or ARRAGON, a province, or, as it is usually denominated by the inhabitants of the peninsula, a kingdom, of Spain, and one of the component parts of that monarchy, situated between Lat. 40. 0, and 42. 51. N., and between Long. 2. 10. W. and 1. 45. E. It is bounded on the north by the Pyrenees, which separate it from France; east by Catalonia and Valencia; south by Valencia; and west by Navarre and the two Castiles. The length from north to south is 215 miles, and its breadth from 65 to 135 miles, with an area of 11,088 geographical square miles, and a population in 1849 of 847,105. In 1833 it was divided into the new provinces of Zaragoza, Huesca, and Teruel. The province is divided by the river Ebro into two nearly equal parts, which are distinguished as Trans-iberia and Cis-iberia. Its surface is very irregular: the western part, towards Old Castle, begins with the Sierra de Moncayo, but from the foot of these mountains to the Ebro the country is a continued level and fertile plain in the centre. To the south the ground rises gradually till it attains considerable elevation in the mountains near Cuenca, in which are the sources of the most considerable rivers of Spain, some of which direct their courses to the Mediterranean, while others force their way to the Atlantic. Mountains, branching from the Pyrenees, traverse the northern part, and it has likewise some mountains in the south; but these are of less elevation. The temperature of Aragon is extremely varied. In the north, near the Pyrenees, the climate is rigorous; while in the south, especially towards the Mediterranean, it is very mild.

The agricultural productions of the province necessarily vary with the variations in the elevation and aspect of the land. The greater part is appropriated to feeding flocks of Merino sheep, and their wool forms the most important of the productions of the province; in return for which they receive the manufactures of England and France. Wheat is grown more than sufficient for its own consumption, and it contributes to supply the neighbouring province of Navarre. Its wine and oil are generally more than its own demands require, and they are both of the best quality which Spain produces; but having none but difficult communication with any other country where these valuable articles are wanted, the cultivation of them languishes. Near the banks of the Ebro flax and hemp are grown in more than sufficient quantities for the domestic manufactures; and a supply of the latter is furnished to some of the maritime towns of Biscay, where it is preferred for cables to any other. The supply of horses and cows is not equal to the demands of the inhabitants, the deficiency being made up from the adjoining provinces. The mountainous parts abound with excellent ship-timber, but the badness of the roads prevents this branch of commerce from being carried on to any great extent.

The manufactures of the province are inconsiderable; that of silk, which was formerly extensive, has been gradually on the decline for some years. Manufactorys for coarse cloths occupy the inhabitants of the city of Albarracin, and the large village of Tarazona; and some cloths of fine wool are made at Jaca, and some baize in its vicinity. Linen and sail-cloth are also made, but the quantity of each is small. There are iron manufactories on the mountains, where the abundance of trees calculated for making charcoal has introduced forges; but the badness of the roads checks their extension.

Aragon is not deficient in mineral riches, though the labour applied to them, as to most other objects in Spain, is in a very languid state. Near the Pyrenees, besides mines of iron, there are three mines of lead and one of copper, and, what is unique in Spain, a mine of cobalt. Besides these, there is a mine of alum near Alcaniz, which is very productive; and there are also quarries of marble and jasper.

At two leagues N.N.E. of Albarracin is the extraordinary fountain called Cella, at an elevation of 3700 feet above the sea. From this fountain the river Xilooca issues, and running through a beautiful country of 30 miles in extent, filled with inclosures, orchards, gardens, and vineyards, joins its waters, near Calatayud, to the more copious stream of the Xalon, which descends from Old Castle; and these united, lose their names by mingling their waters with the Ebro. Between the stream of the Xilooca and the mountains which separate Aragon from Molina, is a very extensive lake called Galocanta, which covers about 6000 acres of land; and at a little distance from the lake are the ruins of the ancient city Bilbilis, which has derived celebrity from being the native place of the Roman poet Martial.

