Valencia (in Valencian and officially, València,6 AFI: [vaˈɫensia]) is a municipality and a city in Spain, capital of the province of the same name and of the Valencian Community. With a population of 801 545 inhabitants (2020), 9 rising to 1 581 057 inhabitants (2020) if its urban area is included,10 it is the third most populous city and metropolitan area in Spain, behind Madrid and Barcelona.

Valencia was founded by the Romans as a colony in 138 B.C., under Consul Decimus Junius Brutus Gallicus, and was named Valentia Edetanorum. After the Roman and Visigothic periods, in 711, the Muslims occupied the city, bringing their language, religion and customs, as well as the introduction of irrigation systems and new crops. In 1238, the Christian King James I of Aragon reconquered the city and distributed the lands among the nobles who had helped him conquer it, as is recorded in the Llibre del 

Repartiment, as well as creating a new law for the city, the Fueros de Valencia, which were extended to the rest of the kingdom of Valencia. In the 18th century, Philip V abolished the Fueros as a punishment to the kingdom of Valencia for aligning itself with the Austracists in the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1982, Valencia was established as the capital of the current Valencian Community, as stated in the Statute of Autonomy.