Cuenca is a province

Provinces of Spain

Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces .In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian , sing. província.*Galician , sing. provincia.*Basque |Galicia]] — are not also the capitals of provinces...

 of central Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, in the eastern part of the autonomous community

Autonomous communities of Spain

An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...

 of Castile-La Mancha

Castile-La Mancha

Castile-La Mancha is an autonomous community of Spain. Castile-La Mancha is bordered by Castile and León, Madrid, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Extremadura. It is one of the most sparsely populated of Spain's autonomous communities...

.

Guide to the area

Located in a natural setting of beauty, the Old Town of Cuenca occupies a superb site between two river gorges. Famous are its 15th Century "hanging houses" (casas colgadas), that appear suspended over the cliffs edge. One of these houses the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art, the museum being one of the finest of its kind. The city centre, remarkably beautiful, is presided over by a magnificent Gothic cathedral. To the east of Cuenca is the Serranía de Cuenca massif with scenic valleys, gorges, and waterfalls. Here are an interesting group of rock formations known as 'The Enchanted City' (Ciudad Encantada)

Geography

The province is bordered by the provinces of Valencia

Valencia (province)

Valencia or València is a province of Spain, in the central part of the Valencian Community.It is bordered by the provinces of Alicante, Albacete, Cuenca, Teruel, Castellón, and the Mediterranean Sea...

 (including its exclave Rincón de Ademuz

Rincón de Ademuz

Rincón de Ademuz is Spanish comarca constituted as an exclave of both the Region of Valencia and the province of Valencia located between the provinces of Cuenca and Teruel .-Overview:...

), Albacete

Albacete (province)

Albacete is a province of central Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Granada, Murcia, Alicante, Valencia, Cuenca, Ciudad Real and Jaén....

, Ciudad Real

Ciudad Real (province)

The province of Ciudad Real is a province of South-central Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca, Albacete, Jaén, Córdoba, Badajoz, and Toledo. Its extent is effectively that of the old province of La Mancha...

, Toledo

Toledo (province)

Toledo is a province of central Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Badajoz, Cáceres, and Ávila....

, Madrid, Guadalajara

Guadalajara (province)

Guadalajara is a province of central/north-central Spain, in the northern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca, Madrid, Segovia, Soria, Zaragoza, and Teruel...

, and Teruel

Teruel (province)

Teruel is a province of Aragon, in the northeast of Spain. The capital is Teruel.It is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia , Cuenca, Guadalajara, and Zaragoza....

. The northeastern side of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico

Sistema Ibérico

The Sistema Ibérico or Iberian System is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain.It is a vast and complex system of mountain chains and massifs located in the central regions of the Iberian Peninsula, but reaching almost the Mediterranean coast in the Land of Valencia in the east.From...

 area.

211,375 people (2007) live in the province. Its capital is Cuenca, where nearly a quarter of the population live, some 52,980 people. There are 238 municipalities in Cuenca.

Other populous towns and municipalities include Tarancón

Tarancón

Tarancón is a municipality located in the province of Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 12,696 inhabitants....

, San Clemente, Quintanar del Rey

Quintanar del Rey

Quintanar del Rey is a municipality in Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 8,043....

, Huete

Huete

Huete is a municipality in Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 2,097....

, Villanueva de la Jara

Villanueva de la Jara

Villanueva de la Jara is a municipality in Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 2,132.-Situation:It is located in la Manchuela Conquense, in the south of the Cuenca.-History:...

, Motilla del Palancar

Motilla del Palancar

Motilla del Palancar is a municipality in Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 5,224....

, Mota del Cuervo

Mota del Cuervo

Mota del Cuervo is a municipality in Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 5,693....

 and Las Pedroñeras

Las Pedroñeras

Las Pedroñeras is a small town and municipality in the province of Cuenca, in the central region of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, southwestern Spain....

.

History

In 1851 Cuenca lost Requena-Utiel

Requena-Utiel

Requena-Utiel is a comarca currently in the province of Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain. Historically this comarca was part of Castile and formed part of the province of Cuenca in the 1833 provincial division of Javier de Burgos. As such, its inhabitants have been traditionally monolingual in...

 to the neighbouring Valencia Province with which it was developing commercial ties. Nevertheless, Requena-Utiel

Requena-Utiel

Requena-Utiel is a comarca currently in the province of Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain. Historically this comarca was part of Castile and formed part of the province of Cuenca in the 1833 provincial division of Javier de Burgos. As such, its inhabitants have been traditionally monolingual in...

 remained Castillian/Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 speaking (rather than Valencian

Valencian

Valencian is the traditional and official name of the Catalan language in the Valencian Community. There are dialectical differences from standard Catalan, and under the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua has been established as its regulator...

), while the loss of its most dynamic region left the province of Cuenca relatively under-developed economically.