Province of León

León(UK:/leɪˈɒn/,US:/leɪˈoʊn/;Spanish:[leˈon];Leonese:Llión[ʎiˈoŋ];Galician:[leˈoŋ]) is aprovinceof northwestern Spain in the northern part of theRegion of Leónand in the northwestern part of theautonomous communityofCastile and León.
About one quarter of its population of 463,746 (2018) lives in the capital,León. The climate is dry, cold in winter and hot in summer. This creates the perfect environment for wine and all types of cold meats and sausages like the leonese "Morcilla" and the "Cecina".
There are two famousRoman Catholiccathedrals in the province, the main one in León and another inAstorga. The province shares thePicos de Europa National Park(in thePicos de Europamountain range) withCantabriaandAsturias. It has 211 municipalities.
The province of León was established in 1833 with thenew Spanish administrative organisationof regions and provinces to replace former kingdoms. The greaterLeonese Regionwas composed of the provinces of León,SalamancaandZamora.
The Kingdom of León was founded in 910 A.D. when the Christian princes ofAsturiasalong thenorthern coast of the Iberian peninsulashifted their main seat fromOviedoto the city ofLeón. The eastern, inland part of the kingdom was joined dynastically to theKingdom of Castile, first in 1037–1065, then in 1077–1109 and again in 1126–1157, 1230–1296 and from 1301 onward (see:historic union of the Kingdoms of Castile and León). The western and Atlantic provinces became theKingdom of Portugalin 1139.
The independently administeredKingdom of León, situated in the northwestern region of theIberian Peninsula, retained the status of akingdomuntil 1833, althoughdynastic unionhad brought it into theCrown of Castile. The Kingdom was composed ofAdelantamientos Mayores, where the LeoneseAdelantamientosconsisted of the territories between thePicos de Europaand theDuero River. The political and military chiefs of these territories were referred to asAdelantados; those chiefs began to convene as an assembly in the early 12th century, while the crown appointed theMerinosas minor and appellate judges.
According to UNESCO, in 1188 the Kingdom of León developed the first Parliament in Europe, theCortes de León, which included the elected representatives of towns and cities.In 1202, that Parliament approved economic legislation to regulate trade and guilds.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
The Provincial Government of León signed accords with language associations for promoting theLeonese language.Leonese is taught in the city of León,Mansilla de las Mulas,La Bañeza,Valencia de Don JuanorPonferradafor adult people, and in sixteen schools of León.The City Council of León writes some of its announcements in Leonese in order to promote the language.
In the western part of theEl Bierzo, the westernmost region of the province,Galician languageis spoken and taught at schools.
As for the temperatures, in general it is a cold climate due to the altitude and the abundance of frost (which persist from November to May), being more intense in the mountainous areas reaching -18 °C. Vega de Liordes, an enclave in the León sector of Picos de Europa belonging to the municipality ofPosada de Valdeónregistered −35.8 °C (−32.4 °F) on January 7, 2021.
Embutidos
Cheese
Wines
Sweets