ANDALUSIA
Capital : Seville
Provinces : Almeria, Cadiz, Cordoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaen, Malaga and Seville
 Andalusia is the Spanish Autonomous Community with the greatest number of inhabitants and the second in surface. Its varied landscapes, the benignancy of its climate and the friendly character of its population have turned it into one of the most attractive regions.
7200 hours of sun per year, many kilometers of golden sand beaches and those beautiful natural ports made it a safe refuge already for Phoenician navigators, thousands of years before Christ.
The coast of Huelva and Cadiz corresponds to the Atlantic Ocean and is characterized by fine sand. The Mediterranean coast, from the Strait of Gibraltar to Almeria, on the other hand offers smoother climate with less wind and higher water temperatures.
Andalusia is crossed by Guadalquivir river, the "father" of old civilizations who have left along its borders an impressive monumental track, as well as the high mountain ranges of Sierra Morena and Sistemas Beticos.
The offer for visitors is extremely varied, from golden beaches to those beautiful mountain ranges with their highly interesting fauna, and the famous "white villages" with their richdom in folklore and artisany. There are great possibilities for most different sports as well, from skiing in the Sierra Nevada ( web cam ) to surfing at the coast of Cadiz, where you will find ideal conditions as nowhere else in Europe.
Andalusia is the "mother" of the Spanish folklore  which is probably best known abroad: here you will live the magic of Flamenco and bullfighting in their most authentic style, and myths like Don Juan and Carmen were born here. A land of great traditions, which has understood as well to assimilate the progress.
Andalusia has three major geographic subregions. In the north, the mountainous Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the plains of Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha on Spain's Meseta Central. South of that, one can distinguish Upper Andalusia—generally the Baetic Cordillera—from Lower Andalusia—the Baetic Depression of the valley of the Guadalquivir.
The name Andalusia traces back to the Arabic language Al-Andalus and Andalusia was the center of power in medieval Muslim-dominated Iberia. Besides Muslim or "Moorish" influences, the region's history and culture have been influenced by the earlier Iberians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Roman Empire, Vandals, Visigoths—all of whom preceded the Muslims—and, of course, the Castilian and other Christian North Iberian nationalities who conquered the area in the latter phases of the Reconquista.There was also a relatively large Sephardic-Jewish presence.
Since the Industrial Revolution, Andalusia has been an economically poor region in comparison with the rest of Spain and the European Union at large. Agriculture and the service sectors predominate in the economy. The region has, however, a rich culture and a strong cultural identity. Many cultural phenomena that are seen internationally as distinctively Spanish—for example, flamenco, bullfighting, and certain Moorish-influenced architectural styles—are largely or entirely Andalusian in origin.
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