MURCIA, one of the provinces into which Spain is divided, and usually, on account of its ancient independence, denominated a kingdom. Its extent is 659 square leagues, and its population, at the census in 1804, amounted to 383,226 souls. It is bounded on the north by Valencia, on the east by the Mediterranean Sea, on the south by Granada, and on the west by New Castile. It produces wheat and barley, but not in quantities sufficient to feed its population. It has abundance of cattle on its pastures. Its rivers and coasts are well stored with every kind of fish, and it produces the most delicious fruits. It has more of the articles of commerce to spare than are required to barter in exchange for corn. It produces wines, oil, silk, hemp, barilla, kelp, and esparto, which are sent in considerable quantities to the other provinces of the Peninsula, or to foreign ports. The mountainous parts of the district are covered with trees, which furnish the different kinds of timber fit for ship-building, and for constructions on shore. In a very considerable part to the south, called El Campo, the evil of excessive drought is often experienced. In the whole of Murcia, indeed, in ordinary years, there is a scarcity of rain, which induces the cultivation of kelp and barilla, for which a very small portion of moisture is requisite. In those years in which the showers are copious, the produce of the fields is most profuse, and then the grain sown has been known to yield an increase of a hundred for one.
The principal river, and that to which Murcia is indebted for its fertility, is the Segura, which in the first part of its course crosses the sterile and rocky district of Catasparra, and then receiving the stream of the Munda, fertilizes the fruit-gardens and orange-groves of Hellin. It then passes through the delicious valley of Ricoti, which is a continued garden of oranges, lemons, citrons, pomegranates, and other fruits, the abundant crops of which exceed those of every other part of Spain. The natural productions of this province are a species of fine red earth, without any mixture of sand, which is used to polish crystals, and is mixed with the snuff in the royal manufactories. There is a large lake of salt water in the north-east part of Murcia, from which salt is refined for the use of the province. There are some very extensive manufactories of silk, though not sufficient to consume the whole quantity which the worms of the province yield. The hemp and flax grown are converted within the province into cordage and sail-cloth. Murcia has not much foreign commerce; the little which it has been carried on either by the vessels of other nations, or by those of the neighbouring provinces, particularly of Catalonia.
Though all Spanish writers describe Murcia as a most luxuriant and delightful country, their descriptions must be received with considerable abatement. Near the river Segura their representations are accurate; but when advancing on either side beyond its influence, the country presents a barren and almost uninhabited tract of land up to the mountains, scarcely a tree being anywhere to be seen. The climate is mild and warm, and, like the whole coast of the Mediterranean, has been frequently visited with epidemic fevers, which have thinned the population.