The greater part of the province drains into the Mediterranean, chiefly by the Segura, which enters it in the northwest below Hellin in Albacete, and leaves it a little above Orihuela in Alicante; within the province it receives on the left the Arroyo del Jua, and on the right the Caravaca, Quipar, Mula, and Sangonera. The insignificant “arroyos” of Nogalte and Albujon fall directly into the Mediterranean and the Mar Menor respectively. The climate is hot and dry, and agriculture is largely dependent on irrigation, which, where practicable, has been carried on since the time of the Moors with great success. Besides the usual cereals (wheat, barley, maize), hemp, oil, and wine (the latter somewhat rough in quality) are produced; fruit, especially the orange, is abundant along the course of the Segura; mulberries for sericulture are extensively grown around the capital; and the number of bees kept throughout the province is exceptionally large. Esparto grass is gathered on the sandy tracts suited to its growth. The live stock consists chiefly of asses, mules, goats, and pigs, horses and sheep being relatively few. Apart from agriculture, the principal industry is that of mining, which has its centre near Cartagena; next comes the culture of the silkworm, the greater part of the crop being exported for manufacture in France. Large quantities of lead and esparto, as well as of zinc, iron, and copper ores and sulphur, are exported from Cartagena; from Aguilas the chief exports are esparto and agricultural produce; the port of Mazarron has some trade in alum as well. The province is traversed by a railway line which connects Albacete with Cieza, Archena, Murcia, Orihuela, and Cartagena; the capital is also connected with Lorca and Alicante by good high roads. The communications otherwise are somewhat defective. The canal to connect Huescar in Granada with Cartagena remains only a project. The population of the province in 1877 was 451,611. Besides the cities of Murcia, Cartagena, and Lorca, the following towns in that year had a population exceeding 5000 :— Abanilla, Aguilas, Alhama, Bullas, Caravaca, Cehegin, Cieza, Fortuna, Fuente-Alamo, Jumilla, Mazarron, Molina, Mora-talla, Mula, Torre-Pacheco, Totana, La Union, Yecla.

The province of Murcia was the first Spanish possession of the Carthaginians, by whom Nova Carthago was founded. The Romans included it in Hispania Tarraconensis. Under the Arabs the province was known as Todmir, which included, according to Edrisi, the cities Murcia, Orihuela, Cartagena, Lorca, Mula, and Chinchilla. The kingdom of Murcia, which came into independent existence after the fall of the Omayyads, included the present Albacete as well as Murcia. It became subject to the crown of Castile in the 13th century. Until 1833 the modern province also included Albacete.

Murcia, a city of Spain, capital of the above province, stands on the Segura, nearly in the centre of the beautiful and fertile valley known as the “huerta” or garden of Murcia, which is sheltered on the south by the eastward continuation of the Sierras Alcaraz and Segura, and on the north by the low hills of the Sierras de Molina. The main part of the town stands on the left bank of the river, and is connected with the suburb of San Benito on the right by a very fine stone bridge of two arches. The streets are mostly broad, straight, and well paved; the chief shops are in the narrow Calles de Plateria and Traperia, which are also a favourite resort with loungers, being shaded with awnings of canvas in hot weather. The chief square is the Plaza de la Constitucion, which is planted with orange and other trees; other promenades are the Paseos del Carmen and de Florida Blanca. Of public buildings the most prominent is the cathedral, a late Gothic (1388- 1467) structure with a Corinthian façade in the taste of the 17 th century · the tower is also composite, having been begun in 1521 and completed in 1766. Murcia has been the seat of the bishop of Cartagena since 1261; the present palace was erected in 1748-52. Near it are the colleges of San Fulgencio and San Isidoro. Other conspicuous public buildings are the hospital of San Juan de Dios, the silk and saltpetre factories, and the “alhondiga” or grain warehouse. The bull-ring is in San Benito. The manufactures of the town are not important; the chief articles of commerce are the silk grown on the huerta, fruit, and agricultural produce. The population in 1877 was 91,805.

Murcia has been identified by some with the Roman Vergilia. In the time of Edrisi it was the populous and strongly-fortified capital of the country of Todmir. It was taken in 1240 by Don Alfonso (afterwards King Alfonso el Sabio), who by his own request lies buried here. The town was plundered by General Sebastiani, and in 1810 and again in 1812 suffered from the attack of a detachment of Soult’s army. In 1829 an earthquake caused considerable injury, especially to the cathedral.