ANDALU'BIA, or ANDALUCIA, a large and fertile province or kingdom in the s. of Spain, lying between 36° 2' and 33° 39' n. lat., and 1° 38' and 7° 20' w. long. Having been overrun Vandals, it is supposed by sonic that they gave it the name of Vandalucia or Andalucia; but the real origin of the mane is wobably ilndalosh, the Amid of the west. .It is the Tarshish of the Bible, and was called Tartessus to ancient geography. The Romans named it Bretica, from the river Thetis (the modern Guadalquivir). The Moors founded here a splendid monarchy, which quickly attained a high degree of civilization. Learning, art, and chivalry flourished in harmony with industry and commerce. The four great Moorish capitals were Seville, Cordova, Jaen, and Granada. During the darkness of the middle ages, Cordova was " the Athens of the west, the scat of arts and sciences;" and later still, under the Spaniards, when " the sun of Raphael set in Italy, painting here arose in a new form in the Velasques, Murillo, and Cano school of Seville, the finest in the peninsula." On the n., A. is divided from Estremadura and New Castile by the mountain-chains of Aroche, Cordova, and Morena. On the c. it is bounded by Murcia, and on the w. by Portugal and the Atlantic. The s. coast eastward from Gibraltar is mountainous; the w., where the Guadalquivir flows into the Atlantic, is level. A. was esteemed the richest district of Hesperia, and its former wealth of produce has been indicated by such names as the "garden," the "granary," the "wine-cellar," and the " gold•purse" of Spain. But, in the present day, such predicates are merited only by comparatively small portions of the hilly country op both sides of the Guadalquivir, where, even with careless cultivation, the soil is luxuriantly productive. Here wheat and maize ripen in April, and yield abun dantly. Olives and oranges attain their greatest height, and vegetation generally assumes a tropical character. Cotton, sugar-cane, Indian figs, and batatas flourish in the open air, and the cactus and aloe form impenetrable hedges. 'Wine and oil abound.
The botany and mineralogy of A. are very rich. The ranges of the Sierra Nevada are composed principally of primary and secondary formations. In the w., towards Nein', cultivation is more sparing, as there is a natural deficiency of water, and the artificial means of irrigation formerly employed have fallen into disuse. Nearer to the coast lie tracts of land still more barren; and the level strip extending between the mouths of the Guadalquivir and the Tinto is covered with moving sands. On the whole, A. is still one of the most fertile districts of Spain, owing to its delicious southern climate and the 'abundance of water supplied by its snowy mountains. Its breed of horses has celebrated, and the mules are superior to those of other countries. The Sierra _Morena mountains supply the wild cattle exhibited in the bull-fights of Madrid. The natural riches of the district have at various times invited colonists and invaders, such as the Plicenicians and the Moors. The Andalusians are regarded as among the most lively, imaginative, and active people of Spain. But they are also con sidered by the rest of their countrymen to be the Gascons—the braggarts and boasters of Spain. Apparently they have never at any time been warlike, since even Livy calls them imbelles. They are, like all braggarts, extremely credulous, and are, besides, remarkable for their intense superstition. The worship of the Virgin prevails to such an extent that the very country is called "the land of the most holy Virgin." They speak a dialect of Spanish mixed with Arabic. A. is divided into the provinces of Almeria, Jaen. Malaga, Cadiz, Huelva, Seville, Cordova, and Granada. The chief towns are Seville, Cordova, .Jaen, Cadiz (q.v.).• Area, 33,340 sq.m. Pop. '70, 3,264,640.