Cantabria

Cantabria is an autonomous community of Spain, containing one province (also called Cantabria).

It is bounded on the east by the Basque Country (province of Vizcaya), on the south by Castile and León (provinces of León, Palencia, and Burgos), on the west by Asturias, and on the north by the "Cantabrian Sea", the local designation for the part of the Bay of Biscay that lies off its coast..

Its capital is Santander.

See also List of communities in Cantabria.

Cantabria shares the National Park Picos de Europa (in the Picos de Europa mountain range) with Asturias and León provinces.

Etymology

Cantabria was the land of the pre-Roman people Cantabri . It is not related with Cantabrigensis, a Latinate version of Cambridge. Many different authors have written about the origins of the name Cantabria, including Isidore of Seville, Julio Caro Baroja , Aureliano Fernández Guerra , Joaquín Gonzalez Echegaray , and Adolf Schulten . Though there’s no consensus, many experts agree that it’s derived from the Celtic root cant-, meaning "rock" or "stone", and the suffix -abr, used frequently in Celtic regions. From this we can deduce that the word "cántabro" means "people dwelling in the mountains", referring to the rugged terrain of Cantabria.

Geography

Area: 5.321 km²

Transportation:

Freeways/motorways: Autovía del Cantábrico (A-8), Autovía de la Meseta (under construction), N-623.

Seaport: Puerto de Raos (Santander)

Airport: Aeropuerto de Parayas (Santander)

Climate: Cantabria is known for its rainy and cool Seattle-like climate.

Economy

GDP (2002): € 8,911.5 million

Population

Statistics

549,690 people in the 2003 census, (representing 1.29% of the population of Spain)

Population density 103.31 people/km²

Life expectancy: 75 years for men, 83 years for women.

Demonyms

Cántabro/a and cantábrico - we generally use "Cantabrian" for a people and things, and "Cantabric" for places.

Montañés - literally "Mountainese", but this is term is not used in English.

Santanderino/a - this refers specifically to residents of Santander, but is often applied to other Cantabrians as well, since - before 1981 - the entire Cantabric area was called the Province of Santander.

Famous Cantabrians

Historical Figures:

• Corocotta , Pedro, Duke of Cantabria , Alfonso I, Beato de Liébana , Iñigo de Mendoza , Juan de la Cosa, Juan de Escobedo , Juan de Herrera , Bárbara de Blomberg , Juan Francisco de Güemes , Francisco Rávago , Francisco Antonio Cagigal de la Vega , Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla , Pedro Velarde , Angel Herrera Oria .

Art and Literature:

• Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo , José María de Pereda , Pancho Cossío , José María de Cossío ,Gerardo Diego , Rafael de Floranes , Agustín Riancho , Ataúlfo Argenta , Concha Espina, José Hierro .

Science and Technology:

• Augusto González de Linares , Enrique Diego Madrazo y Azcona , Leonardo Torres Quevedo .

Sports:

• Francisco Gento, Carlos Alonso Gómez "Santillana" , José Manuel Abascal ,Severiano Ballesteros, Iván Helguera, Pedro Munitis , Oscar Freire.