Cantabria is a uniprovincial Spanish autonomous community defined as a historic community in its Statute of Autonomy, bounded on the east by the Basque Country, on the south by Castile and Leon, on the west by the Principality of Asturias and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea. The city of Santander is its capital and most populated locality. It has a strong historical link with the Duchy of Cantabria, Asturias de Santillana, the Brotherhood of the Four Villas, the province of the Nine Valleys and the province of Santander. Cantabria is located on the Cantabrian coast, name given to the strip of land between the Cantabrian Sea and the Cantabrian Mountains, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula.
It has a humid oceanic climate and moderate temperatures, strongly influenced by the winds of the Atlantic Ocean that hit the mountains. The average rainfall is 1200 mm, which allows the growth of lush vegetation. Its highest elevation is located in the peak of Torre Blanca. The community is composed of 102 municipalities, one of them, Valle de Villaverde, an exclave in Vizcaya. Cantabria is a community rich in archaeological sites of the Upper Paleolithic, although the first signs of human occupation date from the Lower Palaeolithic. Highlights in this aspect the paintings of the cave of Altamira, dated in 37000 a. C. Together with nine other Cantabrian caves, this cave was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The province of Cantabria was constituted on July 28,1778 in the boarding house of Puente San Miguel The Organic Law of the Statute of Autonomy of Cantabria was approved on December 30,1981, endowing in this way to the autonomous community of organizations and institutions of self-government, it has a legislative assembly called the Parliament of Cantabria. Its current president is Miguel Ángel Revilla, of the Cantabria Regionalist Party, after having agreed with the Socialist Party of Cantabria-PSOE as a result of the electoral results of 2015.