Valencia, autonomous community, Spain
Many prehistoric remains have been found in Valencia. Inhabited by the Iberians in early times, it was later colonized by Greek and Carthaginian traders. It was a battlefield between the Carthaginians and the Romans (see Sagunto). It passed to the Moors in the 8th cent. At the fall of the caliphate of Córdoba it became (1022) an independent emirate. The Cid briefly ruled the city and district of Valencia (1094–99). The rule of the Almoravids and Almohads was followed by a brief period of independence. Valencia was ruled (1238–52) by James I of Aragón. It preserved its political identity within the Aragonese confederation and later in the Spanish state, but its privileges were completely abolished (18th cent.) by Philip V. The 14th and 15th cent. were a period of economic prosperity and artistic flowering; decline came after the expulsion of the Moors (1609). The region had an economic revival in the 20th cent.
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