Mérida

Also known as Merida

municipality in Extremadura, Spain

AI overview

Mérida is a municipality located in Extremadura, a region in southwestern Spain. It is historically significant as the site of an important Roman city and contains notable archaeological remains from that period.

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Wikidata facts

Official name: Méria
Demonym: Emeritensi
Population: 60225
Area: 865.60
Elevation: 217
Official website: www.merida.es
Image: Mérida. Mayor square. Badajoz. Extremadura. Spain (4923902587).jpg
Licence plate code: EX

Show 9 more facts

postal code: 06800
Commons category: Mérida, Spain
native label: Mérida
Commons gallery: Mérida (Spain)
female population: 30417
male population: 28918
P8168: Egon Eis
inception: 1834-00-00
P12749: Brothers Grimm

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Article

Mérida ( Spanish: [ˈmeɾiða] ) is a city and municipality of Spain, part of the Province of Badajoz, and capital of the autonomous community of Extremadura. Located in the western-central part of the Iberian Peninsula at 217 metres above sea level, the city is crossed by the Guadiana and Albarregas rivers. The population was 60,119 in 2017.

The primitive settlement was founded by the Roman Empire as Augusta Emerita in the 1st century BCE to allocate discharged soldiers, eventually prospering as one of the largest cities of Hispania and the capital of the province of Lusitania. Its ecclesiastical metropolitan seat was taken away by the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela in 1119. Conquered by the Kingdom of León in 1230, shortly before the latter's final integration into the Crown of Castile, it was handed over to the Order of Santiago. On numerous occasions over the course of the middle ages and the Modern Period, it suffered from the effects of warfare due to its location close to the border with Portugal.