Castile (Castilla)

Castile (/kæˈstiːl/; Spanish: Castilla [kasˈtiʎa]) is a Spanish historical region of vague borders, which is the result of a gradual merge of the Kingdom of Castile with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre. In modern-day Spain, it is usually considered to comprise a part of the autonomous community of Castile and León in the north-west, and Castile–La Mancha and Madrid in the center and the central-south-west of the country, sometimes including Cantabria and La Rioja in the north as well, for historical reasons. However, there are different versions about the exact boundaries of Castile, and since it lacks modern day official recognition, it has no official borders. It was traditionally divided between Old Castile, which from 1833 was Cantabria, La Rioja and the eastern half of Castile and León and New Castile, which was Castile–La Mancha and the Community of Madrid. Modern Spanish monarchs are numbered according to the system of Castile.

Castile's name is thought to mean "land of castles", in reference to the castles built in the area to consolidate the Christian Reconquest from the Moors. The Spanish word for castle is actually castillo.