MURCIA

city, capital of Murcia provincia and comunidad autnoma (autonomous community), southeastern Spain. It lies at the confluence of the Segura and Guadalentn (Sangonera) rivers in a fertile, irrigated area known as the huerta (orchard land), northeast of Granada city. The site was settled before the Roman occupation of southern Spain in the 3rd century BC, but its name even during the Roman rule is unknown, although some have tentatively identified it with the Roman town Vergilia. As Mursiyah it was first mentioned in the histories and chronicles of the Muslims. According to the Arab geographer Yaqut, it was founded in 825 by the Umayyad emir of Crdoba, 'Abd ar-Rahman II, who made it a provincial capital. After the fall of the caliphate of Crdoba in 1031, the city came under the control of Almera and then of Valencia, until in 1063 its ruler, 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Tahir, declared the kingdom of Murcia independent. The Segura River divides the city into an older, northern sector and a more modern, southern sector. The 14th-century Gothic-style Cathedral of Santa Mara was restored in the 18th century. It contains the fine chapel of the Vlez family (1507). In the Hermitage of Jesus (Ermita de Jess) are the majority of the Passion sculptures of Francisco Salcillo, which attract many visitors during Holy Week. The University of Murcia was founded in 1915. Murcia is a communications and agricultural-trade centre for the surrounding areas along the Segura River. Flour is also processed. The city's silk industry, which dates from Moorish times, still exists. Murcia's manufactures include woolen, linen, and cotton goods; saltpetre; leather; aluminum products; furniture; and hats. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 318,838. independent Muslim (Moorish) kingdom centred on the city of Murcia (Arabic: Mursiyah), Spain. It came into being on two occasions: first in the 11th century, following the disintegration of the Spanish Umayyad caliphate; and again in the 12th century, as part of the Spanish Muslim reaction against the rule of the North African Almoravids. The kingdom's first ruler, 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Tahir, declared himself independent in 1063, though to preserve the fiction of the unity of the Umayyad caliphate he took the title not of king (malik) but of minister (hajib). For a time Murcia played an intermediary role between the Almoravids and the Castilians, but in the end religious sympathies inclined it to the Almoravids. Then the Almoravid caliph Yusuf ibn Tashufin, who had brought the quarreling states of Muslim Spain under his control, took possession of Murcia in 1092, incorporating it into his empire. General discontent under the Almoravids led to a rising under Abu Ja'far ibn Hud in 1144 and the reestablishment of Murcian independence. The kingdom was then united with Valencia. After 1168 Murcia came under the rule of the North African Almohads. In spite of this, it retained an autonomous administrative system that was conserved by the Christian Castilians when they took possession of the territory, almost without a struggle, in 1243. comunidad autnoma (autonomous community) and historical region of southeastern Spain that is coextensive with the provincia of Murcia. The comunidad autnoma was established under the statute of autonomy of 1982. Castile annexed the kingdom of Murcia in 1243, thereby securing access to the Mediterranean and challenging the southern expansion of the crown of Aragon. Castile ceded part of Murcia to the kingdom of Valencia in 1304, and the remaining territory was divided into the provincias of Murcia and Albacete in 1833. The Baetic Mountains in the southern portion of Murcia border the Mediterranean and decline eastward into the plain of Cartagena. The tableland of Jumilla and Yecla rises in the northern portion of Murcia. To the west is the Subbetic range. The Segura River runs northwest to southeast through the centre of Murcia, irrigating the rich farmland, or huerta (orchard land), in the valleys of the Baetic Mountains. Annual precipitation over the region is very low, ranging from 7 inches (170 mm) around Cape Tioso to 11 inches (280 mm) in Cartagena. Temperatures are high and show relatively little seasonal variation. Intensive irrigation supports a dense population in the huerta around the city of Murcia, with a large portion of that city's population dispersed among satellite farming communities. Minifundios, or small farms, predominate in the huerta, while the growth of small-scale industries in the towns has allowed many underemployed agricultural workers to work part-time in the factories. The population of the ports of Cartagena, Mazarrn, and Aguilas has grown with the development of shipping and mining along the coastal plain. The population of the plain of Cartagena is sparse, and the isolated farmsteads and small villages are located where there is water. Emigration from the provincia has been considerable since 1900. About one-half of the land under cultivation is dry-farmed, mainly for barley, but this accounts for only a small percentage of the province's agricultural output and is gradually losing ground to irrigated farming. The principal crops of the irrigated huerta are grain, olives, grapes, oranges, lemons, apricots, and melons. The food-processing industry is concentrated along the Segura River and has absorbed some of the surplus workforce from the surrounding huerta. Cartagena has emerged as an industrial centre of the first order, exploiting the coast's resources of lead, zinc, and salt. A petrochemical complex at Escombreras has established Cartagena as one of Europe's leading petrochemical centres. The service sector has benefited from the development of tourism along the coast. The dialect in the countryside is called Panocho, and it reflects Arab, Catalan, and Aragonese influences. The traditional farmstead of the Murcian huerta is the barraca built of crude bricks and reeds and decorated with jasmines and geraniums. Area 4,370 square miles (11,317 square km). Pop. (1992 est.) 1,038,126.