Lower Aragon (, , ), also known as ''Tierra Baja'', is a

natural Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

and

historical region History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

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, ...

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 ...

. The name "Lower Aragon" refers to the areas of the lowest altitude within the

Ebro The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea, forming a de ...

river basin, but the historical region encompasses only the river basins of several right tributaries of the

River, namely the Matarranya, Guadalope, Regallo, Martín and Aguas, located between the Ebro and the Iberian mountain range. The

demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...

for Lower Aragonese people is ''bajoaragonés'' or ''tierrabajino''. The eastern fringes of the Lower Aragon natural region include some areas belonging as well to the Catalan-speaking strip in eastern Aragon known as

La Franja La Franja (; "The Strip"; ) is the area of Catalan-speaking territories of eastern Aragon bordering Catalonia, in Spain. It literally means ''"the strip"'' and can also more properly be called (Aragonese Strip), (Western Strip) or (Eastern St ...

and overlapping the historical

Ilercavonia Ilercavonia (, ) is an ancient comarca of Spain formerly populated by the ancient Iberian tribe known as Ilercavones. It is a greater comarca made up of smaller ones. The ties between the people of the region transcend ancient kingdom and lat ...

comarca. All the villages traditionally taking part in the characteristic and loud Drum and Bass drum Route during

Holy Week Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

processions are included in Lower Aragon historical region.

History

In 1707, following King Philip's

Nueva Planta decrees The Nueva Planta decrees (, , ) were a number of decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V of Spain, Philip V, the first House of Bourbon, Bourbon Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain, during and shortly after the end of the War of the Spani ...

a large part of Lower Aragon became the ''Corregimiento de Alcañiz'', a kind of large district. In 1812, as a result of Marshal Louis Gabriel Suchet's territorial division, the Province of Alcañiz ''(Provincia de Alcañiz)'' briefly unified the Lower Aragon region during French occupation. Since then, and despite the strong identity of its inhabitants, this historical region has not been able to achieve the necessary legal recognition for its administrative development. After the territorial division of Spain in 1833 there have been attempts to create again a fourth province of Aragon with its capital in Alcañiz. These proposals were based on the limited relationship that the municipal areas of Lower Aragon have had with

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel (province), Teruel Province. It had a population of 35,900 as of 2022, making it the least populated provincial capital in Spain. It is noted for its har ...

, the capital of the province in which most of the historical region of Lower Aragon is presently included. In 1935, at the time of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

there was a feeble attempt to segregate the municipalities surrounding Alcañiz and Híjar from the Province of Teruel and merge them with Zaragoza Province. But so far the proposals to make a province out of the Lower Aragon region have not found much echo and the area finds itself in a state of administrative and economical neglect reflected in the A-68 highway issue.

Present-day status

Lower Aragon was divided into the smaller administrative comarcas after the official delimitation of the

Comarcas of Aragon Here is a list of the administrative '' comarcas'' (administrative subdivisions) in the autonomous community of Aragon in Spain. They were officially delimited in 1999, with substantial changes over a previously proposed division. See also * ...

in 1999. Its historical limits fall now within the Bajo Aragón, Bajo Aragón-Caspe, Bajo Martín, Andorra-Sierra de Arcos, Matarranya and Ribera Baja del Ebro comarcas, as well as some municipal terms of the Maestrazgo, Campo de Belchite, Bajo Cinca and Cuencas Mineras comarcas. Since the current ''Bajo Aragón'' administrative division is only a small fraction of the historical territory, the name ''Bajo Aragón histórico'' is now commonly used in order to distinguish it from the homonymous small comarca.''Bajo Aragón'' entry in the ''Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa'' (In Spanish)

References

External links

Pueblos y gentes del Bajo Martín. De su historia y su futuro
*

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