Extremadura.

Extremadura is an autonomous community of Spain. It includes the provinces of Cáceres and Badajoz.

Some important cities are Cáceres, Badajoz, Plasencia and Mérida, the capital of the autonomous community.

Extremadura borders Portugal to the west. It is an important area for wildlife, particularly with the major reserve at Monfragüe.

Badajoz and Cáceres are, respectively, the largest and second-largest provinces of Spain.

History

Lusitania, an ancient Roman province approximately including current day Portugal (except for the northern area today known as Norte Region), and a central western portion of the current day Spain, covered in those times today's Autonomous Community of Extremadura. Mérida (capital of Extremadura), became the capital of the Roman Lusitania province, and one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire.

Extremadura was the source of many of the most famous Spanish conquerors ("conquistadores") and settlers in America. Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Pedro de Alvarado, Pedro de Valdivia were all born in Extremadura and many towns and cities in America carry a name from their homeland: Mérida is the name of the administrative capital of Extremadura, and also of important cities in Mexico and Venezuela; Medellín is now a little town in Extremadura, but also the name of the second largest city in Colombia; Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico and its name is due to a transcription mistake of Alburquerque, another town in Extremadura. The two Spanish astronauts to date, Miguel López-Alegría and Pedro Duque, also have family connections in Extremadura.

Extremadura should not be confused with Estremadura, a historical province of Portugal. During the Reconquest, "Extremadura" was the word used to name the land bordering the Christian frontier opposed to Moorish resistance, so for a time Extremadura was the name for the present province of Salamanca. (The present Cáceres was called "Transierra Leonesa", and the present Badajoz was a Moorish kingdom with the same name.)

Music of Extremadura

Spain near Portugal. Its folk music can be characterized by a melancholy sound, and Portuguese influences, as well as the predominance of the zambomba drum (similar to Brazilian cuica), which is played by pulling on a rope which is inside the drum. There is also a rich repertoire of gaita (local name for tabor pipe) music. Jota is also common, here played with triangles, castanets, guitars, tambourines, accordions and zambombas.

There are few ethnomusicological recordings of Extremaduran music, with the most influential and well-known being by American researcher Alan Lomax. Lomax came to Spain to avoid persecution as a Communist and found some hostility from Spanish researchers, then in a period of great political upheaval. Lomax and his assistant, Jeanette Bell, did much of their recording in secret.

Extremadura has long been one of the poorest regions in the country. As a result, many of its people left to Latin America during the colonial area, leaving a mark on Latin music.