The principal river of Aragon is the Ebro, to which most of the other rivers in the province are tributary. (See Enno.) The soil is generally dry; but the valleys are usually well-watered and fertile. The Imperial Canal of Aragon, which extends in the direction of the Ebro from Tudela almost to Saragossa, is about eighty miles in length, nine feet in depth, and has an average breadth of sixty-nine feet. It is navigable for vessels of from 60 to 80 tons burthen. This great work was commenced by Charles V. in 1529, but remained unfinished for nearly 200 years.

The capital of Aragon is Zaragoza, a city of more than 40,000 inhabitants; for the description of which, with its memorable resistance to the French invaders, see Zaragoza. The other considerable cities and towns are Teruel, Daroca, Calatayud, Borja, Tarazona, Alcaniz, Caspe, Barbastro, Monzon, Huesca, and Jaca. At the most western part of the province a district called Cinco-villas is remarkably fruitful. The whole extent of 17,000 acres derives its fertility principally from an artificial canal, cut for the purpose of irrigation, called the royal canal of Tauste, by means of which the whole of the land may be flooded at pleasure.

The name of this kingdom was derived from the small but precipitous torrent Aragon, which rises in the Pyrenees, and, running from north to south, falls into the Ebro.

A great portion of the Pyrenees is in the province of Aragon. They run from east to west, presenting towards Spain the convex part of a kind of spherical segment, losing their height gradually towards each extremity. The highest point of this range of mountains, called by the French Mont Perdu, and by the Spaniards Monte Perdido and Las Tres Sorores, is visible from the city of Zaragoza. According to the actual measurement of the naturalist Ramond, who reached its summit in 1802, it is 11,430 feet above the level of the sea. Its top is constantly covered with snow, the permanent limits of which, on the same authority, are stated at 7750 feet of elevation. Before the measurement of Ramond, the point called Canigu was supposed to be the highest peak of this range, but it was thereby ascertained to be but 10,050 feet high.

There are at least fifty passes through the Pyrenees from France into Spain, but few of these are practicable except for the peasantry. The regular carriage roads over these mountains are the following:—1. The Col de Pertus, between Perpignan and Jonguera; 2. The pass of Puy Moliere, between the valley of Sagre and that of the Ariège; 3. The Port de Confrane, between Zaragoza and Pau; 4. The Port de Ronceraux, between Pamplona and St Jean; 5. The pass of Bedassoa, between Vittoria and Bayonne. From an accurate survey by the French engineers, it appeared there were upwards of eighty practicable passages, of which twenty-eight would allow of cavalry, and seven of artillery and wheel-carriages. None of these had been ever examined by the Spanish government, though it was more than suspected that a very considerable contraband traffic had been conducted through these passes, in spite of the vigilance of the officers of revenue in both kingdoms.

Previous to the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the political constitution of Aragon was the most liberal in Europe. Formally monarchical, its genius and maxims were purely republican. The kings, who were long elective, retained only the shadow of power; while its real exercise was in the hands of the Cortes; an assembly consisting of the nobility, the equestrian order, the representatives of the cities and towns, and the ecclesiastical order.

No law could pass without the assent of every member who had a right to vote. Without the permission of the Cortes no tax could be imposed, war could not be declared, nor peace concluded. Besides these, and other extraordinary privileges enjoyed by the Cortes, the Aragonese possessed another safeguard against despotic power in the election of a Justiza, or supreme judge, who acted as the guardian of the people, and the controller of the prince. He was the supreme interpreter of the laws, and was accountable to the Cortes alone for the manner in which he discharged the duties of his high office.—See Robertson's History of Charles V., vol. i. § 3.

The history of Aragon before its union with Castile by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, when it was merged in the kingdom of Spain, will be found in the general history of that country. It had, before this epoch, a succession of twenty sovereigns, from the year 1035 to 1516.—See Zurita, Anales de Aragon; Viaje de Ponz; Geografía de Don Isidoro de Antillon; Historia de la Economía Política de Aragon, por Don Ignacio de Asso.