a province of Spain, bounded on the N. by those of Zamora and Valladolid, E. by that of Avila, S. by that of Caceres, and W. by Portugal; area, 8158 square miles. It is for the most part mountainous; but contains many fine plains and valleys, a large proportion of which, as well as the slopes of the mountains, is covered with forests of oaks and chestnuts. The River Tormes enters the province in the south-east, flows first north and then west into the Douro, which forms a portion of the N.W. boundary of the province. The west part of the country is watered by the Agueta, another affluent of the Douro, and the south by the Alagon, which rises here, and flows southwards to join the Tagus. The River Alagon has in some places auriferous sands. The other important minerals obtained here are iron, copper, lead, rock-crystal, and saltpetre. Corn of various kinds, wine, oil, honey, almonds, and other fruits, are among the productions of the country. From the neighbourhood of Ciudad Rodrigo a great quantity of madder is exported to Portugal. Besides Salamanca the capital, the chief towns in the province are Alba, Tormes, Barca, Salvatierra, and Ciudad Rodrigo. Many important historical events have taken place here, especially during the Peninsular war. Pop. (1857) 280,722.

the capital of the above province, on the Tormes, 45 miles N.E. of Ciudad Rodrigo, and 120 N.W. of Madrid. It is built on three hills, in the centre of a curve formed by the river, which flows beneath the walls and domes of the picturesque old town. Antique, venerable, and stately, but desolate and dreary, are its narrow, steep streets and palatial mansions. The glory of the place as a seat of learning and religion is a thing of the past; younger universities have robbed it of its pre-eminence, and the ravages of war have laid in ruins the greater part of its academic buildings. Still there are many noble architectural remains to recall the time when its stately piles obtained for Salamanca the title of the Little Rome (Roma la Chica). The Plaza Mayer is the largest square in Spain, and can hold on the occasion of a bull-fight from 16,000 to 20,000 spectators. It is surrounded by colonnades and public buildings. The university was founded about 1200 by Alfonso IX. of Leon, and enlarged by union with that of Palencia in 1239. It soon rose to eminence; and its professors attained a European reputation before the revival of learning, from their acquaintance with the Arabian writers, and through them with the Greek. In the fourteenth century it numbered 14,000 students; but soon afterwards it became stationary, while the rest of Europe was rapidly advancing in science and literature; and it was subsequently celebrated only for medicine and theology. At the time of its greatest prosperity there were four colegios mayores; namely, San Bartolomeo (1410), Cuenca (1506), Santiago (1521), and Del Rey, or King's College (1625); and twenty-one colegios menores. The former taught classics, law, medicine, and theology; the latter grammar and rhetoric. The greater colleges were aristocratic foundations, possessing extensive privileges and patronage; but these were very much reduced in 1770. Among the university buildings are the schools (escuelas) built in 1416, where degrees were conferred, synods held, and disputations conducted. It has a fine library and chapel, lecture-rooms, and spacious halls, now deserted. The university library has a magnificent front, most delicately carved in the fine cream-coloured stone so much used at Salamanca. It is one of the finest works of the age of Ferdinand and Isabella. Of the four greater colleges which alone now remain, San Bartolomeo is much admired; but it is heavy and disfigured by modern additions; Cuenca was formerly the gem of the place, and the little of it that has survived the French invasion shows what it must have been; Santiago has an exceedingly graceful and ornamental quadrangle; and King's College is a simple Doric edifice. The other collegiate edifices were ruthlessly destroyed by the French to construct fortifications, which the British took in a few hours. The whole number of students at the university in 1845 was 302. Salamanca has two cathedrals, an old and a new: the former a massive strong edifice, much like a fortress, and commanding from its tower a fine view; the latter a beautiful specimen of Gothic of the age of Leo X., although some parts of it were not completed till as late as 1734. It has a nave and two aisles, and its principal dimensions are as follows:—Length, 378 feet; breadth, 181; height of the nave, 130 feet; of the aisles, 80. Besides these, Salamanca contains twenty-five other churches and thirty-three former convents, the greater part of which have been much injured by the French. There are few manufactures and no commerce in the town. On the adjacent plains was fought the battle of Salamanca, July 22, 1812, when Wellington defeated the French under Marmont. Pop. (1849) 15,000.