Biscay

The Province of Biscay ( BISK-ay, BISK-ee; Basque: Bizkaia [bis̻kai.a]; Spanish: Vizcaya [biθˈkaʝa]) is a province of the Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao. The province is one of the most renowned and prosperous provinces of Spain, historically a major trading hub in the Atlantic Ocean since medieval times and, later on, one of the largest industrial and financial centers of the Iberian Peninsula. Since the extensive deindustrialization that took place throughout the 1970s, the economy has come to rely more on the services sector. With a population of 1,167,233, it is the 11th most populous province of Spain, which in an area of 2,215.55 square kilometres (855.43 sq mi), the 4th-smallest of all provinces, which results in a population density of 526.8367/km2 (1,364.501/sq mi), only surpassed by the ones of Madrid and Barcelona.