CUENCA, a province in central Spain, part of the ancient kingdom of New Castile. It is bounded on the north by Guadala jara, north-east by Teruel, east by Valencia, south by Albacete, south-west by Ciudad Real, west by Toledo and north-west by Madrid. Pop. (1930) 309,526; area, 6,636 sq. miles. The north east districts of Cuenca are occupied by the rugged ridges and high plateaux of the Serrania de Cuenca, rising on the border of the province to the Cerro de san Felipe (5,93 2f t.) . Westward lie the Sierra de Altomira and broken country, sloping in the south-west to plains which form part of the district known as La Mancha. The province is drained by the upper streams of the Tagus in the north, and the Guadiana in the south-west and by the Jucar and its tributaries in the south-east. The climate is bleak and cold in the mountains and extreme on the plains, where summer heat is excessive. Prolonged droughts are com mon. The soil is fertile, where well watered, but the people are chiefly occupied in rearing sheep, goats, mules and asses. In the Alcarria region of the north, watered by the Guadiela, and near the rivers in La Mancha, olives, wine, cereals, saffron, wax, honey and silk are produced. The coniferous forests of the Serrania rival those of Soria and in 1923 the province ranked highest in Spain for its production of pinewood. Owing to the scarcity of roads and railways the timber is exported almost entirely by river, much being floated down the Tagus to Madrid. Mineral output is confined to a little coal and salt, and the only industries, beyond saw-milling, are the making of rough cloth and pottery. Cuenca, the capital, pop. is the terminus of the one railway line, a branch from Aranjuez which passes through Tarancon (6,919), the only other town with over 6,50o inhabit ants. The population is one of the scantiest and most illiterate in Spain. (See also CASTILE.)