Autonomous communities of Spain in the context of "Asturias"

The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a province and autonomous community of Spain, with Palma de Mallorca being its capital and largest city.

Formerly part of the Kingdom of Mallorca, the islands were made a province in the 19th century provincial division, which in 1983 received a Statute of Autonomy. In its later reform of 2007, the Statute designates the Balearic Islands as one of the nationalities of Spain. The official languages of the Balearic Islands are Catalan and Spanish.

The Canary Islands (/kəˈnɛəri/ ; Spanish: Canarias [kaˈnaɾjas] ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost autonomous community of Spain, located about 100 kilometres (62 miles) off the northwest coast of Africa. The archipelago has a population of approximately 2.27 million inhabitants, making it the most populous overseas special territory of the European Union.

The seven main islands are from largest to smallest in area, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro. The only other populated island is La Graciosa, which administratively is dependent on Lanzarote. The archipelago includes many smaller islands and islets, including Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Oeste, and Roque del Este. It includes a number of rocks, including Garachico and Anaga. The island chain used to be referred to as "the Fortunate Isles". The Canary Islands are the southernmost region of Spain, and the largest and most populous archipelago of Macaronesia. It is also the largest and most populated archipelago in Spain. Because of their location, the Canary Islands have historically been considered a link between Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

The plazas de soberanía (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈplaθas ðe soβeɾaˈni.a]), meaning "strongholds of sovereignty", are a series of Spanish territories scattered along the Mediterranean coast bordering Morocco, or that are closer to Africa than Europe. This term is used for those territories that have been a part of Spain since the formation of the modern country (1492–1556), as opposed to African territories acquired by Spain during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the Scramble for Africa.

Historically, a distinction was made between the so-called "major places of sovereignty", comprising the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and the "minor places of sovereignty", referring to a number of uninhabited islands and a small peninsula along the coast. Now the term refers mainly to the latter. Ceuta in particular was also historically part of the so-called "African Algarve" (Spanish: Algarbe Africano, Portuguese: Algarve Africano) within the Kingdom of the Algarves, a title which the Spanish monarchs still hold in pretense.

Ceuta (UK: /ˈsjuːtə/, US: /ˈseɪuːtə/, Spanish: [ˈθewta, ˈsewta] ; Moroccan Arabic: سَبْتَة, romanized: Sabtah) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of the special member state territories of the European Union.

Phoenicians founded a settlement in the peninsula of Almina, which had continuity under Roman and Byzantine rule (Septem Fratres). It was annexed to the early Arab Caliphates upon the Islamic conquest of the Maghreb, only to be destroyed during the Berber Revolt. It was rebuilt in the 9th century by Majkasa Ghomaras, and for much of the middle ages, regional powers north and south of the Strait of Gibraltar vied for control over Ceuta, which was a key contested port in the so-called Battle of the Strait. In 1415, it was annexed to the Kingdom of Portugal, and subsequently, after 1580, to the Hispanic Monarchy, with the city choosing to stay in the latter after 1640. Ceuta was a regular municipality belonging to the Spanish province of Cádiz prior to the passing of its Statute of Autonomy in March 1995, as provided by the Spanish Constitution, henceforth becoming an autonomous city.

Melilla (/mɛˈliːjə/, Spanish: [meˈliʝa] ; Tarifit: Mřič) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of 12.3 km (4.7 sq mi). It was part of the Province of Málaga until 14 March 1995, when the Statute of Autonomy of Melilla was passed.

Melilla is one of the special territories of the member states of the European Union. Movements to and from the rest of the EU and Melilla are subject to specific rules, provided for inter alia in the Accession Agreement of Spain to the Schengen Convention.

Toledo (UK: /tɒˈleɪdoʊ/ tol-AY-doh; Spanish: [toˈleðo] ) is a city and municipality in Spain. It is the capital of the province of Toledo and the de jure seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha.

Toledo is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Tagus in central Iberia, nestled in a bend of the river.

Andalusia (UK: /ˌændəˈluːsiə, -ziə/ AN-də-LOO-see-ə, -⁠zee-ə, US: /-ʒ(i)ə, -ʃ(i)ə/ -⁠zh(ee-)ə, -⁠sh(ee-)ə; Spanish: Andalucía [andaluˈθi.a] , locally also [-ˈsi.a]) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognized as a historical nationality and a national reality. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga, and Seville. Its capital city is Seville, while the seat of its High Court of Justice is the city of Granada.

Andalusia is immediately south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha; west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea; east of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean; and north of the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar. The British Overseas Territory and city of Gibraltar, located at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar, shares a 1.2 kilometres (3⁄4 mi) land border with the Andalusian province of Cádiz.

The Kingdom of Aragon (Aragonese: Reino d'Aragón; Catalan: Regne d'Aragó; Latin: Regnum Aragoniae; Spanish: Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain. It became a part of the larger Crown of Aragon, which also included other territories—the Principality of Catalonia (which included the former Catalan Counties), the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Majorca, and other possessions that are now part of France, Italy, and Greece—that were also under the rule of the King of Aragon, but were administered separately from the Kingdom of Aragon.

In 1479, upon John II of Aragon's death, the crowns of Aragon and Castile were united to form the nucleus of modern Spain. The Aragonese lands retained autonomous parliamentary and administrative institutions, such as the Corts. The arrangement remained until the Nueva Planta decrees, promulgated between 1707 and 1715 by Philip V of Spain in the aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession, centralised power in Spain. However, the title "King of Aragon" would continue to be used by the centralised Spanish crown.

Catalans (Catalan, French and Occitan: catalans; Spanish: catalanes; Italian: catalani; Sardinian: cadelanos or catalanos) are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autonomous community in Spain and the inhabitants of the Roussillon historical region in Southern France, today the Pyrénées Orientales department, also called Northern Catalonia and Pays Catalan in French.

Some authors also extend the word "Catalans" to include all people from areas in which Catalan is spoken, namely those from Andorra, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, eastern Aragon, and the city of Alghero in Sardinia.

Catalan (català) is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra and the official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community, where it is called Valencian (valencià). It has semi-official status in the Italian municipality of Alghero, and it is spoken in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of France and in two further areas in eastern Spain: the eastern strip of Aragon and the Carche area in the Region of Murcia. The Catalan-speaking territories are often called the Països Catalans or "Catalan Countries".

The language evolved from Vulgar Latin in the Middle Ages around the eastern Pyrenees. It became the language of the Principality of Catalonia and the kingdoms of Valencia and Mallorca, being present throughout the Mediterranean as the main language of the Crown of Aragon. It was replaced by Spanish as a language of government and literature in the 1700s, but nineteenth century Spain saw a Catalan literary revival, culminating in the early 1900s. With the end of Franco dictatorship (1975) and its repressive measures against the language, Catalan entered a relatively successful process of re-normalization between the 1980s and the 2000s. However, during the 2010s, it experienced signs of decline in social use, diglossia and the re-growth of discrimination cases.