HUELVA

huelva, a maritime province of south-western spain, formed in 1833 of districts taken from andalusia, and bounded on the n. by badajoz, e. by seville, s. by the gulf of cadiz and w. by portugal. pop. (1900) 260,880; area 3913 sq. m. with the exception of its south-eastern angle, where the province merges into the flat waste lands known as las marismas, at the mouth of the guadalquivir, huelva presents throughout its entire extent an agreeably varied surface. it is traversed in a south-westerly direction by the sierra morena, here known, in its main ridge, as the sierra de aracena. the principal streams are the navigable lower reaches of the guadalquivir and guadiana, which respectively form for some distance the south-eastern and south-western boundaries; the odiel and the tinto, which both fall into the atlantic by navigable _rias_ or estuaries; the malagon, chanza, alcalaboza and murtiga, which belong to the guadiana system; and the huelva, belonging to that of the guadalquivir. huelva has a mild and equable climate, with abundant moisture and a fertile soil. among the mountains there are many valuable woodlands, in which oaks, pines, beeches, cork-trees and chestnuts predominate, while the lowlands afford excellent pasturage. but agriculture and stock-breeding are here less important than in most spanish provinces, although the exports comprise large quantities of fruit, oil and wine, besides cork and esparto grass. the headquarters of the fishing trades, which include the drying and salting of fish, are at huelva, the capital, and ayamonte on the guadiana. there are numerous brandy distilleries; and bricks, pottery, soap, candles and flour are also manufactured; but the great local industry is mining. in 1903 no fewer than 470 mines were at work; and their output, consisting chiefly of copper with smaller quantities of manganese and iron, exceeded l1,500,000 in value. the celebrated rio tinto copper mines, near the sources of the tinto, were, like those of tharsis, 30 m. n.n.w. of huelva, exploited long before the christian era, probably by the carthaginians, and certainly by the romans. they are still among the most important copper mines in the world (see rio tinto). saline and other mineral springs are common throughout the province. huelva is the principal seaport, and is connected with seville on the east and merida on the north by direct railways; while a network of narrow-gauge railways gives access to the chief mining centres. the principal towns, besides huelva (21,359) and rio tinto (11,603), which are described in separate articles, are alosno (8187), ayamonte (7530), bollullos (7922), moguer (8455), nerva (7908) and zalamea la real (7335). the state and municipal roads are better engineered and maintained than those of the neighbouring provinces. see also andalusia. huelva (the ancient onuba, onoba, or onuba aestuaria), the capital of the spanish province of huelva, about 10 m. from the atlantic ocean, on the left bank of the river odiel, and on the seville-huelva, merida-huelva and rio tinto-huelva railways, the last-named being a narrow-gauge line. pop. (1900) 21,357. huelva is built on the western shore of a triangular peninsula formed by the estuaries of the odiel and tinto, which meet below the town. it is wholly modern in character and appearance, and owes its prosperity to an ever-increasing transit trade in copper and other ores, for which it is the port of shipment. after 1872, when the famous rio tinto copper mines were for the first time properly exploited, it progressed rapidly in size and wealth. dredging operations removed a great part of the sandbanks lining the navigable main channel of the odiel, and deepened the water over the bar at its mouth; new railways were opened, and port works were undertaken on a large scale, including the construction of extensive quays and two piers, and the installation of modern appliances for handling cargo. many of these improvements were added after 1900. besides exporting copper, manganese and other minerals, which in 1903 reached 2,750,000 tons, valued at more than l1,500,000, huelva is the headquarters of profitable sardine, tunny and bonito fisheries, and of a trade in grain, grapes, olives and cork. the copper and cork industries are mainly in british hands, and the bulk of the imports, which consist chiefly of coal, iron and steel and machinery, comes from great britain. foodstuffs and australian hardwood are also imported. huelva was originally a carthaginian trading-station, and afterwards a roman colony; but it retains few memorials of its past, except the roman aqueduct, repaired in modern times, and the colossal statue of columbus. this was erected in 1892 to commemorate the fourth centenary of his voyage to the new world in 1492-1493, which began and ended in the village of san palos de la frontera on the tinto. columbus resided in the neighbouring monastery of santa maria la rabida after his original plans for the voyage had been rejected by king john ii. of portugal in 1484. an exact reproduction of this monastery was erected in 1893 at the world's fair, chicago, u.s.a., and was afterwards converted into a sanatorium. higher up the tinto, above san palos, is the town of moguer (pop. 8455), which exports large quantities of oil and wine.