Provinces of Spain (original) (raw)
In addition to its seventeen autonomous communities, Spain is divided into fifty provinces.
Formerly of greater importance, since the arrival of the autonomous community system, the provinces have fewer powers. They are still used as electoral districts, in postal addresses, and as geographical referents. (A small town would be identified as being in Valladolid province sooner than as being in Castile-Leon, for example.)
Most of the provinces are named after their principal town. There are only two cities that are capitals of autonomous communities without being capitals of provinces: Mérida in Extremadura and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.
Seven autonomous communities are composed of only one province: Asturias, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, and Navarre.
Here is a list of the provinces: