León

León ( Spanish: [leˈon] ; Leonese: Llión [ʎiˈoŋ]) is a city and municipality of Spain and the capital of the province of León located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, south of the Cantabrian Mountains in between the Bernesga and the Torío [es] rivers. The municipality has a registered population of 122,866, and is the centre of a metropolitan area (including the neighbouring San Andrés del Rabanedo) of around 0.2 million.

Founded as the military encampment of the Legio VI Victrix around 29 BC, its standing as an encampment city was consolidated with the definitive settlement of the Legio VII Gemina from 74 AD. Following a period of political disorganization in the Duero Valley with settlements largely dislocated from emiral rule, León was populated towards 856 by the Kingdom of Asturias. After 910, the Asturian dynasty transferred their political centre from Oviedo to León, which henceforth became the head of the Kingdom of León.