Seville

Province of southern Spain in western Andalusia autonomous community; area 14,001 sq km/5,406 sq mi; population (2001 est) 1,730,600. The River Guadalquivir and its tributaries, the Viar and the Corbones, flow through it. North and west of the Guadalquivir is part of the Sierra Morena mountain range; south and east of the river is a fertile plain. Main products include wheat, barley, silk, olive oil, wine, and fruit (particularly oranges), and cattle-raising is important. Small amounts of copper, iron, and manganese are also mined here. The capital is Seville.

Under Roman rule from the 3rd century BC, the province was ruled from the city of Itálica, the capital of Rome's western Mediterranean colonies. It was later abandoned, and it was the Moorish settlement of Isbiliya, built nearby after the 8th-century Moor invasion, that became the city of Seville in the 13th century.

The Moorish cultural influence is particularly evident in the architecture of the province, in buildings such as the alcazar in Seville city, one of the finest surviving examples of Mudéjar architecture.

The Guadalquivir river can be navigated from Seville city to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, on the Atlantic coast.