It is bordered by the provinces ofTarragona,Castellón,Valencia (including itsexclaveRincón de Ademuz),Cuenca,Guadalajara, andZaragoza. The area of the province is14,809 km². Its population is 134,572 (2018), of whom about a quarter live in the capital, and its population density is 9.36/km². It contains 236 municipalities, of which more than half are villages of under 200 people. Teruel is the second-least populated province ofSpain, and also the second-lowest in population density, in both counts after theprovince of Soria.
The main language throughout the province is Spanish (with official status), althoughCatalan is spoken in a northeastern area borderingCatalonia.
Most of the Teruel Province has undergone massive depopulation since the middle of the 20th century. This situation is shared with other areas in Spain, particularly with those near theIberian mountain range (much of the provinces ofSoria,Guadalajara andCuenca) and with other areas inAragón.
The exodus from the rural mountain areas in Teruel rose afterGeneral Franco'sPlan de Estabilización in 1959. The population declined steeply as people migrated towards the industrial areas and the large cities in Spain, leaving behind their small villages where living conditions were often harsh, with cold winters and very basic facilities.
As a consequence there are manyghost towns in different parts of the province.[1]
A great number of surviving towns in Teruel province have only a residual population, reviving somewhat during the summer when a few city-dwellers spend their holidays there. Other causes of the strong emigration have been the low productivity of traditional agricultural practices, like sheep and goat farming, the closing of mines, like the largeSierra Menera mine nearOjos Negros,[2] as well as the lifestyle changes that swept over rural Spain during the second half of the 20th century.[3]
The "Teruel Exists" (Spanish:Teruel existe) movement began at the turn of the 21st century. It is a platform of provincial authorities, institutions and sympathizers seeking to reverse the long-standing neglect of this province.[4]
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