Cantabria

 region, invisible, second-level administrative division, draw only border, autonomous community

593,121 hab.

Cantabria is a Spanish province and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Country (Biscay), on the south by Castile and León (provinces of León, Palencia and Burgos), on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea.
Cantabria belongs to the Green Spain, the name given to the strip of land between the Cantabrian Sea and the Cantabrian Mountains in northern Spain. It is called green because it has a wet and moderate oceanic climate, strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean winds that get trapped by the mountains. The average precipitation is about 1,200 mm, this allows the lush vegetation to grow.
Cantabria is the richest region in the world in archaeological sites from the Upper Paleolithic period. The first signs of human occupation date from Lower Paleolithic, although this period is not so well represented in the region. The most significant cave painting site is Altamira, dated from about 16,000 to 9000 BC and declared, with other nine Cantabrian caves, World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
The modern Province of Cantabria was constituted on 28 July 1778. The Organic Law of the Autonomy Statute of Cantabria was approved on 30 December 1981, acquiring in that way fields, bodies and institutions of self government.