Province of Valladolid

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Valladolid
Province
From top to bottom and from left to right: The Castle of Peñafiel, Canal of Castile, typical landscape of the province, a pine forest, center of a Castilian town, Castle of La Mota and a wine cellar.
Flag Coat of arms
Map of Spain with Valladolid highlighted
Coordinates: 41°35′N 4°40′W / 41.583°N 4.667°W / 41.583; -4.667
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Castile and León
Capital	Valladolid
Area
• Total	8,110 km2 (3,130 sq mi)
• Rank	Ranked 28th
	1.61% of Spain
Population  (2020)
• Total	520,716
• Rank	Ranked 29th
• Density	64/km2 (170/sq mi)
	1.11% of Spain
Demonym	Spanish: Vallisoletano/a
ISO 3166 code	ES-VA
Official language(s)	Spanish
Parliament	Cortes Generales
Website	diputaciondevalladolid.es

Valladolid (Spanish: [baʎaðoˈlið] ^ⓘ) is a province of northwest Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It has a population of 520,716 people in a total of 225 municipalities, an area of 8,110 km² (3,130 sq mi) and a population density of 64.19 people per km².

The capital is the city of Valladolid. It is bordered by the provinces of Zamora, León, Palencia, Burgos, Segovia, Ávila, and Salamanca. It is thus the only Spanish province surrounded entirely by other provinces of the same autonomous community. It is the only peninsular province which has no mountains.

Because the extensive plain on which the province lies is strategically important to overland transport, it is a major communications hub. From a national point of view it connects Madrid with the north of Spain, from Vigo in Galicia to San Sebastián in the Basque Country, and from an international point of view, it is on the shortest land route connecting Porto in the north of Portugal with Hendaye in the south of France.

The cuisine of the province is like that of Castile—meats and roasts occupy a central place. One of the most typical dishes is lechazo, a dish made from unweaned lambs, similar to veal. Suckling pig, black pudding, sausages, and sheep's milk cheeses are also traditional. The province has five wines with a denomination of origin.

The province once served as the capital of the Castilian court and the former capital of the Empire during the reigns of Emperor Carlos I, Philip II and Philip III, which explains why to this day it remains pregnant with castles and strongholds. The capital has an important historical – artistic heritage and one of the more important museums of sculpture of Europe. The province of Valladolid is specially famous for its processions of Holy Week, as much in the capital as in the localities of Medina de Rioseco and Medina del Campo. In addition, the province has two UNESCO world heritage sites within its category Memory of the World Programme: the Treaty of Tordesillas and the Archivo General de Simancas.