CACERES, a province of western Spain, formed in 1833 of districts taken from Estremadura. It is bounded on the north by Salamanca and Avila, on the east by Toledo, on the south by Badajoz, and on the west by Portugal. Pop. 449,756; area, 7,667 sq. miles. Caceres is the largest of the Spanish prov inces, after Badajoz, and one of the most thinly peopled. It consists mainly of a broad, undulating plain, rising to the Sierra de Gata and Sierra de Gredos in the north, and to lower ranges in the south and south-east. All the province, except a small area on the south-east, is drained by the river Tagus, which flows through it from east to west, and is joined by several tributaries, notably the Alagon and Tietar on the north and the Salor and Almonte on the south. The climate is temperate except in summer, when hot east winds prevail. Droughts are common in many districts and forests are confined to the north, where the cork oak is important. Much of the province is covered with thin pasture. The region north of the Tagus is more fertile than that to the south and produces fair crops of cereals, olives, peas and fruit, but agriculture everywhere is backward. As a stock breeding province Caceres ranks second only to Badajoz. In 1924 it possessed many pigs, over i,000,000 sheep and more goats than any other province. It is famous for the wool, ham and red sausages, called embutidos, which it exports. Its mineral wealth is small but it produces all the phosphates mined in Spain (1924, about 5,000 tons) and small quantities of zinc, lead and tin. Leather, coarse woollen and cork goods are produced in many towns, but owing to the general poverty, the scattered population, the lack of good roads and the backwardness of education, there is no real industrial development. The North Madrid-Lisbon railway which crosses the province from east to west is joined at Plasencia by a line from Salamanca and at Arroyo by a branch through Caceres, the capital, to Merida in Badajoz on the South Madrid—Lisbon line. The principal towns : Caceres, pop. (1930) 25,869; Valencia de Alcantara, 12,748; Trujillo, 13,056; Plasencia, 12,418; and Alcantara, 4,014, are described in separate articles. Other towns are : Arroyo del Puerco, 9,617 ; - Miajadas, 7554 Logrosan, 6,162; Garrovillas, 6,045, and Brozas, 6,046. (See also ESTREMADURA.)