General Information

The Tagus and the Guadiana rivers
The autonomous region of Extremadura lies in the south western part of Spain, and borders Castile and Leon in the north, Castile-La Mancha in the east, Andalusia in the south, and Portugal in the west.

Most of Extremadura is made up of vast stretches of plains with an average height of around 350 metres. There are three mountain formations in the region. The Sistema Central in the north, mainly comprises of Gredos sierra, Gata sierra, Francia sierra, Plasencia sierra and Vera sierra. They are high mountains, some reaching almost 2,000 metres, with deep gorges heading south such as Jaranda, with high mountain passes that include Bejar and Tornavacas. The highest peak in the area is Calvitero that reaches 2,425 metres. The second mountainous area is the central area that is penetrated by the mountains of Toledo, the highest peak of which is Las Villuercas measuring 1,601 metres. The third area in the south of the region belongs to the Sierra Morena mountain range. They are the lowest mountains in the region. The highest peak is Tentudia, at 1,140 metres. The most notable river valleys include Jerte and Tietar, La Vera and Las Hurdes, as well as Ambroz valley. Two major rivers criss-cross the region and filter the waters from other lesser rivers in the area. The rivers are the Tagus, that travels through Caceres, finally entering Portugal, and the Guadiana, that encompasses all of Badajoz within its basin and heads south, forming a natural border with Portugal. The rivers in the region of Extremadura are governed by the various reservoirs in the area, that form a vast hydrological network that supplies water for crops, for generating electricity and for general consumption by the inhabitants. Valdecañas, Torrejon-Tagus, Alcantara, Gabriel and Galan are the reservoirs that lie in the Tagus river basin. Cijara, Puerto Peña (Garcia Sola), Orellana and La Serena are some of the different reservoirs that can be found in Guadiana's basin. La Serena reservoir, in the river Zujar, is the largest in Spain.

Transportation

Network connections
The autonomous region of Extremadura has a vast road and rail network, as well as an airport near Badajoz.

The A-5 A-road and the Extremadura dual carriageway connect Caceres and Badajoz with Madrid and Lisbon, and the N-630 A-road crosses the region from north to south. The airport located on the outskirts of Badajoz connects the inhabitants of region with Madrid and Barcelona. The road and rail network extends to all the towns in the region, and connects them with Spain's major cities.

Administration

Regional Assembly of Extremadura
The autonomous region of Extremadura is made up of the provinces of Caceres and Badajoz.

The Autonomy Statute of Extremadura was approved in 1983. The General Assembly council is made up of a President, a Vice-president, a spokesperson and various different ministries.

Population

This autonomous region has over one million inhabitants
The population of this autonomous region according to figures from the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) as of the 1st of January 2004, after having reviewed the Inhabitants register is 1,075,286.

The breakdown by province is as follows: Caceres: 411,390 and Badajoz: 663,896, according to the same source. The cities with the highest population density are: Badajoz, Caceres, Merida, Plasencia, and Don Benito.

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