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COMUNIDAD VALENCIANA
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GEOGRAPHY AND DEMOGRAPHY
The Comunidad Valenciana is an autonomous community situated in eastern Spain. With its Mediterranean coastline (518 km), the region covers 23,255 kmē of land and it has 4,5 million inhabitants (with a 201.78/ kmē density). The region is composed of three provinces, Alicante, Castellon de la Plana and Valencia. Some 39% of the region lies at an altitude of more than 600 m, and the relief comprises a chain of mountains, the highest of which are Altana (1 558 m) in the south of the region and Peņagolosa (1 831 m) in the north. The principal rivers are the Júcar, the Segura and the Turia. |
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INFRASTRUCTURE
The Valencian region has a modern network of motorways, and the region's rail network is well developed too, connecting the Commune with Madrid, Barcelona, and France. The region's two international airports, situated in Valencia and Alicante, both of which have regular direct flights to Spain and to major European airports. |
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ECONOMY
In 2005 the regional GDP of the Comunidad Valenciana amounted to about 9.6% of the national one. The 2005 Commune per capita GDP is about 19,057 euros, while the Spain's one is 20.838. Exploiting its ports, as gates of Spain and Europe, the region entertains a good export activity, representing about 11% of the national total. Principal exports include cars, computer hardware, fruit and vegetables, and textiles and footwear. In the Community there is a high number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) specializing in consumer goods, intermediate goods and auxiliary industries. Valencia is also in the top class of tourist regions, specializing in beach holidays, so that tourism is an important resource for the region's economy. |
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LABOUR MARKET
The average employment rage is 54% (two points more than the national one), while the unemployment rate is 8.9%. The employment sectoral distribution is as follows: 3.3% agriculture, 21.3% industry, 14.2% building, 61.2% services. |
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RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The region spends around 0,7% of its GDP in Research and Development.
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DATA RELATED TO REGIONAL STRUCTURAL FUNDS MECHANISMS
The region belongs to EU objective 1. |
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REGIONAL PROGRAMME OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS (RPIA)
In 2002 the European Commission approved the programme of innovative actions for the Valencia region. The programme was focused on the strategic theme: The information society at the service of regional development. The basic objective of the programme was to reduce the digital divide among the Valencia region, to contribute to the transition to a knowledge-based economy and society.
The planned actions aimed:
- To improve access for small municipalities.
- To increase the usage of the services and contents of the information society by
people with different disabilities.
- To extend and anticipate the use of Information Society services, contents and
tools by SMEs.
- To create instruments to measure advances in information society objectively; to
apply correction mechanisms and anticipate trends in order to have a catalysing
effect on future projects of the regional government, operators and industry.
The programme dealt with the following topics:
- Access to the information society in geographically disadvantaged areas;
- Access to the information society for socially disadvantaged communities;
- Access to the information society for small and medium enterprises;
- Knowledge and experiences about the information society, its penetration and its
use.
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