Its area is 10,148 km2. Its population is 483,792 (2005), of whom about 30% live in the capital, and its population density is 47.67/km2. It contains79 municipalities.
The economy is based onagriculture andmining. The famousRio Tinto mines have been worked since before 1000 BC, and were the major source of copper for theRoman Empire. As an indication of the scope of ancient mining, sixteen million tons of Roman slag have been identified at the Roman mines. TheRio Tinto Company Limited resumed large-scale mining in 1873; the district is the namesake of theRio Tinto Group.[1]
In the 21st century, municipalities such asMoguer,Palos de la Frontera, andLepe, have witnessed the development of intensive water-demanding strawberry farming, which has elicited attention on the basis of alleged mispractices and abuses regarding the labor conditions of foreign workers and the ecocidal depletion of water resources inDoñana.
The delayed tourist development of the province has allowed better city planning than in other regions on the Spanish coast. The nuclei ofIslantilla andIsla Canela are an example of this attempt to plan in a more coherent form. Although in a smaller scale in comparison to other regions, urban pressure continues. Previous developments that had little planning until recent time are El Rompido, El Portil, Mazagón and Matalascañas (Torre de la Higuera).
Although Punta Umbría had its beginnings like pedanía de Cartaya, after the democratization of summer tourism, it began its urban development for its proximity to the capital and its location on the beach. Present development would not endure without tourist activity and its vacation housing. Other tourist areas are Nuevo Umbría, Nuevo Portil, Punta del Moral, La Antilla and Urbasur. Themarismas de Isla Cristina, next to the towns ofAyamonte andIsla Cristina, are a protected nature reserve. In the mountain town ofAlmonaster la Real, theVisigothic-mosque church built in the first decades of the 10th century and whose mihrab is one of the oldest in Spain is one important turistic point.[2]
Of note is Huelva's recent classification of “rural tourism” for its interior mountain range.
