Cuenca (Spanish: [ˈkweŋka] ⓘ) is one of the five provinces of the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha.

It is located in the eastern part of this autonomous community and covers 17,141 square km.

The northeastern side of the province is in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area.

In 1851, Cuenca lost Requena-Utiel to the neighbouring Valencia Province, with which it was developing commercial ties.

Nevertheless, Requena-Utiel remained Spanish-speaking (rather than Catalan), while the loss of its most dynamic region left the province of Cuenca relatively underdeveloped economically.