Huesca (; ), officially Huesca/Uesca, is a

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

of northeastern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, in northern

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

. The capital is Huesca. Positioned just south of the central Pyrenees, Huesca borders

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the French departments of Haute-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and

Hautes-Pyrénées Hautes-Pyrénées (; Gascon/ Occitan: ''Nauts Pirenèus / Hauts Pirenèus'' awts piɾeˈnɛʊs ; alts piɾiˈneʊs ) is a department in the region of Occitania, southwestern France. The department is bordered by Pyrénées-Atlantiques to t ...

. Within Spain, Huesca's neighboring provinces are Navarre,

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, and

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

Geography

Covering a primarily mountainous area of km², the province of Huesca has a total population of 219,345 in 2018, with almost a quarter of its people living in the capital city of Huesca. The low population density, 14.62/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, the Aneto; 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, and white water rafters, it is also a popular snow

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

destination with notable resorts in Candanchú, Formigal, Astún, Panticosa, and Cerler.

Lakes

* Ibón de Bachimaña Alto * Ibón de Escalar * Ibón de Estanés * Ibón de Tebarray

History

The Romans colonised the province of Huesca, which formed the northern part of

Hispania Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern North Region, Portugal, northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now ...

, and continued to live there well into the 5th century until the arrival of the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied Barbarian kingdoms, barbarian military group unite ...

. As a mountainous frontier region, it was difficult to dominate. The northern counties had at one time belonged to the Kingdom of Navarre but split off and managed to stem early Moorish invasions in the Middle Ages by forming alliances between themselves and with the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

, to become Frankish

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

marches. The imperative of

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

, or independence, for the northern border counts, gave rise to the

Kingdom of Aragon The Kingdom of Aragon (; ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Monarchy, kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain. It became a part of the larger ...

, which was the precursor to the Empire or

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

, and ultimately the

Kingdom of Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Administrative divisions

The modern day province comprises 10

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

s and 202 municipalities. The following comarcas having their capital in Huesca Province include municipal terms within Zaragoza Province: * Bajo Cinca: Mequinenza. * Hoya de Huesca: Murillo de Gállego and Santa Eulalia de Gállego. * Jacetania: Artieda, Mianos, Salvatierra de Esca and Sigüés. *

Monegros Los Monegros is a comarca in Aragon, Spain. It is located within the provinces of Zaragoza and Huesca. The area is prone to chronic droughts, and much of the area is a natural region made up of badlands. Los Monegros borders seven comarcas: H ...

: La Almolda, Bujaraloz, Farlete, Leciñena, Monegrillo and Perdiguera.

Population

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:280 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:256 text:256,425 bar:1887 from:0 till:261 text:260,585 bar:1900 from:0 till:255 text:255,100 bar:1910 from:0 till:265 text:264,984 bar:1920 from:0 till:266 text:265,603 bar:1930 from:0 till:258 text:257,777 bar:1940 from:0 till:247 text:247,135 bar:1950 from:0 till:238 text:237,681 bar:1960 from:0 till:234 text:234,014 bar:1970 from:0 till:222 text:221,761 bar:1980 from:0 till:215 text:214,907 bar:1990 from:0 till:208 text:207,810 bar:2000 from:0 till:207 text:206,502 bar:2010 from:0 till:226 text:225,962 bar:2020 from:0 till:223 text:222,687 TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

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 Aragonese ( ; in Aragonese) is a Romance languages, Romance language spoken in several dialects by about 12,000 people as of 2011, in the Pyrenees valleys of Aragon, Spain, primarily in the Comarca#Spain, comarcas of Somontano de Barbastro, Ja ...

, which now survives mainly in the northernmost comarcas, such as the Aragon Valley in Jacetania, the Alto Gallego,

Sobrarbe Sobrarbe is a comarca of Aragon, Spain. It is located in the north of Huesca province, making up part of the autonomous community of Aragon. Many of its people speak the Aragonese language locally known as ''fabla''. Sobrarbe is a mountainous ...

, and Ribagorza, 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 Catalan () is a Western Romance languages, Western Romance language and is the official language of Andorra, and the official language of three autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic I ...

are spoken, with a few transitional dialects difficult to classify as Aragonese or Catalan.

Notes and references

External links

Diputación Provincial de Huesca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huesca, Province of