MURCIA, a former province of Spain, now subdivided into time smaller provinces of Albacete and :Murcia, is situated in the s.e. of the peninsula. It is bounded on the n. by New Castile, on the e. by Valencia, on the s. by the Mediterranean, and on the w. by Granada, Andalusia, and New Castile. Area, 10,311 sq.miles. Pop. '70. 660,040 (of modemy province, 439,067). In the n.e. the province is partly level; but in the s.w. it is composed of great valleys, high plateaus, and mountain ranges. Time coast comprises stretches of desert. The principal river is the Segura, which flows through the middle of the province from w. toe. On the whole, Murcia is not very productive, and never will be, on account of the failure of water, partly caused by the destruction of the forests. The only fertile districts are the valleys of the Segura, and the side-valleys of Lorca, Albacete, Chinchilla. and Almansa. The Esparto wastes have remained uncultivated since the banishment of the Moriscocs in 1610; and the canal of Murcia, which is intended to irrigate the arid Campo de Cartagena, is not yet finished. Murcia is one of the most
thinly peopled districts of Spain. Time north yields wheat and barley; the south maize, fruits, wine, oil, silk, and henlp. Goats, cheep, dad swine are reared in great numbers.
In metals, salt, and mineral springs Murcia is abundant; it has also many smelting works for iron, lead, and copper ores, brimstone, and alum. The roads, however, are in the most wretched condition, and industry in general is still in a backward state. The province was frightfully devastated by a great earthquake, 18-21 _March, 1829. :Murcia was conquered by the Arabs in 711; after the fall of the caliphate of Cordova it became an independent Arab kingdom, but six years afterwards was subjugated by king Ferdinand III. of Castile in 1241.