in the following chart: <timeline> Colors=

id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9)
id:darkgrey  value:gray(0.7)
id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1)

ImageSize = width:600 height:auto barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:200 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:20 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:5 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo

PlotData=

 color:skyblue width:20 shift:(-50,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till
bar:1900 from:0 till:155 text:155,277
bar:1910 from:0 till:162 text:162,011
bar:1920 from:0 till:159 text:159,392
bar:1930 from:0 till:163 text:162,681
bar:1940 from:0 till:166 text:165,855
bar:1950 from:0 till:165 text:164,575
bar:1960 from:0 till:152 text:152,426
bar:1970 from:0 till:117 text:117,462
bar:1981 from:0 till:101 text:100,719
bar:1991 from:0 till:95  text:94,537
bar:2000 from:0 till:91  text:90,911
bar:2010 from:0 till:95  text:95,258
bar:2020 from:0 till:88 text:88,884

TextData=

pos:(35,20) fontsize:M
text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

</timeline>

Economy

The province's most important agricultural products are cereals. In the 1950s, there were a total of 70,000 hectares cultivated land, but excessive fragmentation and lack of mechanization resulted in a very low productivity.<ref name=Emilio>Ruiz, Emilio (2001). Historia Economica de Soria. CSIC</ref> In 1960, while the agricultural sector accounted for 69% of workers in the province, 70% of farms were used exclusively for animal rearing. There are currently about 100,000 hectares of land in the province dedicated to the cultivation of wheat and other 100,000 hectares for barley cultivation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The indigenous forest resources are also being exploited for timber, resin and collecting mushrooms. Marble quarries are located in Espejón while Sierra de Toranzo and Ólvega have iron mines. Magnetite sources are also being exploited in Borobia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The capital city Soria is an important tourist destination. While the agricultural sector has a very high contribution to GDP of the province, the industrial sector represents a small proportion, just over 20% of GDP.<ref name=Demographics/> Apart from these the province also has important food, wood processing, furniture production and auxiliary automotive components industries.

Subdivision

Comarcas

File:Comarcas de Soria mapa.svg

Map showing the comarcas of the Province of Soria

Soria has 183 municipalities divided in 10 comarcas:

• Comarca de Almazán
• Comarca de Berlanga
• Comarca de Burgo de Osma
• Comarca de Campo de Gómara
• Comarca de El Valle
• Comarca de Pinares
• Comarca de Soria
• Comarca de Tierras Altas
• Comarca del Moncayo
• Tierra de Medinaceli

Coat of arms

The province's coat of arms bears the motto Soria pura, cabeza de estremadura, which means "Soria the pure, head of the borderland",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as Soria was centuries ago on the expanding borders between the northern Christian kingdoms and the territories then held by the Muslims.

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline