Valencian Community

The Valencian Community, or the Valencian Country, is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populated after Andalusia, Catalonia and Madrid with more than 5.1 million inhabitants. It is often homonymously identified with its capital Valencia, which is the third largest city of Spain. It is located along the Mediterranean coast in the south-east of the Iberian peninsula. It borders with Catalonia to the north, Aragon and Castile–La Mancha to the west, and Murcia to the south. It is formed by the provinces of Castellón, Valencia and Alicante.

According to its Statute of Autonomy, the Valencian people are defined as a nationality. Their origins date back to Catalan-Aragonese colonization of the Moorish Taifa of Valencia, after it was taken by James I of Aragon in 1238 during the Reconquista. The newly founded Kingdom of Valencia was granted wide self-government under the Crown of Aragon with the promulgation of its Furs in 1261. Valencia experienced its golden age in the 15th Century, becoming the economic and cultural centre of the Crown and contributing with the most important works of Catalan medieval literature. Self-government continued after the unification of the Spanish Kingdom, but was eventually suspended in 1707 by Phillip V of Spain and the Nova Planta decrees as a result of the Spanish War of Succession. Valencian nationalism resurged towards the end of the 19th Century, giving way to the modern conception of the Valencian Country. Self-government under the Generalitat Valenciana was finally reestablished in 1982 after Spanish transition to democracy.