LEON, the name of a modern province and of an ancient kingdom, captaincy-general and province in north-western Spain. The modern province, founded in 1833, is bounded on the north by Oviedo, north-east by Santander, east by Palencia, south by Valladolid and Zamora and west by Orense and Lugo. Pop.
(1930) 441,908. Area 5,938 sq.m. Leon belongs partly to the river system of the Mirio (see SPAIN), partly to that of the Duero or Douro (q.v.), these being separated by the Montallas de Leon, which extend in a continuous wall (with passes at Manzanal and Poncebadon) from north to south-west.
At the time of the Roman conquest, the province was inhab ited by the Vettones and Callaici. Among the Christian kingdoms which arose in Spain as the Moorish invasion of the 8th century receded, Leon was one of the oldest. The title of king of Leon was first assumed by Ordono in 913. Ferdinand I. (the Great) of Castile united the crowns of Castile and Leon in the I th cen tury; the two were again separated in the 12th, until a final union took place (1230) in the person of St. Ferdinand. The Leonese belong partly to the Castilian section of the Spaniards, partly to the north-western section which includes the Galicians and Asturians. Near Astorga there dwells a curious people, the Maragatos, sometimes considered to be a remnant of the original Celtiberian inhabitants. As a rule the Maragatos earn their living
as muleteers or carriers; they wear a distinctive costume, mix as little as possible with their neighbours and do not marry outside their own group.
To the north-west of the Montalias de Leon is the richly wooded pastoral and highland district known as the Vierzo, which in its lower valleys produces grain, fruit and wine in abundance.
The Tierra de Campos in the west of the province is fairly pro ductive, but in need of irrigation. The whole province is sparsely peopled. Apart from agriculture, stock-raising and mining, its commerce and industries are unimportant. Cattle, mules, butter, leather, coal and iron are exported. The hills of Leon were worked for gold in the time of the Romans; iron is still obtained, and coal-mining developed considerably towards the close of the 19th century. The only towns with more than 5,000 inhabitants in 1930 were Leon (q.v.), Ponferrada (10,785), Pola de Gordon (6,528), Astorga (8,243) and Villablino (6,798). The railway from Madrid to Corunna passes through the province, and there are branches from the city of Leon to Vierzo, Oviedo and the Bis cayan port of Gijon.