La Rioja
- Spain
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La Rioja is
a single-province Autonomous Community situated
in the north of the Iberian peninsula, in
what is known as the Ebro Corridor: the country's
main river and one of its principal economic
axes. The surrounding regions are the Basque
Country and Navarra to the north, Castille
Leon to the south and west and Aragon to the
east.
The region has an area of
5000 km2 and a population of 265,000.
In geographical terms, La
Rioja has two well-defined zones which match
with two highly different socio-economic realities.
The south is an area of medium-height
mountains, with the highest peaks on the southern
limit of the region and reaching 2100 m. The
area is the watershed for a series of hydrographic
basins, seven in total, which have a general
south-to-north orientation. They give the
zone its characteristic geographical distribution
into seven main parallel valleys, with difficult
communications between them in the higher
reaches.
The northern zone is formed
by the Ebro valley land, constituting the
natural and administrative boundary of La
Rioja. This zone is situated at altitudes
from four hundred to six hundred metres. It
is the most densely populated area and carries
the region's economic weight. Unlike the other
zone, it has a good communication infrastructure
between all parts and a major social and production
dynamic.
The northern zone includes
the region's main towns: Logroño, the
regional capital and administrative centre,
Calahorra, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de
la Calzada, Arnedo and Nájera.
La Rioja's population is
very unevenly distributed. Logroño
has over 50% of the regional total; 18 other
Town Councils cover a further 95,000 inhabitants
while the remaining 152 Town Councils cover
just 43,000 inhabitants between them. This
difference is also reflected in very irregular
population densities, with high figures in
the Ebro valley as against mountain areas
which barely pass 1 person per km2. The average
population density is 52.56 people/km2, considerably
below the national average of 79.45.
The active population
is 115,100, of which 110,000 are in work and
5,100 are unemployed. The unemployment rate
is 4.41% and has seen a spectacular fall over
the last few years.
Useful regional links
In addition to the General Directorate for
Environmental Quality and the Regional Development
Agency (ADER), there are some other regional
institutions which are directly involved on
some occasions, linked to the Government itself.
Their work can be seen at www.larioja.org
Other organisations which
specify work in the sustainable development
field are:
Fundación
Caja Rioja
Federación
de Empresarios (Business People's Federation)
The
Life SITUR Project - The
Life OPTIMA project Coordinated by ADER
The General
Directorate for Environmental Quality
| Contact
Julio Grande Ibarra
Fundación Caja Rioja
C/ La Merced, 6
26001 LOGROÑO
Tel:.- 34 941 270155
Fax:- 34 941 259931
e-mail:
jgrande@fundacion-cajarioja.es |
