- Huesca (province)
Huesca (Spanish: "Huesca", Aragonese: "Uesca") is a province of northeastern
Spain , in northernAragon . The capital isHuesca .Positioned just south of the central
Pyrenees , Huesca bordersFrance and the French Departments ofPyrénées-Atlantiques andHautes-Pyrénées . Within Spain, Huesca's neighboring provinces areNavarre , Zaragoza and Lleida.Geography
The modern day province comprises 10
comarca s and 202 municipalities. "See alsolist of municipalities in Huesca ."Covering a primarily mountainous area of 15,636 km², the province of Huesca has a total population of 218,023, (in 2006), with almost a quarter of its people living in the capital city of
Huesca . The low population density, 13.94/km², has meant that Huesca's lush valleys, rivers, and lofty mountain ranges have remained relatively pristine and unspoiled by progress.Home to majestic scenery, the tallest mountain in the
Pyrenees , theAneto ; eternal glaciers, such as at Monte Perdido; and the National Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido, rich in flora and protected fauna. Popular with mountaineers, spelunkers, paragliders, andwhite water rafters it is also a popular snowskiing destination with notable resorts inCandanchú ,Formigal ,Astún ,Panticosa andCerler .History
The romans colonised the province of Huesca, which formed the northern part of
Hispania Tarraconensis , and continued to live there well into the 5th century until the arrival of thevisigoths . As a mountainous frontier region, it was difficult to dominate. The northern counties had at one time belonged to theKingdom of Navarre but split off and managed to stem early moorish invasions in the Middle Ages by forming alliances between themselves and with theFranks , to become frankishfeudal marches . The imperative ofsovereignty , or independence, for the northern border counts, gave rise to the legendaryKingdom of Aragon , which was the precursor to the Empire orCrown of Aragon , and ultimately theKingdom of Spain .Language
Spanish is the primary language in the province, however the local linguistic varieties in the center and north of the province (often called fabla) belong to the
Aragonese language , which now survives mainly in the northernmost comarcas, such as the Aragon river Valley inJacetania , theAlto Gallego ,Sobrarbe , andRibagorza , where hitherto landlocked and isolated villages have helped the language to thrive into the 21st century.In the easternmost areas of the province, varieties of the
Catalan language are spoken, with a few transitional varieties difficult to classify as Aragonese or Catalan.References
*
External links
* [http://www.aragonguide.com/cats.asp?cID=64 Huesca Tourism Travel Guide ("in English")]
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