The Valencian Community is a Spanish autonomous community. It was formally established in 1982, when its Statute of Autonomy was approved, and since 2006 it is considered a historical nationality, under the provisions of the second article of the Constitution. The current Valencian territory coincides for the most part with that of the historic Kingdom of Valencia, which has received various names throughout history. At the end of the 19th century it became known as the Valencian Region, since the 1960s the form of País Valenciano was used unofficially, and since the Statute of Autonomy of 1982 the term "Comunidad Valenciana" has been extended and popularized Valencia is also used, although the latter can lead to confusion with the city and province homonymous.
Its territory, with capital in Valencia, is located in the east and southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. Also part of the Valencian territory is the archipelago of the Columbretes, Tabarca and other smaller islands and small islands near the coast, as well as Rincón de Ademuz, an exclave completely separated from the rest of the Valencian territory by the Castilian-La Mancha municipality of Santa Cruz de Moya to the south and the Teruel municipality Arcos de las Salinas to the north. It has an area of 23 255 km² and is the eighth largest autonomy in Spain. It is formed by the provinces of Alicante, Castellón and Valencia, and limits to the north with Catalonia and Aragon, to the west with Castilla-La Mancha and Aragón, and to the south with the Region of Murcia.
In the territory of the Valencian Community there are currently 5,004,844 people in a total of 542 municipalities. The greatest concentration of population occurs around the city of Valencia, whose metropolitan area reaches 1 559 084 inhabitants, of which 786 424 are registered in the city. The second largest concentration of population of the community is the metropolitan area of Alicante-Elche, which has 757 085 inhabitants. The Valencian Community constitutes a highly industrialized territory, with a powerful tourism sector and with a high weight of the agricultural sector, reason why its economy is the fourth most important among the Spanish autonomous communities, generating 9.6% of GDP national.
In the first autonomous legislatures succeeded three socialist governments chaired by Joan Lerma, while after the 1995 elections, by the signing of a Pact for Change with the formation of the Valencian Union, governed the Valencian Popular Party, which in all successive elections achieved absolute majorities. Presidents were Eduardo Zaplana, José Luis Olivas, Francisco Camps and Alberto Fabra, who held the position after the resignation of his predecessor for his imputation in a plot of the Gürtel case. Since the elections of 2015 the socialist President Ximo Puig is elected, elected thanks to the Botanical Agreement, signed with Compromís and Podemos.