Comarques of the Valencian Community

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Comarques of the Valencian Community

The comarques of the Valencian Community form an intermediate level of administrative subdivision between municipalities and provinces. They are used as a basis for the provision of local services by the Generalitat Valenciana, but do not have any representative or executive bodies of their own.

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In 1987, the Generalitat Valenciana published an official proposal for Homologated Territorial Demarcations, Demarcacions Territorials Homologades (DTH), of three degrees, where the first degree largely coincides with the territorial concept of comarca. Until now, the practice of these demarcations has been limited as a reference to the administrative decentralisation of the different services offered by the Generalitat, such as education, health, or agriculture. In fact, there is no legal provision for these DTHs to ultimately have the intended “territorial impact”, that is, comarca-level political or administrative bodies. Instead, the powers shared between several municipalities are being articulated through mancomunitats, or commonwealths.

Article 65 of the 2006 Statute of Autonomy provides the first legislative foundation for the comarques.

As of 2019, there are thirty-four comarques (including the city of Valencia), with a median population of 147,227.55 and a median area of 685.43 km².

List of comarques

ComarcaPopulation (2019) [1] Area (km²) [1] Density
(i./km²)
Capital
Alacantí 487,113673.57723.15 Alicante / Alacant
Alcalatén 15,585648.6824.02 L'Alcora
Alcoià 109,196539.66202.33 Alcoi
Alt Maestrat 6,657663.1610.03 Albocàsser
Alt Millars 3,908667.065.85 Cirat
Alto Palancia / Alt Palància 23,753965.1524.61 Segorbe
Alt Vinalopó / Alto Vinalopó 52,401644.7681.27 Villena
Baix Maestrat 81,8711,221.3267.03 Vinaròs
Baix Vinalopó 293,775488.78601.03 Elche / Elx
Camp de Morvedre 91,662271.20337.96 Sagunt
Camp de Túria / Campo de Turia 162,991823.37197.96 Llíria
Canal de Navarrés 15,687709.2922.11 Enguera
Comtat 28,096377.7774.37 Cocentaina
Costera 71,522528.26130.47 Xàtiva
Horta Nord 228,424140.511626.48 Puçol
Horta Oest 354,334178.841888.77 Catarroja
Horta Sud 178,118166.191071.96 Torrent
Hoya de Buñol / Foia de Bunyol 42,598817.3752.08 Buñol
Marina Alta 175,156758.02228.30 Dénia
Marina Baixa 188,623578.67338.04 La Vila Joiosa
Ports 4,400904.074.84 Morella
Plana Alta 252,828957.29264.10 Castelló de la Plana
Plana Baixa 190,925605.15315.50 Borriana
Requena-Utiel 37,7531,721.0321.87 Requena
Ribera Alta 220,366970.04227.17 Alzira
Ribera Baixa 79,869276.81288.50 Sueca
Rincón de Ademuz / Racó d'Ademús 2,266370.226.12 Ademuz
Serranos 16,1591,405.2811.49 Chelva
Safor 171,903429.80400.12 Gandia
València 794,288134.635.89 València
Vall d'Albaida 87,349722.22120.63 Ontinyent
Valle de Ayora / Vall de Cofrents 9,8351,141.158.61 Cofrentes
Vega Baja del Segura / Baix Segura 355,257957.28362.24 Orihuela
Vinalopó Mitjà 171,069797.99214.74 Elda
Total5,005,73723,254.49214.79

Subcomarques

Some comarques are made up of two or more subcomarques. Most of them correspond with local geographical features. For instance, Alcoià is made up of two subcomarques: Foia de Castalla and Valls d'Alcoi.

Historical comarques

Historical comarques refer to former comarques that are no longer extant.

Some historical comarques of the Valencian Community are now part of other comarques in the new territorial demarcation, such as Tinença de Benifassà and Ports de Morella.

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References

  1. 1 2 Populations and areas are taken from the INE(INE website).

Bibliography