BADAJOZ, a frontier province of western Spain, formed in 1833 of districts taken from the province of Estremadura (q.v.). Pop. (1930) 702,418; area, 8,363sq.m. ; density, 77.1 per sq.m. Badajoz is thus the largest province of the whole kingdom. It extends from the foothills of the Sierras de San Pedro, Montanchez and Guadalupe, in the north, to the heart of the Sierra Morena in the south, and is crossed from east to west near its northern border by the river Guadiana. La Serena, the largest of the cele brated Estremaduran winter pasture grounds, lies in the east of the province, which is mainly pastoral. The only really productive soils are found in the Tierra de Barros, a region lying to the west of La Serena. The rainfall is scanty in average years, and the torrential rivers do not lend themselves to irrigation. The fer tility of the soil varies widely, some zones, such as the Tierra de Barros, being famous for their high cereal yield. About two million acres are devoted to rough pasture, woodland and scrub. Cereals are grown to some extent, however, in every district, though with a low average yield ; as in other pastoral provinces, the tendency has been to break up natural pasture for indifferent ploughland; three million acres were returned in 1924 as under cultivation, principally for wheat (444,545ac.) and barley. Vine growing is important in certain zones, and the advance of phyl loxera has apparently been checked by replanting with American stocks and on fresh ground. The olive is widely and increasingly cultivated (203,813ac., 1924) ; the yield is large but the quality poor. Agricultural property is mostly in large holdings; rural communications are bad hindering the development of mineral resources.
Badajoz is among the provinces best supplied with livestock of all kinds, but especially with sheep (1,916,000, 1924), goats (225, 86o) and swine (531,245). Its acorn-fed swine are celebrated for their hams and bacon. Horned cattle are raised chiefly on the richer pastures on the banks of the Guadiana. Badajoz produces lead, copper and slate, but not in important quantities. There are manufactures of woollen and cotton stuffs, wines for export and beer, soaps, oils, cork and leather. Commercial interests are more important than industrial, because of transit trade to and from Portugal. Education is backward, and 61% of the population are returned as illiterate. Many parts are inaccessible except by road. The main line of the Madrid-Lisbon railway passes through Villanueva de la Serena, Merida and Badajoz; at Merida it is joined by the railways going north to Caceres and south to Zafra, where the lines from Huelva and Seville unite. After Badajoz, the capital (q.v.), the principal towns are Almendralejo (I 7,597 ) Azuaga (17,352), Don Benito (21,196), Jerez de los Caballeros (15,021), Merida (19,354), Villanueva de la Serena, and Villafranca de los Barros (13,521) (qqv.).