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Province of Huesca

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Province of Huesca
Provincia de Huesca (Spanish)
Provincia de Uesca (Aragonese)
Província d'Osca (Catalan)
Province
The Marboré lake with the Monte Perdido and the Cilindro de Marboré in the background
The Marboré lake with the Monte Perdido and the Cilindro de Marboré in the background
Flag of Province of Huesca
Flag
Coat of arms of Province of Huesca
Coat of arms
Location of the Province of Huesca in Spain
Location of the Province of Huesca in Spain
Coordinates: 42°10′N 0°10′W / 42.167°N 0.167°W / 42.167; -0.167
Country Spain
Autonomous community Aragon
CapitalHuesca
Municipalities202
Area
[1]
 • Total
15,637.60 km2 (6,037.71 sq mi)
 • Rank6th in Spain
 3.1% of Spain
Population
 (2025)[2]
 • Total
230,087
 • Rank43rd in Spain
 • Density14.7137/km2 (38.1083/sq mi)
DemonymOscense
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Language(s)Spanish, Aragonese, Catalan

The Province of Huesca (Spanish: Provincia de Huesca, Aragonese: Provincia de Uesca; Catalan: Província d'Osca), officially Huesca/Uesca,[3] is a province of northeastern Spain, in the northern part of the autonomous community of Aragon. The capital is Huesca. It has a population of 230,087 in an area of 15,637.60 square kilometres (6,037.71 sq mi) across its 202 municipalities.[2][1]

Positioned just south of the central Pyrenees, Huesca borders France and the French departments of Haute-Garonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, and Hautes-Pyrénées. Within Spain, Huesca's neighboring provinces are Navarre, Zaragoza, and Lleida.

History

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The Romans colonised the province of Huesca, which formed the northern part of Hispania Tarraconensis, and continued to live there well into the 5th century until the arrival of the Visigoths. As a mountainous frontier region, it was difficult to dominate. The northern counties had at one time belonged to the Kingdom of Navarre but split off and managed to stem early Moorish invasions in the Middle Ages by forming alliances between themselves and with the Franks, to become Frankish feudal marches. The imperative of sovereignty, or independence, for the northern border counts, gave rise to the Kingdom of Aragon, which was the precursor to the Empire or Crown of Aragon, and ultimately the Kingdom of Spain.

Geography

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"The Egg of Morrano" or the "Peña Falconera" rock formation (Spanish: El Huevo de Morrano).

Covering a primarily mountainous area of 15,626 km2 (6,033 sq mi), the province of Huesca has a total population of 219,345 in 2018,[4] with almost a quarter of its people living in the capital city of Huesca. The low population density, 14.62/km2, has meant that Huesca's lush valleys, rivers, and lofty mountain ranges have remained relatively pristine and unspoiled by progress.

Huesca is home to the tallest mountain in the Pyrenees, the Aneto; glaciers, such as at Monte Perdido; and the National Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido, rich in flora and protected fauna. Popular with mountaineers, spelunkers, paragliders, and white water rafters, it is also a popular snow skiing destination with notable resorts in Candanchú, Formigal, Astún, Panticosa, and Cerler.

Lakes

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Administrative divisions

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Comarcas

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The modern day province comprises 10 comarcas.

ComarcaCapital City
Alto GállegoSabiñánigo
Bajo CincaFraga
Cinca MedioMonzón
Hoya de HuescaHuesca
JacetaniaJaca
La LiteraTamarite de Litera
MonegrosSariñena
RibagorzaGraus, formerly Benabarre
SobrarbeAinsa and Boltaña
Somontano de BarbastroBarbastro

The following comarcas having their capital in Huesca Province include municipal terms within Zaragoza Province:

Municipalities

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The province has 202 municipalities:

Demographics

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As of 2026, the population is 230,087, of which 50.9% are male, and 49.1% are female. Minors make up 15.8% of the population, and seniors make up 23.2%.[2]

Languages

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Spanish is the primary language in the province. However, the local linguistic varieties in the center and north of the province (often called fabla) belong to the Aragonese language, which now survives mainly in the northernmost comarcas, such as the Aragon Valley in Jacetania, the Alto Gallego, Sobrarbe, and Ribagorza, where hitherto landlocked and isolated villages have helped the language to thrive into the 21st century.

In the easternmost areas of the province, varieties of the Catalan language are spoken, with a few transitional dialects difficult to classify as Aragonese or Catalan.

Immigration

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As of 2025, immigrants make up 19.1% of the population. The 5 largest foreign countries of birth are Romania, Morocco, Colombia, Venezuela, and Mali.[2]

Notes and references

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  1. 1 2 "Información Geográfica Destacada" [Geographical information data] (in Spanish). IGN.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Annual population census 2021-2025". INE.
  3. ↑ "Nombre oficial de la ciudad según la ley de creación de la comarca de Hoya de Huesca/Plana de Uesca - (BOA 27/2002, 26 de noviembre)". Archived from the original on 2009-02-03. Retrieved 2011-06-11.
  4. ↑ jiriarte (2010-07-16). "Aragon". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  5. ↑ "INEbase. Alterations to the municipalities in the Population Censuses since 1842". INE.
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