Kingdom of Aragon
The Kingdom of Aragon (Aragonese: Reino d'Aragón, Catalan: Regne d'Aragó, Latin: Regnum Aragonum, Spanish: Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain. It should not be confused with the larger Crown of Aragon, that also included other territories — the County of Barcelona and other Catalan Counties, the Kingdom of Valencia, the Kingdom of Majorca, and other possessions that are now part of France, Italy, and Greece — that were also under the rule of the King of Aragon, but were administered separately from the Kingdom of Aragon.
History
Independent kingdom
Aragon was originally a Carolingian feudal county around the city of Jaca, which in the first half of the 9th century became a vassal state of the kingdom of Pamplona (later Navarre), its own dynasty of counts ending without male heir in 922. The name Aragón is the same as that of the river Aragón, which flows by Jaca. It might derive from the Basque Aragona/Haragona meaning "good upper valley" ("haran+goi+ona", where "haran" = valley, "goi"= upper, high, and "ona"= good). Alternatively, the name may be derived from the earlier Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis.
Aragon
Aragon (/ˈærəɡɒn/ or /ˈærəɡən/, Spanish and Aragonese: Aragón [aɾaˈɣon], Catalan: Aragó [əɾəˈɣo] or [aɾaˈɣo]) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to south): Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza (also called Saragossa in English). The current Statute of Autonomy declares Aragon a nationality of Spain.
Aragon's northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees. Within Spain, the community is flanked by Catalonia to the east, Valencia and Castile–La Mancha to the south, and Castile and León, La Rioja, and Navarre to the west.
Covering an area of 47,719 km2 (18,424 sq mi), the region's terrain ranges diversely from permanent glaciers to verdant valleys, rich pasture lands and orchards, through to the arid steppe plains of the central lowlands. Aragon is home to many rivers—most notably, the river Ebro, Spain's largest river in volume, which runs west-east across the entire region through the province of Zaragoza. It is also home to the Aneto, the highest mountain in the Pyrenees.
Aragon (disambiguation)
Aragon, or Aragón in Spanish, can refer to:
Places
Cuba
Europe
France
Spain
United States
Ships
People
Other
Aragón (river)
The Aragón (Spanish: Río Aragón; Basque: Aragon Ibaia) is a river in northern Spain, one of the left-hand tributaries of the river Ebro. It rises at Astún (province of Huesca) in the central Pyrenees Mountains, passes southwest through Jaca and Sangüesa (Navarre), and joins the Ebro at Milagro (Navarre), near Tudela. The name Aragón is related to the birth area of the former kingdom, which corresponds to the modern autonomous community of Aragón in Spain.
Watershed
The river, used for irrigation and hydroelectric power, is about 129 kilometres (80 mi) long; its chief tributary is the Arga River.
Ecology
Non-government sanctioned re-introduction of Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) in Spain around 2003 has resulted in tell-tale beaver signs documented on a 60-kilometre (37 mi) stretch on the lower course of the Aragon River and the area adjoining the Ebro River in Aragon, Spain.
References
See also
Coordinates: 42°36′23″N 1°03′29″W / 42.60648°N 1.05812°W / 42.60648; -1.05812
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