CORDOVA, a province of southern Spain, bounded on the north-east by Ciudad Real, east by Jaen, south-east by Granada, south by Malaga, south-west and west by Seville, and north-west by Badajoz. Pop. (1930) 668,862; area, 5,299 sq.miles. The river Guadalquivir, flowing through the province from east-north east to west-south-west, divides it into two very dissimilar por tions. North of the river lies the mountain belt of the Sierra de Morena, south of it the more fertile and populated great plains (La Campina), rising in the south-east through undulating coun try to the borders of the Sierra de Nevada. The Cuzna, Guadiato and Bembezar tributaries join the Guadalquivir on its right bank and the Guadajoz and Genii on its left. Small tributaries of the Guadiana drain the northern districts (Los Pedroches). The climate exhibits great contrasts. Snow may lie for months on the mountain peaks while temperatures are mild in the plains, except in the few torrid summer months, when rain seldom falls. The chief wealth of the province lies in the agricultural products of its plains and the mineral deposits of its mountains, though, owing to the conservatism and backward education of the people, neither are fully developed. The fertile Campina produces much wine and oil of high quality, cereals, fruits and vegetables and a famous breed of horses. In the Sierra de Morena sheep are reared on the pastures and pigs in the oak forests, but far more impor tant are coal, including anthracite from the Belmez district, silver lead and zinc, and small quantities of copper, iron and bismuth obtained: from various localities. South of the river salt is mined at Rute. There are no large manufacturing towns but there is a marked contrast between the ancient market centres of the south and the more modern mining towns of the Sierra. A fairly plete road and railway system exists, especially in the mining districts. The main Madrid-Linares-Seville line follows the Guadalquivir valley. At Cordova it meets the north-south line from Almorchon to Malaga which has four important branches Belmez-Fuente del Arco, Belmez-Conquista, Cordova-Utrera, and Puente Genil-Jaen. The principal towns are Cordova (q.v.), Lucena, pop. (1930) 27,242, Priego de Cordoba (24,501), Puente Genii (23,410), Baena (21,338), Montilla (19,758), Fuenteove juna (19,534), Cabra (16,455), Pozoblanco (15,843), Montoro (15,923), and Aguilar (15,809) . These are described in separate articles. Others of less importance are the mining centres, Hinojosa del Duque , Belmez (10,421), and Villanueva de Cordoba (6,103), Puebloneuvo del Terrible (16,822 in 1920), and the market towns Castro del Rio (14,817), Rute (14,687), and Bujalance (14,308). (See also ANDALUSIA.)