Alicante Alicante/Alacant |
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Province | ||
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Map of Spain with Alicante highlighted |
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Coordinates: 38°30′N 0°30′W / 38.500°N 0.500°WCoordinates: 38°30′N 0°30′W / 38.500°N 0.500°W | ||
Country | Spain | |
Autonomous community | Valencian Community | |
Capital | Alicante | |
Government | ||
• President | César Sánchez Pérez (PP) | |
Area | ||
• Total | 5,816.5 km2 (2,245.8 sq mi) | |
Area rank | Ranked 41st | |
1.16% of Spain | ||
Population (2015) | ||
• Total | 1 855 047 | |
• Rank | Ranked 5th | |
3.98% of Spain | ||
Demonym(s) |
alacantí, -ina (va) alicantino,-na (es) |
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Official language(s) | Spanish and Valencian | |
Parliament | Cortes Generales |
Alicante (Spanish: [aliˈkante]), or Alacant (Valencian: [alaˈkant]), is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. The second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Community (Alicante and Elche, respectively) are located in this province.
Alicante is bordered by the provinces of Murcia on the southwest, Albacete on the west, Valencia on the north, and the Mediterranean Sea on the east. The province is named after its capital, the city of Alicante.
According to the 2009 population data, Alicante ranks as the 4th most populous province in Spain (after Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia), with 1,917,012 inhabitants. Cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants in the province are Alicante (334,757 inhabitants), Elche (230,112), Torrevieja (101,792), Orihuela (86,164), Benidorm (71,034), Alcoy (61,552), Elda (55,168), and San Vicente del Raspeig (53,126). Alicante is the only province in Spain whose capital city does not exceed 20% of the total population.
The province has the largest ratio of foreigner population among all Spanish provinces. The total of 446,368 foreigners are registered in the province, which represents 23.6 percent of the total population. Out of 141 municipalities that make up the province, foreign population is above 25% in 54 municipalities, and above 50% in 19 municipalities. The latter include San Fulgencio (80%), Rojales (74%), Benitatxell (69.8%), Algorfa (69.7%), Llíber (67%), Teulada (65.5%), Daya Vieja (64.4%); San Miguel de Salinas (64.3%), Calp (62.8%), Els Poblets (61.6%), Alcalalí (60.8%), Benijófar (58.5%), L'Alfàs del Pi (56.6%), Orba (55%), Xàbia (54%), Torrevieja (53.5%), Murla (52%), Fondó (51.7%), and Benidoleig (50%).