Region of León
42°27′49″N 6°03′42″W / 42.46349°N 6.06171°W
Region of León
Región de León, Rexón de Lleón | |
|---|---|
Historic region and proposed autonomous community of Spain | |
Map showing León in red on the map of Autonomous Communities of Spain. | |
| Autonomous community | Castile and León |
| Region | Spain |
| Seat | León |
| Area | |
• Total | 38,489 km2 (14,861 sq mi) |
| Population (2018) | |
• Total | 969,783 |
| • Density | 25/km2 (65/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Leonese (L(l)eonés/L(l)eonesa) |
| Language | |
| • Local languages | Spanish Leonese Galician |
The Region of León (Asturian: Rexón de Lleón; Spanish: Región de León), also known as the Leonese Country (Asturian: País Lleonés; Spanish: País Leonés) is a historic territory defined by the 1833 Spanish administrative organisation. The Leonese region encompassed the provinces of Salamanca, Zamora, and León, now part of the modern Spanish autonomous community of Castile and León. As is the case with other historical regions, and continuing with centuries of history, the inhabitants of the Leonese region are still called Leonese. Even today, according with official autonomous government, the historical territorial adjective is used in addition with the modern annexed territory, the rest of Old Castile, being "Castilians and Leonese".
In 1983 the provincial government of León supported autonomy for the province of León, as did municipalities such as León and Ponferrada, the biggest cities in León, but this proposal was rejected by the Tribunal Constitucional (Constitutional Court of Spain). The idea of constituting the Leonese Region as an autonomous community within Spain has been promoted by a number of Spanish regional political parties such as Partido Regionalista del País Leonés, Grupo Autonómico Leonés, Unión del Pueblo Leonés and Unión del Pueblo Salmantino. This movement receives the name of Leonesism.