Province of Jaén (Spain)

For other uses, see Jaén Province (Peru).

Jaén is a province of southern Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Córdoba, Ciudad Real, Albacete, and Granada. Its capital is Jaén.

Its area is 13,484 km². Its population is 647,387 (2002), of whom about one-sixth live in the capital, and its population density is 48.01/km². It contains 97 municipalities.

See List of municipalities in Jaén.

Although it is one of the provinces in Spain least known to tourists today, it has many interesting sights. Jaén has four national parks (one of them the size of whole region of La Rioja), among many other protected natural areas. The province also contains two important Renaissance cities, Úbeda and Baeza. These two cities have been recently declared Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO. Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas

The annual chess tournament held in Linares attracts many of the world's best players.

Jaén is the largest producer of olive oil in the world.