General Information

Sea and mountains
The region of Valencia lies in the east of Spain. It borders Catalonia in the north, with Aragon and Castile-La Mancha in the west, with the region of Murcia in the south, and with the Mediterranean sea in the east.

Valencia's geographical landscape can be divided into two parts: inland and coast. Mountains and rock formations integrated into the Iberian mountain range and the Subbetica range dominate the landscape inland. Some of the most notable mountain formations include the Maestrazgo, Martes, Espina, and Espadan sierras as well as Caroig Massif. The areas highest peak is in Penyagolosa and reaches 1,813 metres high. The Penibetico range penetrates the region from the south in Alicante forming various other sierras including Crevillente, Carrascal and Aitana, whose peak reaches 1,558 metres tall. The second part of the region is located around the flat coastal area, mainly comprised of low sandy beaches and coastal lagoons and pools, some of which have dried up. The most notable natural landmarks are Salinas Point, Cape Irta, Cape Oropesa, the Columbretes Islands (of volcanic origin and declared a nature reserve in 1998), Benavides Ravine, Estany, Colomer and Palos passages, the tourist beaches of Canet, Puig, Natzaret, Pinedo, Saler and others very close to the city of Valencia, Cullera Point (with the small island of Peñeta del Moro in front of it), Xeresa Beach, Oliva Beach, Gandia Beach, Venecia Beach, Piles Beach, Almadraba Point, Cape San Antonio, Cape Nao, Ifach Rock, Cape Las Huertas, the Bay of Alicante, the Cape and Bay of Santa Pola and Cape Cervera. The rivers in the region of Valencia are generally short, with small quantities of water. Some of these rivers are: Mijares, Palancia, Turia, Jucar, Cabriel, Magro, Serpis, Vinalopo and Segura.

Transportation

Network connections
The region of Valencia has an excellent branch of networks on land, over sea and through air, that connect the region with the rest of the country and the rest of the world.

The region of Valencia has a network of local and national roads that link the area with itself and the rest of the mainland. The most notable roads include the Mediterranean motorway (A-7), and the dual carriageways of Valencia-Madrid, Alicante-Madrid and Albacete-Valencia. The region's railways are managed by RENFE and the regional Government of Valencia. There are high-speed train links that connect Valencia with Barcelona and Madrid. Work has already begun on the high-speed AVE train line that will link Valencia with Madrid, Albacete, Alicante and Cuenca. The sea routes of the region are notable for the sheer amount of traffic both of goods and passengers that it has to deal with every day, and is a departure point for those wishing to visit the Balearic Islands. The region of Valencia also has two major airports: Manises (Valencia) and L’Altet (Alicante).

Administration

Regional Assembly
The autonomous region of Valencia is made up of the provinces of Castellon, Valencia and Alicante. The capital of the region is Valencia.

The Autonomy Statute was approved for Valencia in 1982. Article 9 of Valencia's regional regulations states: “The Generalitat of Valencia (Regional Government) is made up of various different ministries and departments: Valencia Assembly (known as 'Corts' in the local language), the President, the Government (known as 'Consell' locally) as well as other institutions which have been established in the present StatuteÝ. Valencia's Assembly is made up of 89 members. They include 20 from the province of Alicante, 22 from the province of Castellon and 37 from the province of Valencia. The Autonomy Statute states that the local government "is a collective institution of the Government of Valencia that holds political and legislative powers. It runs the assembly that exercises its power under the guise of Valencia's self government".

Population

The population is mainly based around the coast 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 4,543,304.

The population breakdown in the region of Valencia is as follows: Valencia: 2,358,919, Alicante: 1,657,040 and Castellon: 527.345. The main cities in the autonomous region of Valencia after the capital itself (Valencia) are Alicante, Castellon, Elx, Alcoi, Torrent, Elda, Sagunto and Gandia. The population of the region is mainly based around the coast. The number of inhabitants further inland is greatly reduced.

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