The territory which is today known as the Region of Murcia has been inhabited by man for over 1,500,000 years, and this human presence has been a constant factor in the development of the Murcian landscape since the remotest periods of prehistory.
The first evidence of the presence of man dates back to the Neanderthal and Cromagnon periods, whilst archaeological finds become abundant from Neolithic times onwards. Iron age remains begin to speak of a certain level of progress leading to the development of agriculture and the domestication of livestock during the Iberian period and, later, intense commercial activity with the presence of Phoenecian, Greek and Carthaginian settlers in permanent conflict with the autoctonous people.
Scipio's conquest of the city of Carthago Nova in 209 BC led to the definitive expansion of what had already become an important economic and political centre in the Mediterranean.
The conquest of the region by Rome initiated a period of uninterrupted growth all along the Murcian coast which was to go on for more than 600 years. During this period communications in the area were developed, mining came to be of great importance and the foundations of its future agricultural prosperity were laid. Already at that time, market-garden produce from the valley irrigated by the Segura River (then known as the River Thader) was highly appreciated, as was fish caught on the rich off-shore fishing-grounds.
After a prolonged spell of political instability, a consequence of the disintegration of the Roman Empire, a long period of Arab domination began in 713 AD when Abdelaziz defeated Theudemir's Hispano-Visigoth army in Cartagena. The year 825 AD constituted a further historical landmark, when the city of Murcia was officially founded by Abderraman II. These events marked the onset of Murcia's economic prosperity since the Arabs initiated the large-scale exploitation of the Segura river valley, creating a whole complex irrigation system, composed of canals, dams and water-wheels, the forerunner of today's irrigation network, which made it possible to reap the maximum benefit from the vast expanse of fertile land surrounding the city.
However, the economic abundance brought to the South of Spain by the Arabs was placed in jeopardy by internal strife, military pressures from the Northern frontier and internal political disorders. The creation of the Taifa kingdoms at the beginning of the eleventh century was the swansong of a territory which would shortly fall - in 1243 - under the vassalage of Castile, and the remains of Andalusia were finally incorporated into this kingdom with the signing of the Granada Peace Treaty in 1492.
From this time onwards peace came to the Murcian territories, and they went through a sustained period of economic and demographic growth.
Important projects were undertaken, new guilds were born and cities flourished during the course of the sixteenth century.
The XVII century brought a new period of instability, with a succession of epidemics, plagues and prolonged droughts, after which a slow process of recuperation gradually set in thanks to the expansion of the surface area dedicated to agriculture and the liberalization of commerce.
The arrival of the XVIII century hailed a new period of growth where urban splendour - contemporary with the artistic development of the famed Murcian baroque - was accompanied by the completion of the Cathedral in Murcia and the construcción of the Arsenal in Cartagena, evident signs of the civil and military prosperity.
With the coming of the XIX century, History's ups and downs brought a new period of crisis to the Region coinciding with a long succession of floods and droughts, and it was only when the second half of the century was well under way that a new relaunching of the economy in the area took place, thanks to a process of industrialization powered mainly by mining wealth derived from its rich ore deposits. However, the depletion of natural resources, the weakness of an economy based mainly on industry funded by foreign capital, together with instability provoked by revolutionary riots and the short-sightedness of commerce unwilling to direct its attention towards external markets, together wove a precarious panorama with which to initiate the XX century.
And in fact we must wait until the end of the decade of the 20's before the region definitively boards the train of progress - with the inevitable parenthesis of the Civil War - giving birth to an industry dedicated to the transformation of agricultural products in sectors such as food-processing, leading to the modernisation of all its agricultural structures. On these bases, the Region has set about its expansion, confidently undertaking the necessary social and economic changes required to enter a Twenty-first Century full of challenges for the future.
