Campo Andaluz Andalusian Countryside

Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities in Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognized as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Almera Cadiz Cordoba Granada Huelva Jaen Malaga and Seville. Its capital is the city of Seville (Spanish: Sevilla).Andalusia is in the south of the Iberian peninsula immediately south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castile La Mancha west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea east of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean and north of the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar. The small British overseas territory of Gibraltar shares a three-quarter-mile land border with the Andalusian province of Cadiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar.The main mountain ranges of Andalusia are the Sierra Morena and the Baetic System consisting of the Subbaetic and Penibaetic Mountains separated by the Intrabaetic Basin. In the north the Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the plains of Extremadura and Castile La Mancha on Spains Meseta Central. To the south the geographic subregion of Upper Andalusia lies mostly within the Baetic System while Lower Andalusia is in the Baetic Depression of the valley of the Guadalquivir.The name Andalusia is derived from the Arabic word Al-Andalus. As well as Muslim and Romani influences the regions history and culture have been influenced by the earlier Iberians Carthaginians/Phoenicians Greeks Romans Vandals Visigoths Byzantines all of whom preceded the Muslims as well as the Castilian and other Christian North Iberian nationalities who regained and repopulated the area in the latter phases of the Reconquista. There was also a relatively large Sephardic Jewish presence.Andalusia has been an economically poor region in comparison with the rest of Europe.[citation needed] However the growth of the community especially in the sectors of industry and services was above average in Spain and higher than many communities in the eurozone. The region has however a rich culture and a strong cultural identity. Many cultural phenomena that are seen internationally as distinctively Spanish are largely or entirely Andalusian in origin. These include flamenco bullfighting and certain Moorish-influenced architectural styles.