An introduction to Aragon.
Aragon name has gained a highlit place within the Spanish history. Looking for the origins of Spain means to introduce ourselves in one of the two main kingdoms which supposed the political unity.
Even though investigators do not agree with one another when studying the etimology of the name of Aragon, the thesis that it comes from an antique language, even previous to the celtic one, is maintained. That language included the word "ar" or "ara", with the meaning of "water current". In fact, two Pyrenean rivers still keep this word: the river Aragón, which passes through Jaca, and the river Aragón-Subordán, which flows into the first one. Aragon name, thus, is a key to understand our antique history as well as its Pyrenean origin.
How to know Aragon.
Nowadays, Aragón Autonomous Community comprises an extensive territory with a privileged location in Spain and Europe.
It has 47.645 square kilometres and it is the fourth biggest Spanish Autonomous Community, after Castilla y León, Castilla-la-Mancha and Andalucía. Aragón is more extensive than some European countries such as Belgium, Holland or Denmark.
As far as its location is concerned, its frontier in the "Pirineos" makes Aragón be known as "Puerta de Europa" ( European entrance). Moreover, the capital of the region, Zaragoza, as well as "el Valle del Ebro" are equidistant from another neuralgic cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao or Valencia, what makes Zaragoza be a strategic link.
In a Spanish phisical map there exits a depression whichs expands from the Cantabria mountains to the Mediterranean coast. The river Ebro flows just through the middle of the depression, whose basin adopts a triangular shape. The base of the triangle is the Mare Nostrum coast and each side, "Pirineos" and "Sistema Ibérico", converge in the Cantabrian vertex.
Aragón is located just in the middle of the basin, being the river Ebro the cause of its geographic integrity.
Aragón Symbols
According to the third article of the statute of autonomy the Aragonese symbols are:
- - The Aragón flag is yellow with four horizontal red strips.
- - The Aragón coat of arms is composed of four parts with a crown at the top, and it
is placed by the centre.
The river Ebro is 910 kilometres long and a great part of it passes through Aragón.
The river Ebro is the starting point of the Aragonese region life and history.
There are another characteristics to take into account:
The Aragoneses
According to a statistic research in 1991, the population in Aragón is 1.178.521 people, 581.436 of which are male and 597.085 are female. Taking into account this fact, we are located in an expanded but scarcely populated area. On the other hand, the population density is very low, that is to say, 24 inhabitants per square kilometre (24,73 according to 1991 statistics).
Another demographic characteristic in the Autonomous Community is the villages population scattering and the concentration in the capital Zaragoza, where about 600.000 people live (the province itself is more than 835.000 inhabitants).
Huesca province has a population of 215.000 inhabitants and Teruel some more than 150.000
