Ourense (Galician: [owˈɾɛnsɪ]; Spanish: Orense [oˈɾense]) is a province of Spain, in the southeastern part of the autonomous community of Galicia.

Until a highway was built in recent years linking Ourense with Vigo in the west and Benavente in the east, the only quick way for people to enter or leave the province was by railway.

The principal river system is the Miño-Sil, the fertile valleys of which produce corn (maize) and grapes for wine.

[citation needed] The mountainous terrain and isolation have kept the province economically challenged and encouraged much emigration to the rest of Spain and to the New World.

There is also considerable pig breeding and potato growing, especially around the area of Xinzo da Limia, in the drained lakebed of Antela, which until the 1960s was the largest fresh-water lake in Spain.