The province of Valencia is the largest of the three which go to make up the Valencian community. It is situated in the centre of the spanish Mediterranean coastline. It overlooks the spacious Gulf of Valencia and is skirted at the back by a group of medium-high mountains and rolling plains leading to the lands of Aragon and Castile-La Mancha. It is opposite the Balearic islands and equidistant from the country's two major decision-taking centres: Madrid and Barcelona. Valencia is identified with the Mediterranean Sea because the culture deriving from the old Mare Nostrum is manifest in its patterns of social behaviour. It is the administrative capital of the Valencian community and the centre of the reagion of L'Horta.

It is the most densely populated town in the Valencian community as it is encircled by a wide belt of medium-sezed municipal districts which form an unbroken built-up area with an average density of 1,600 inhabitants per square kilometre. Sightseeing around the city begins in the old quarter. Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was defended by a wall, the inner route of the number five bus. Still standing as proof are the graceful Torres de Serranos, the spacious Torres de Quart and some remains of the apron wall in the basement of the Valencia institute of Modern Arts. The most outstanding artistic heritage is to be found in the districts of Seu and Xerea, where the marks left by thr Romans lie hidden beneath Arab ruins and modern churches and palaces.

Wikipedia articles for Valencia

• Province of Valencia
• Valencia (Spanish Congress Electoral District)