Murcia is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country, with a population of 447,182 inhabitants in 2018. The population of the metropolitan area was 689,591 in 2010.
It is located on the Segura River, in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula; it has a climate with hot summers, mild winters, and relatively low precipitation.
Murcia was founded by the emir of Cordoba Abd ar-Rahman II in 825 with the name Mursiyah. It is now mainly a services city and a university town. Highlights for visitors include the Cathedral of Murcia and a number of baroque buildings, renowned local cuisine, Holy Week procession works of art by the famous Murcian sculptor Francisco Salzillo, and the Fiestas de Primavera.
The city, as the capital of the comarca Huerta de Murcia is called Europe's orchard due to its long agricultural tradition and its fruit, vegetable, and flower production and exports.
Murcia is located near the center of a low-lying fertile plain known as the huerta of Murcia. The Segura River and its right-hand tributary, the Guadalentín, run through the area.