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Comarques of the Valencian Community

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Comarques of the Valencian Community

The comarques of the Valencian Community form an intermediate level of administrative subdivision between municipalities and provinces. They are used as a basis for the provision of local services by the Generalitat Valenciana, but do not have any representative or executive bodies of their own.

In 1987, the Generalitat Valenciana published an official proposal for Homologated Territorial Demarcations, Demarcacions Territorials Homologades (DTH), of three degrees, where the first degree largely coincides with the territorial concept of comarca. Until now, the practice of these demarcations has been limited as a reference to the administrative decentralisation of the different services offered by the Generalitat, such as education, health, or agriculture. In fact, there is no legal provision for these DTHs to ultimately have the intended “territorial impact”, that is, comarca-level political or administrative bodies. Instead, the powers shared between several municipalities are being articulated through mancomunitats, or commonwealths.

Article 65 of the 2006 Statute of Autonomy provides the first legislative foundation for the comarques.

As of 2021, there are thirty-three comarques (including the city of Valencia).

List of comarques

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Knowledge of Valencian by comarques (2001). Note that east of the red line Valencian-speaking comarques are concentrated while on the western side Spanish-speaking ones.
Comarca Population (2023)[1] Area (km²) Density
(i./km²)
Capital Linguistic domain
Alacantí 509,049 673.59 755.72 Alicante / Alacant Valencian
Alcalatén 14,050 391.4 35.89 L'Alcora Valencian
Alcoià 112,028 539.66 207.58 Alcoi Valencian
Alt Maestrat 6,392 846.05 7.55 Albocàsser Valencian
Alto Mijares 4,232 667.06 6.34 Cirat Spanish
Alto Palancia 25,269 965.15 26.18 Segorbe Spanish
Alto Vinalopó / Alt Vinalopó 52,905 644.76 82.05 Villena Spanish (mainly) / Valencian
Baix Maestrat 86,349 1,221.32 70.70 Vinaròs Valencian
Baix Vinalopó 306,300 488.78 626.66 Elche / Elx Valencian
Camp de Morvedre 97,826 271.1 360.84 Sagunt Valencian
Camp de Túria 177,195 823.37 215.20 Llíria Valencian (mainly) / Spanish
Canal de Navarrés 15,754 709.29 22.21 Enguera Spanish
Comtat 28,119 376.4 74.70 Cocentaina Valencian
Costera 72,297 528.1 136.9 Xàtiva Valencian
Horta Nord 311,632 184.44 1,689.61 Puçol Valencian
Horta Sud 482,569 309.73 1,558.03 Torrent Valencian
Hoya de Buñol 46,039 817.37 52.08 Buñol Spanish
Marina Alta 191,265 759.3 251.89 Dénia Valencian
Marina Baixa 198,888 605.3 328.57 La Vila Joiosa Valencian
Ports 6,674 998.54 6.68 Morella Valencian (Spanish for Olocau del Rey)
Plana Alta 264,381 942.2 280.59 Castelló de la Plana Valencian
Plana Baixa 196,605 605.2 324.85 Borriana Valencian
Requena-Utiel 37,926 1,721.03 22.03 Requena Spanish
Ribera Alta 228,406 1,011.5 225.80 Alzira Valencian
Ribera Baixa 82,663 276.81 298.62 Sueca Valencian
Rincón de Ademuz 2,221 370.22 5.99 Ademuz Spanish
Serranos 17,115 1,405.28 12.17 Chelva Spanish
Safor 179,185 429.80 416.90 Gandia Valencian
València 807,693 134.63 5,999.35 València Valencian
Vall d'Albaida 88,114 722.22 122 Ontinyent Valencian
Valle de Ayora-Cofrentes 9,656 1,141.15 8.46 Cofrentes Spanish
Vega Baja / Baix Segura 379,975 957.28 396.93 Orihuela Spanish (Valencian for Guardamar del Segura)
Vinalopó Mitjà / Vinalopó Medio 171,828 798.6 215.16 Elda Valencian (mainly) / Spanish (for Aspe and Monforte del Cid)
Total 5,210,600 23,254.49 224.06

Subcomarques

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Some comarques are made up of two or more subcomarques. Most of them correspond with local geographical features. For instance, Alcoià is made up of two subcomarques: Foia de Castalla and Valls d'Alcoi.

Historical comarques

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Historical comarques refer to former comarques that are no longer extant.

Some historical comarques of the Valencian Community are now part of other comarques in the new territorial demarcation, such as Tinença de Benifassà and Ports de Morella.

Before 2021, Horta Oest was a formerly a comarca, when it was mostly annexed by Horta Sud with the municipality of Paterna joining Horta Nord.

References

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Bibliography

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  • Proposta de demarcacions territorials homologades, Direcció General d'Administració Local, València, D.L. 1988. Conselleria d'Administració Pública. ISBN 84-7579-587-0