Concept
Castilla–La Mancha (UKkæˌstiːjə_læ_ˈmæntʃə, US-_lɑː_ˈmɑːntʃə, kasˈtiʎa la ˈmantʃa) is an autonomous community of Spain. Comprising the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo, it was created in 1982. It takes its name from those of the historical regions of Castile (Castilla) and La Mancha. The government headquarters are in Toledo, which is the capital de facto. It is a landlocked region largely occuppying the southern half of the Iberian Peninsula's Inner Plateau, including large parts of the catchment areas of the Tagus, the Guadiana and the Júcar, while the northeastern relief comprises the Sistema Ibérico mountain massif. It is one of the most sparsely populated of Spain's regions, with Albacete, Guadalajara, Toledo, Talavera de la Reina and Ciudad Real being the largest cities. Castilla-La Mancha is bordered by Castile and León, Madrid, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Extremadura. Prior to its establishment as an autonomous community, its territory took part of the New Castile (Castilla la Nueva) region along with that of Madrid, except Albacete province, which was comprised in Murcia region. Castilla–La Mancha is located in the middle of the Iberian peninsula, occupying the greater part of the Submeseta Sur, the vast plain composing the southern part of the Meseta Central. The Submeseta Sur (and the autonomous community) is separated from the Submeseta Norte (and the community of Castilla y León) by the mountain range known as the Sistema Central. Despite this, the region has no shortage of mountain landscapes: the southern slopes of the aforementioned Sistema Central in the north, the Sistema Ibérico in the northeast, and the Sierra Morena and Montes de Toledo in the south. Castilla–La Mancha is the third largest of Spain's autonomous regions, with a surface area of , representing 15.7 percent of Spain's national territory. The regional urban structure is polycentric, with no dominant central city.
