Cartagena (Spain)

Cartagena (Spain) (ancient, Carthago Nova), city and seaport in southern Spain, in Murcia Province on the Mediterranean Sea, near the city of Murcia. Lead, iron, copper, zinc, and sulphur are mined in the surrounding region. The principal exports of Cartagena are metallic ores, esparto grass, olive oil, wine, and dried fruit; imports include machinery, coal, coke, timber, and dried salt cod. Ironworks are the principal industrial establishments in the city. Others include glassworks and factories for the manufacture of esparto-grass fabrics. Cartagena is encircled by mountains and is an important Spanish naval base. Its ancient defences include forts and other military and naval installations. The city also contains the remains of old walls, a castle constructed probably in Carthaginian times, and a church that was formerly a 13th-century cathedral.

Cartagena was founded on a site chosen, after 228 bc, by the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal. When captured by the Roman general Scipio Africanus in 209 bc, the city was a flourishing port exporting gold and silver mined in the surrounding region. Sacked by the Goths in ad 425, Cartagena was restored and improved by the Moors during their occupation of Spain. A possession of the kings of Aragón from 1269, it later became part of the kingdom of Spain. It served as a naval base for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Population 208,609 (2006 estimate).