Castile

Castile is a vaguely defined historical region of Spain. There are different conceptions and definitions of Castile, and since it lacks modern day official recognition, it has no clearly defined borders. Historically, the Kingdom of Castile occupied the area. After the kingdom merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain, when it united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre, the definition of what constituted Castile gradually began to change. Its historical capital was Burgos. In modern Spain, it is usually considered to comprise the majority of the autonomous communities of Castile and León (south and central), and Castile–La Mancha (everything except the south portion) as well as entire Community of Madrid as its heart. Cantabria and La Rioja in the north of Spain are sometimes also included in the definition, but this is controversial for historical reasons and the strong sense of unique cultural identity of those regions.Castile was traditionally divided between Old Castile, which from 1833 is made up of Cantabria and 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.