VALENCIA, the name of a maritime province of eastern Spain, and anciently of a kingdom. Pop. (1930) 1.042,154; area, 4,150 sq. miles. When the ancient kingdom of Valencia was incorporated into Aragon in 1238, it included the provinces of Castellon de la Plana (q.v.) and Alicante (q.v.). It was bounded inland on the north by Catalonia, west by Aragon and New Cas tile, and south by Murcia. This region has an area of 8,83o sq.m.; its present population is about 2,000,000. For its history see VALENCIA (city). The inhabitants are of very mixed race, owing to the successive occupation of the country by Iberians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths and Moors. Their dialect resembles Catalan but is softer, and contains a larger percentage of Arabic words. The elaborate irrigation-works and the system of intensive agriculture which have rendered the huertas or gardens of Valencia celebrated were initiated by the Moors; the fame of the Elche date-groves, the Alicante vineyards and the Valencia orange plantations, was also originally due to them.
With the decline of the caliphate of Cordova early in the II th century, Valencia became an independent kingdom, which passed successively into the power of the Almoravides and Almohades.
In 1609, 200,000 Moriscos, or Moors who outwardly professed Christianity, were banished from the country. In 1833 Valencia was divided into the three provinces already named.
The coast is skirted by considerable stretches of sand-dune, and by a series of these the lagoon called the Albufera (q.v.) de Valencia is separated from the Mediterranean. The principal rivers are the Guadalaviar or Turia and the Jucar (q.v.). Irri gation disputes are settled by the peasants' Tribunal de las Aguas which meets weekly in front of Valencia cathedral.