León

Capital of León province in Castilla-León, northwest Spain, situated on a plateau 821 m/2,694 ft high at the confluence of the Torio and Bernesga rivers; population (2001 est) 137,400. Linen, chemicals, pottery, and leather are manufactured. León was built on the site of a Roman camp. In the 10th century, after its recapture from the Moors, it became the capital of the kingdom of León until 1230, when it was merged with Castile. The city flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries as a trade centre, but declined after the kings of León and Castile made the city of Valladolid their favourite residence. It has an 11th-century church, a Gothic cathedral (13th–14th centuries), and remnants of the old walls.

León

Industrial city (leather goods, footwear) in central Mexico; population (2005) 1,425,200. The town lies in Guanajuato state at an altitude of 1,804 m/5,919 ft. Decorated saddles are one of the specialities of the leather industry.

León

Capital of León department, western Nicaragua, near the Pacific coast; population (2005) 139,400. Industries include textiles, cotton, timber, food-processing, and the production of fertilizers and insecticides. The second-largest city in the country, it was the capital of Nicaragua from its foundation until 1858 when it was replaced by Managua. The cathedral, begun in 1746, took 100 years to complete, and is the largest in Central America; it contains the tomb of the poet Rubén Darío who was born here. The university was founded in 1804 and is the oldest in the country.

León was founded by the Spaniard Hernádez de Córdoba in 1524, 32 km/20 mi to the east of its present site, on the shores of Lake Managua at the foot of the volcano Momotombo; the city was destroyed by an earthquake and volcanic eruption in 1609, and was rebuilt on its present site in 1610.

León

Province of northwest Spain in northern Castilla-León autonomous community; area 15,467 sq km/5,972 sq mi; population (1991 est) 524,100. It is bounded by the Cantabrian Mountains in the north and west; the Montes de León in the west separate the basins of the rivers Duero and Miño; and in the south and east are plains which form part of the Castilian plateau. Sheep-rearing and agriculture are important here. The capital is León.