a historical province in Portugal, on the Atlantic Ocean. Area, 7,950 sq km. Population, 2,234,000 (1974). Estremadura, which is divided by the Tagus River, includes the capital district (Lisbon) and Setúbal District.
(also Extremadura), a historical region in western Spain, on the Portuguese border. Located mostly in the interfluve between the Tagus and Guadiana rivers, it comprises the provinces of Cáceres and Badajoz. Area, 41,600 sq km. Population, 1,043,000 (1975). Badajoz is the largest city.
Estremadura occupies the southwestern part of the Meseta Plateau and is divided by the Sierra de Guadalupe (elevations to 1,563 m). It is an economically backward, primarily agricultural region. The chief agricultural activities are sheep raising (mainly merinos) and swine raising. In 1974 the region had 2.12 million sheep, or 13.6 percent of the figure for the country as a whole, and 450,000 swine, or 5.2 percent of the country’s total. Cereal and legume crops are grown; 16.7 percent of the cultivated land is planted to wheat. Rice is cultivated on irrigated lands in Badajoz Province. The most important industrial crop is tobacco; the region accounts for 55 percent of the country’s output. Olives, grapes, and cotton are also grown. The gathering of cork bark is of some economic importance. Nonferrous metals and phosphorites are mined in the region. Industry includes food processing and the production of chemical fertilizers.