Ourense (in Spanish, ''Orense'') is a Spanish

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

, in the southeastern part of the

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

. It is bordered by the provinces of Pontevedra to the west,

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 98,025 in 2018, making it the fourth most populous city in Ga ...

to the north, León and Zamora, (which both belong to

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of th ...

) to the east, and by

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

to the south. With an area of 7,278 square km., it is the only landlocked province in Galicia. The provincial capital,

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St ...

, is the largest population centre, with the rest of the province being predominantly rural.

Denomination

''Ourense'' (in Galician) is the official name adopted by Parliament in Spain, according to Law 2/1998.

Geography

Ourense is surrounded by

mountains A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

on all sides. These mountains historically isolated the province from the more populated Galician coast. Until a highway was built in recent years linking Ourense with

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...

in the west and Benavente in the east, the only quick way for people to enter or leave the province was by railway. The principal river system is the Miño-Sil, the fertile valleys of which produce corn (maize) and grapes for wine. Due to the many rapids these rivers are not navigable, but they have been harnessed for hydroelectric power. The Sil flows through a deep canyon and has become a sought-after tourist site for its river cruises and views. The Limia River begins north of

Xinzo de Limia Xinzo de Limia is a town and municipality in the province of Ourense, Autonomous Community of Galicia, Spain. It lies on the important Autovia das Rias Baixas in the fertile valley of Antela, approximately 33 km from Verín and 43&nbs ...

and flows south towards Portugal; the

Lindoso reservoir Alto Lindoso Dam ( pt, Barragem do Alto Lindoso, links=no) is a concrete double curvature arch dam on the Lima River. It is located in the municipality Ponte da Barca, in Viana do Castelo District, Portugal. The dam lies in Peneda-Gerês Nationa ...

is on this river as it crosses the border into Portugal. The Tâmega River, another important Portuguese river begins north of

Verín Verín is a town and municipality in the southeast of the province of Ourense, autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. The population of the municipality is about 14,433. It is located 70 kilometers east of the provincial capital of Ourense and ...

. The mountainous terrain and isolation have kept the province economically challenged and encouraged much emigration to the rest of Spain and to the New World. There is some wine production along the Miño valley and near

. There is also considerable pig breeding and potato growing, especially around the area of Xinzo da Limia, in the drained lakebed of Antela, which until the 1960s was the largest fresh-water lake in Spain.

Protected areas

The province has several protected areas and some natural parks, including: * Baixa Limia-Serra do Xures, near the border with Portugal *Natural Park da Serra de Enciña da Lastra *O Invernadeiro

Demography

Of the province's population of 309,986 (2018), about 30 per cent in the capital, Ourense, with 105,000 inhabitants. There are 92 municipalities in Ourense. Other than the capital the most important are O Barco de Valdeorras,

Ribadavia Ribadavia is a town and municipality located in the southwest of the province of Ourense, autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. The urban area lies on the right bank of the Miño river and the last course of the Avia river. It is the capital o ...

, Allariz,

A Rua A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

O Carballiño O Carballiño is a municipality in the Spanish province of Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the autonomous community of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés ...

Viana do Bolo Viana do Bolo (in Spanish ''Viana del Bollo'') is a large municipality in Ourense in the Galicia region of north-west Spain. It is located in the south-east of the province A province is almost always an administrative division within a countr ...

, and

. As of 2018, Ourense has the lowest birthrate of any Spanish province, posting a population growth rate of -2,993.

Population development

The historical population is given in the following chart: 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:500 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:50 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:10 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo PlotData= color:skyblue width:20 shift:(-50,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till bar:1877 from:0 till:398 text:397,976 bar:1887 from:0 till:415 text:415,237 bar:1900 from:0 till:420 text:419,665 bar:1910 from:0 till:446 text:446,342 bar:1920 from:0 till:466 text:466,398 bar:1930 from:0 till:476 text:476,336 bar:1940 from:0 till:495 text:494,966 bar:1950 from:0 till:494 text:494,283 bar:1960 from:0 till:488 text:488,241 bar:1970 from:0 till:441 text:441,260 bar:1980 from:0 till:430 text:430,159 bar:1990 from:0 till:353 text:353,491 bar:2000 from:0 till:338 text:338,446 bar:2010 from:0 till:329 text:328,697 bar:2020 from:0 till:307 text:306,650 TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

Economy

Industries include chemical manufacture, milk production, water bottling near Verín, and clothing manufacture near the capital city of Ourense. One of the largest poultry processing companies is also located in the industrial zone near that city. The province has also four wine regions, out of five in the whole region of Galicia. Ribeiro,

Ribeira Sacra Ribeira Sacra is a Spanish Denominación de Origen, Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) (''Denominación de Orixe Protexida'' in Galician language, Galician) for wines located in the south of the province of Province of Lugo, Lugo and in the ...

, Monterrei and

Valdeorras Valdeorras is a comarca in the Galician Province of Ourense. The overall population of this local region is 25,500 (2019). Municipalities * O Barco de Valdeorras, capital of the comarca * O Bolo * Carballeda de Valdeorras * Larouco * Petín ...

. Although not a major tourist center, tourism contributes somewhat to the economy. The river valleys attract holidaymakers, and there are several preserved medieval towns ( Allariz and

References

External links

Tourist infoPhotographs of Ourense
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ourense, Province of