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ASTURIAS
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ASTURIAS , an See also:ancient See also:province and principality of See also:northern See also:Spain, bounded on the N. by the See also:Bay -of See also:Biscay, E. by .Old See also:Castile, S. by See also:Leon and W. by See also:Galicia. Pop. (1900) 627;o69; See also:area, 4205 sq. m. By the See also:division of Spain in 1833, the province took the name of See also:Oviedo, though not to the exclusion, in See also:ordinary usage, of the older designation. A full description of its See also:modern See also:condition is therefore given under the heading Ov1Eno; the See also:present See also:article being confined to an See also:account of its See also:physical features, its See also:history, and the resultant See also:character of its inhabitants. Asturias consists of a portion of the northern slope of the Cantabrian Mountains,and is covered in all directions with offshoots from the See also:main See also:chain, by which it is almost completely shut in on the See also:south. The higher summits., which often reach a height of 7000-8000 ft., are usually covered with See also:snow until See also:July or See also:August, and the whole region is one of the wildest and most picturesque parts of Spain. Until the first railway was opened, in the See also:middle of the ,9th See also:century, few of the passes across the mountains were practicable for carriages, and most of them are difficult even for horses. A narrow See also:strip of level moorland, covered with See also:furze and See also:rich in deposits of See also:peat, See also:coal and See also:amber, stretches inland, from the edge of the sheer cliffs which See also:line the See also:coast, to the See also:foot of the mountains. The province is watered by numerous streams and See also:rivers, which have hollowed out deep valleys; but owing to the narrowness of the level See also:tract, their courses are. See also:short, rapid and subject to floods. The most important is the Nalon or Pravia, which receives the See also:waters of the Caudal, the Trubia and the Narcea, and has a course 1 Servius, in speaking of it as oppidum, must be, referring to 'the See also:post-station. ASTURIAS of 62 m.; after it See also:rank the Navia and the See also:Sella. The estuaries of these rivers are rarely navigable, and along the entire littoral, a distance of 130. m., the only important harbours are at Gijon and See also:Aviles.
A See also:country so rugged, and so isolated by See also:land and See also:sea, naturally served as the last See also:refuge of the older races of Spain when hard pressed by successive invaders. Before the See also:Roman See also:conquest, the Iberian tribe of Astures had been able to maintain itself See also:independent of the Carthaginians, and to extend its territory as far south as the See also:Douro. It was famous for its See also:wealth in horses and See also:gold. About 25 B.C., the See also:Romans subjugated the See also:district south of the Cantabrians, to which they gave the name of Augustana. Their See also:capital was Asturica See also:Augusta, the modern See also:Astorga, in Leon. The warlike mountaineers of the northern districts, known as Transmontana, never altogether abandoned their hostility to the Romans, whose See also:rule was ended by the Visigothic conquest, See also:late in the 5th century. In 713, two years after the defeat and See also:death of See also:Roderick, the last Visigothic See also: The title of See also:count of Covadonga. is assumed by the See also:kings of Spain. In modern times Asturias formed a captaincy-See also:general, divided into Asturias d'Oviedo, which corresponds with the limits of the ancient principality, and Asturias de See also:Santillana, which now constitutes the western See also:half of See also:Santander. -Owing to their almost entire See also:immunity from any See also:alien domination except that of the Romans and Goths, the Asturians may perhaps be regarded as the purest representatives of the Iberian See also:race; while their See also:dialect (linguaje bable) is sometimes held to be closely akin to the See also:parent speech from which modern Castilian is derived. It is See also:free from Moorish idioms, and, like Galician and Portuguese it often retains the See also:original Latin f which Castilian changes into h. In physique, the Asturians are like the Galicians, a people of See also:hardy mountaineers and fishermen, finely built, but rarely handsome, and with none of the See also:grace of the Castilian or Andalusian. Unlike the Galicians, however, they are remarkable for their keen spirit of See also:independence, which has been fostered by centuries of See also:isolation. Despite the harsh land-See also:laws and grinding See also:taxation which prevent them, with all their See also:industry and See also:thrift, from securing the See also:freehold of the patch of ground cultivated by each See also:peasant See also:family, the Asturians regard them-selves as the See also:aristocracy of Spain. This See also:pride in their land, race and history they preserve even when, as often happens, they emigrate to other parts of the country or to South See also:America, and See also:earn their living as servants, See also:water-See also:carriers, or, in the See also:case of the See also:women, as nurses. They make admirable soldiers and sailors, but lack the enterprise and commercial aptitude of the See also:Basques and Catalans; while they are differentiated from the inhabitants of central and See also:southern Spain by their See also:superior industry, and perhaps their See also:lower See also:standard of culture. It is, on the whole, true that by the exclusion of the Moors they lost their opportunity of playing any conspicuous See also:part in the See also:literary and See also:artistic development of Spain. One class of the Asturians deserving See also:special mention is that of the See also:nomad See also:cattle-drovers known as Baqueros or Vaqueros, who tend their herds on the mountains of Leitariegos in summer, and along the coast in See also:winter; forming a See also:separate See also:caste, with distinctive customs, and rarely or never intermarrying with their neighbours. For the modern condition of the principality (including See also:climate, See also:fauna and See also:flora), see S. Canals, Asturias: See also:information sabre su preseete estado (See also:Madrid, 190o); and G. Casal, Memorias de historia natural y medsca de Asturias (Oviedo, moo). For the history. and antiquities, there is much that is valuable in Asturias monumental, epigrdfica y diplomdtica, by 'C. M. See also:Vigil (Madrid, 1887)-See also:folio, with' maps and illustrations. See also F. de Aramburu y See also:Zuloaga, Monografia de Asturias (Oviedo, 1899). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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