Andalusia: Encyclopedia - Andalusia

Andalusia

Andalusia (Spanish: Andalucía) is a Historical Nationality of Spain like Catalonia or Basque Country. Andalusia is one of the seventeen autonomous communities that constitute Spain. Its capital is Seville. Andalusia is bounded on the north by Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha, on the east by Murcia, on the south by the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and Gibraltar, and on the west by Portugal. Tartessos, the capital of a once great and powerful Civilization, was located in Andalusia, and was known in the Bible by the name of Tarsis.

More information about this region can be found in the entry Hispania Baetica, the name of the Roman province that corresponds to the region. The Islamic history can be found in the entry al-Andalus. According to the scholar H. Helm, the name "Al-Andalus" is simply an Arabic rendition of the Visigothic name given to the Roman province of Baetica. The Visigoths, following the custom of their Germanic predecessors, parcelled out the conquered territories by drawing lots, and the allotments to anyone, with their corresponding land, were called "Sortes Gothicae". Contemporary texts, still written in Latin, refer to the Gothic kingdom as a whole as "Gothica sors" (singular). It is reasonable to suppose then that the corresponding Gothic designation "Landahlauts" (allotted, inherited, drawn land), in its phonetic form — "landalos" — became easily and spontaneously, to Arabic ears, "Al-Andalus".

The Spanish spoken in the Americas is largely descended from the Andalusian dialect of Castilian Spanish due to the role played by Seville as the gateway to Spain's American territories in the 16th and 17th centuries.

A lot of Moorish architecture is found in Andalusia, because it was the last stronghold of the Moors before the reconquista by the Catholic Monarchs completed in 1492. The most famous are the Alhambra in Granada, the Mezquita in Córdoba and the Torre del Oro and Giralda towers in Sevilla. Archaeological remains include Medina Azahara, near Córdoba.

Andalusia is divided into 8 provinces:

• Sevilla
• Granada
• Córdoba
• Cádiz
• Málaga
• Huelva
• Jaén
• Almería

Major cities in Andalusia are (from West to East):

• Huelva
• Seville
• Cádiz
• Málaga
• Córdoba
• Jaén
• Granada
• Almería

Other Andalusian towns are:

• Algeciras, Cádiz
• Jerez, Cádiz
• Marbella, Málaga
• San Fernando, Cádiz
• Dos Hermanas, Sevilla
• Antequera, Málaga

Andalusia is the home of flamenco music. Andalusia has a national anthem written by Blas Infante:

A translation follows:

The Macarena is an aspect of the Virgin Mary recognized in Andalusia, Spain. It is the title given to Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza (Our Lady of Hope), in Seville. It is also the name of a neighbourhood in Seville and a common first name for Andalusian women.

Andalusia is also referenced in the Pixies song 'Debaser': "Don't know about you, but I am un chien Andalusia" - referring to the 1928 Salvador Dalí & Luis Bunuel film 'Un Chien Andalou'.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Andalusia", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki