[12][13] The region's history and culture have been influenced by the Tartessians, Iberians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths, Byzantines, Berbers, Arabs, Jews, Romanis and Castilians.

During the Islamic Golden Age, Córdoba surpassed Constantinople[14][15] to be Europe's biggest city, and became the capital of Al-Andalus and a prominent center of education and learning in the world, producing numerous philosophers and scientists.

[29] The name was adopted to refer to those territories still under Moorish rule, and generally south of Castilla Nueva and Valencia, and corresponding with the former Roman province hitherto called Baetica in Latin sources.

[29] In the Estoria de España (also known as the Primera Crónica General) of Alfonso X of Castile, written in the second half of the 13th century, the term Andalucía is used with three different meanings: From an administrative point of view, Granada remained separate for many years even after the completion of the Reconquista[30] due, above all, to its emblematic character as the last territory regained, and as the seat of the important Real Chancillería de Granada, a court of last resort.

Other writers have justified the colours differently, with some Andalusian nationalists referring to them as the Arbonaida, meaning white-and-green in Mozarabic, a Romance language that was spoken in the region in Muslim times.

[35] The music was inspired by Santo Dios, a popular religious song sung at harvest time by peasants and day labourers in the provinces of Málaga, Seville, and Huelva.

In general, it experiences a hot-summer Mediterranean climate, with dry summers influenced by the Azores High, but subject to occasional torrential rains and extremely hot temperatures.

Very roughly, in contrast to the Sierra Morena, a predominance of basic (alkaline) materials in the Cordillera Subbética, combined with a hilly landscape, generates deeper soils with greater agricultural capacity, suitable to the cultivation of olives.

[65] In the hilly areas of the countryside, there is a double dynamic: the depressions have filled with older lime-rich material, developing the deep, rich, dark clay soils the Spanish call bujeo, or tierras negras andaluzas, excellent for dryland farming.

[66] Despite their marginal quality, the poorly consolidated soils of the sandy coastline of Huelva and Almería have been successfully used in recent decades for hothouse cultivation under clear plastic of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and other fruits.

Spanning the Mediterranean and Atlantic basins, and adjacent to the Strait of Gibraltar, Andalusia is on the migratory route of many of the numerous flocks of birds that travel annually from Europe to Africa and back.

Its wealth of minerals and fertile land, combined with its large surface area, attracted settlers from the Phoenicians to the Greeks, who influenced the development of early cultures like Los Millares, El Argar, and Tartessos.

Even after the Germanic invasions of Iberia by the Vandals and Visigoths, the region retained much of its Roman cultural and political significance, with figures such as Saint Isidore of Seville maintaining Andalusia's intellectual heritage.

However, despite its global influence during the Spanish Empire, Andalusia experienced economic decline due to a combination of military expenditures and failed industrialization efforts in the 17th and 18th centuries.

[104] In monetary terms, by far the most productive and competitive agriculture in Andalusia is the intensive forced cultivation of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and other fruits grown under hothouse conditions under clear plastic, often in sandy zones, on the coasts, in Almería and Huelva.

While intensive techniques now dominate in Europe and even in other regions of Spain, most of Andalusia's cattle, virtually all of its sheep and goats, and a good portion of its pigs are raised by extensive farming in mountain pastures.

[citation needed] Nonetheless, the level of tourism on the Andalusian coasts has been high enough to have a significant environmental impact, and other organizations—such as the Spanish Ecologists in Action (Ecologistas en Acción) with their description of "Black Flag beaches"[121] or Greenpeace[122]—have expressed the opposite sentiment.

Two more large thermosolar facilities, Andasol I y II, planned at Hoya de Guadix in the province of Granada are expected to supply electricity to half a million households.

In the words of Ortega y Gasset: Andalusia, which has never shown the swagger nor petulancy of particularism; that has never pretended to the status of a State apart, is, of all the Spanish regions, the one that possesses a culture most radically its own.

[149] Andalusia also has such Baroque-era buildings as the Palace of San Telmo in Seville (seat of the current autonomic presidency), the Church of Our Lady of Reposo in Campillos, and the Granada Charterhouse.

Literary Romanticism in Spain had one of its great centers in Andalusia, with such authors as Ángel de Saavedra, 3rd Duke of Rivas, José Cadalso and Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer.

Costumbrismo andaluz existed in literature as much as in visual art, with notable examples being the Escenas andaluzas of Serafín Estébanez Calderón and the works of Pedro Antonio de Alarcón.

A large portion of the avant-garde Generation of '27 who gathered at the Ateneo de Sevilla on the 300th anniversary of Góngora's death were Andalusians: Federico García Lorca, Luis Cernuda, Rafael Alberti, Manuel Altolaguirre, Emilio Prados, and 1977 Nobel laureate Vicente Aleixandre.

[160] Certain Andalusian fictional characters have become universal archetypes: Prosper Mérimée's gypsy Carmen, P. D. Eastman's Perro, Pierre Beaumarchais's Fígaro, and Tirso de Molina's Don Juan.

[162]Also within the Autonomous Community (of Andalucia) is the exclusive competence in knowledge, conservation, research, training, promotion and dissemination of flamenco as a unique element of the Andalusian cultural heritage.

The duo Los del Río from Dos Hermanas had international success with their "Macarena", including playing at a Super Bowl half-time show in the United States, where their song has also been used as campaign music by the Democratic Party.

Nonetheless, Andalusian film has roots as far back as José Val del Omar in the pre-Franco years, and since the Spanish transition to democracy has brought forth numerous nationally and internationally respected directors: Antonio Cuadri [ca; es; ru] (Heart of the Earth), Chus Gutiérrez (Poniente), Chiqui Carabante [ca; es] (Carlos Against the World), Alberto Rodríguez (7 Virgins), Benito Zambrano (Solas), and Antonio Banderas (Summer Rain).

During the festival, religious fraternities dress as penitents and carry large floats of lifelike wooden sculptures representing scenes of the Passion, and images of the Virgin Mary.

Hot and cold soups based in olive oil, garlic, bread, tomato and peppers include gazpacho, salmorejo, porra antequerana, ajo caliente, sopa campera, or—using almonds instead of tomato—ajoblanco.

Other sporting events in Andalusia include surfing, kitesurfing and windsurfing competitions at Tarifa, various golf tournaments at courses along the coast, and horse racing and polo at several locations in the interior.