VALENCIA

VALENCIA, a province of Spain, bounded on the N. by those of Teruel and Castellon de la Plana, E. by the Mediterranean, S. by that of Alicante, and W. by those of Albacete and Cuenca; area, 3672 square miles. The surface is very much diversified; for along the coast it is for the most part low and level, while in the interior it is occupied by the lofty, rugged, and generally bare mountains, which form the eastern boundary of the table-land of New Castile. These mountains send off shoots, which in some places reach nearly to the sea; and the central part of the province is finely diversified with hills and valleys. The principal rivers are the Guadalaviar and the Jucar; the former of which enters the province from the N.W., flows S.E., and falls into the sea at Valencia; while the latter, further to the south, flows eastward, and, after receiving the Cabriel and the Magro, also falls into the Mediterranean. The soil is very rich, producing large crops of rice on the lower grounds, and on the hills and slightly elevated ground, wine, oil, excellent fruits, mulberries, on which large numbers of silk-worms are reared, and excellent pastures for sheep and goats. Cattle and horses are few, and the supply of corn is hardly more than sufficient for the home consumption. In some parts there are valuable marble quarries, and forests yielding abundance of timber. Pop. (1857) 606,608. The old province of Valencia, which was once a

Valencia, separate kingdom of that name, comprehends the modern provinces of Valencia, Alicante, and Castellon de la Plana.