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Axarquía

Coordinates: 36°50′N 04°10′W / 36.833°N 4.167°W / 36.833; -4.167
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Axarquía
Street in Frigiliana.
Street in Frigiliana.
Location of Axarquía in Andalusia
Location of Axarquía in Andalusia
Country Spain
Autonomous community Andalucía
ProvinceMálaga
Area
 • Total1,023.6 km2 (395.2 sq mi)
Elevation
2,066 m (6,778 ft)
Population
 (2023)[1]
 • Total228,556
 • Density220/km2 (580/sq mi)

Axarquía (Spanish pronunciation: [axaɾˈki.a]) is a comarca of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is the wedge-shaped area east of Málaga. Its name is traced back to Arabic الشرقية‏ (aš-Šarqiyya, meaning "the eastern [region]"). It extends along the coast and inland. Its coastal towns make up the Costa del Sol Oriental - one of the sunniest places in mainland Spain with the average of 320 sunny days a year.[2] The natives of the region are called axárquicos.

The comarca is composed of 31 municipalities, of which the capital is Vélez-Málaga. The Vélez, Algarrobo and Torrox rivers all run through the region. Its highest mountain is La Maroma, highest point of the Sierra de Tejeda, Penibaetic System.[3]

The Axarquía comarca is also known as Axarquía-Costa del Sol, for it includes the Costa del Sol Oriental sector of the Costa del Sol, east of Málaga city made up of Rincón de la Victoria, Vélez-Málaga, Algarrobo, Torrox and Nerja municipal terms.[4]

Etymology

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The Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy defines the word "jarquía" (xarquía in old Castilian) as "district or territory located east of a great city and dependent on it" and says that it proceeds from Arabic شرقية‏  Šarqiyya, meaning "eastern part" or " eastern." It coincides with the region of Axarquia which lies in the east of Málaga. The Royal Academy, in its spelling of the Spanish Language, 1999 edition, explains that, in old Castilian, consonant fricative phoneme x represented the palatal [ʃ] as in English sh sound, found in words like Axarquía, Don Quixote, Mexico, Texas etc.

Municipalities

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The Axarquía comarca consists of the following municipalities:

Arms Municipality Area
(km²)
Population
(2023)[5][6]
Density (/km2)
Alcaucín 45.1 2,554 56.6
Alfarnate 34.0 1,059 31.1
Alfarnatejo 20.4 380 18.6
Algarrobo 9.7 6,773 698.2
Almáchar 14.4 1,848 128.3
Árchez 4.8 391 81.5
Arenas 26.3 1,264 48.1
Benamargosa 12.1 1,557 128.7
Benamocarra 5.7 3,079 540.2
El Borge 24.4 925 37.9
Canillas de Aceituno 42.0 1,767 42.1
Canillas de Albaida 33.2 801 24.1
Colmenar 66.0 3,494 52.94
Comares 25.5 1,339 52.51
Cómpeta 54.2 3,875 71.5
Cútar 19.4 592 30.5
Frigiliana 40.5 3,322 82.0
Iznate 7.5 915 122.0
Macharaviaya 7.2 523 72.6
Moclinejo 14.3 1,220 85.3
Nerja 85.1 21,913 257.5
Periana 58.8 3,290 56.0
Rincón de la Victoria 28.5 51,300 1,800
Riogordo 40.0 2,795 69.9
Salares 10.3 187 18.2
Sayalonga 18.3 1,647 90.0
Sedella 31.6 611 19.3
Torrox 50.0 20,932 418.6
Totalán 9.2 767 83.4
Vélez-Málaga 157.9 85,377 540.7
Viñuela 27.2 2,059 75.7
Totals 1,023.6 228,556 223.3

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Estimate at 1 January 2023: National Statistics Institute (Spain)
  2. ^ Rustical Travel, Holidays in Axarquia and Antequera on January 30, 2019
  3. ^ Montañas de la Axarquía: Travesía Maroma-Lucero Archived December 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Fernando Almeida García & Damián López Cano, La Costa del Sol Oriental: un conflicto territorial entre el turismo, la agricultura y la urbanización metropolitana. Baética: Estudios de arte, geografía e historia, ISSN 0212-5099, Nº 25, 2003, pg. 67-80
  5. ^ Estimate at 1 January 2023: National Statistics Institute (Spain)
  6. ^ "Málaga: Population by municipality and sex. (2882)". INE. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
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36°50′N 04°10′W / 36.833°N 4.167°W / 36.833; -4.167