Extremadura
Autonomous community of western Spain, on the border with Portugal, comprising the provinces of Badajoz and Cáceres; area 41,602 sq km/16,063 sq mi; population (2001 est) 1,073,400. Irrigated land is used for growing wheat, wine grapes, and olives; the remainder is either oak forest or used for pig or sheep grazing. There are also food industries. Much of the region is not prosperous, and has suffered from steady emigration. The capital is Mérida.
History
The region was reconquered from the Moors during the 12th and 13th centuries. It was frequently a battlefield in the Spanish wars with Portugal and again during the Peninsular War (1808–14). Most of the region fell to the Nationalists early in the Spanish civil war. The conquistadors Francisco Pizarro and Hernán Ferdinand Cortés were born there.
