CASTILE' (Spanish, CASTIL1A) forms, in a geographical and political point of view, the central district of the Spanish peninsula, being the middle and most strongly marked plateau of Spain, as well as the central seat of the monarchy. Both and politically it is divided into Old and New Castile—Castilla la Vitja and Castilla to The former district, situated in 40' 5' to 43° 32' a. hit., and 1° 40' to 5° 35' w. long., rises, in the form of an elevated plateau, to the height of 2,500 to 3,000 feet. It is walled in on all sides: on the n., by the highest masses of the Cantabrian mountains, which sepa rate it from the Basque provinces and Asturias; ou the s., by the high ridge forming the water-shed between the Douro and the Tagus; while the Sierras de lirbion, and Aloncayo, and the heights of Leon and Tras-os-Montes bound it on the e. and west. The high plateau of Old C. is but scantily watered, and its natural characteristics far from inviting. In many parts, nothing is presented to the eye but a wide. unwooded, almost treeless waste of land, unrefreshed by streams, in some parts monotonously covered with stunted grasses, and in others almost destitute of vegetation. The traveler may walk many miles without finding a village, or even a solitary farm-house. All Old C., however, is not a dusty desert. There are rich tracts in it producing some of the finest wheat in the world. Madder and grasses are also produced abundantly in some parts; and even the olive flourishes where it is protected from the frost and snow of winter, and from the cold winds prevailing in Oct. and the following mouths. Iron and other minerals exist in plenty, but are not worked to any great extent. Sheep, cattle, pigs, and mules form the chief wealth of the inhabitants. Manufactures consist of coarse woolens, cotton, linen, leather, and glass.
The plateau of NEW CASTILE—WhiCh is situated between lat. 38° 23' and 41° 15' n., and long. 1° and 5° 25' w.—like Old C., is also inclosed by mountains. Though lying 1800 ft. lower than Old C., New C. presents many similar characteristics of soil and scenery. It is mostly sterile, and scantily irrigated; little rain falls, and the nightly dews are insufficient to refresh the plains, which are entirely destitute of trees, and, in summer, appear quite burned up. Olives, corn, pulse, and saffron are cultivated in some neighborhoods; but flocks of sheep constitute the chief wealth of extenzive tracts of land. The commerce, carried on by means of long trains of mules, reminds the tour
ist of the caravan traffic over eastern deserts. Industry is almost entirely restricted to manufactures of coarse woolen goods. The yield of the salt-mines in the s. is consid erable; and quicksilver, especially at Almaden (q.v.), and iron (manufactured at Toledo) are plentiful. The Castilians have even more than the general haughtiness of the Span ish character. Their language prevails throughout the educated classes, as in the litera ture of Spain, and their rulers have extended their sway over the whole nation.
In the present administrative division of Spain into forty-nine provinces, the division of Old and New C., though it will long be remembered by the people, is one belonging to past history. Old C. is now divided into the eight provinces of Burgos, Logrofio, Santander, Soria, Segovia, Avila, Palencia, and Valladolid. Theyopulation, distributed over an area of 22.707 sq.na., amounted, in 1870, to 1,689,864. New C. includes the five provinces—Madrid, Guadalaxara, Gnenca, Toledo, and Ciudad Real, and on an area of 30,8;42 sq.m. has 1,541,772 inhabitants. Besides these provinces, the kingdom of Leon, Galicia, the principality of Asturias, and the districts of Estremadura, Andalusia, Granada, and Murcia, belonged to the crown of Castile.
C. first became an independent country in 762, and remained so until 1028, when it passed to Sancho III., king of Navarre. His son, Ferdinand I. (great), founded the kingdom of C., and among other acquisitions annexed to it the kingdom of Leon. This union, however, was not permanent, Leon being made a separate kingdom for Ferdinand II. The two kingdoms, however, were afterwards reunited in the 13th c. in the person of Ferdinand III., and remained ever after under one scepter. Among the successors of Ferdinand III., the most distinguished was Alfonso N., by whose direction the fonsinc (astronomical) tables were drawn up. By the marriage of Isabella, sister and successor of IlenrfIVi,•witli Ferdinand, king of Aragon (i409), the two crowns of C.
and Aragon became united (1479), and from these sprang the kingdom of Spitin, which, however, was not fully establislted before the death of Ferdinand, in 1516, when Charles I. of Spain (Charles V. of Germany) inherited both crowns.