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Madrid (province)

Community of Madrid
Comunidad de Madrid (Spanish)
Autonomous community
Flag of the Community of Madrid
Flag
Coat-of-arms of the Community of Madrid
Coat of arms
Location of the Community of Madrid within Spain
Location of the Community of Madrid within Spain
Coordinates: 40°30′N 3°40′W / 40.500°N 3.667°W / 40.500; -3.667Coordinates: 40°30′N 3°40′W / 40.500°N 3.667°W / 40.500; -3.667
Country Spain
Capital Madrid
Government
 • President Cristina Cifuentes Cuencas (PP)
Area
 • Total 8,030.1 km2 (3,100.4 sq mi)
  Ranked 12th, 1.6% of Spain
Population (2011)
 • Total 6,489,680
 • Density 809.00/km2 (2,095.3/sq mi)
 • Pop. rank 3rd
 • Percent 13.75% of Spain
Demonym(s)
  • Madrilenian
  • Madrilene
  • madrileño
  • madrileña
ISO 3166-2 M
GDP(nominal) 2012
Official languages Spanish
Statute of Autonomy March 1, 1983
Parliament Assembly of Madrid
Congress seats 36 (of 350)
Senate seats 10 (of 264)
Website Comunidad de Madrid

The Community of Madrid (English /məˈdrɪd/;Spanish: Comunidad de Madrid [komuniˈðað ðe maˈðɾið]) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Castilian Central Plateau (Meseta Central). Its capital is the city of Madrid, which is also the capital of the country. The Community of Madrid is bounded to the south and east by Castile–La Mancha and to the north and west by Castile and León. It was formally created in 1983, based on the limits of the province of Madrid, until then conventionally included in the historical region of New Castile.

The Community of Madrid is the third most populous in Spain with 6,369,167 (2011) inhabitants mostly concentrated in the metropolitan area of Madrid. It is also the most densely populated autonomous community. Madrid's economy is of roughly equal size to Catalonia's, which remains Spain's largest. Madrid thus has the highest GDP per capita in the country.

The territory of the Community of Madrid has been populated since the Lower Paleolithic, mainly in the valleys between the rivers of Manzanares, Jarama, and Henares, where several archaeological findings have been made. Some notable discoveries of the region the bell-shaped vase of Ciempozuelos (between 1970 and 1470 BCE). During the Roman Empire, the region was part of the Citerior Tarraconese province, except for the south-west portion of it, which belonged to Lusitania. It was crossed by two important Roman roads, the via xxiv-xxix (joining Astorga to laminium and via xxv (which joined Emerita Augusta and Caesaraugusta), and contained some important conurbations. The city of Complutum (today Alcalá de Henares) became an important metropolis, whereas Titulcia and Miaccum were important crossroad communities.


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