Set up as an Autonomous Community under Organic Law 4/1982, June 9th, B.O.E. 19.6.82.

The region of Murcia, as it stands today, is the result of a historical process connected to the Crown of Castile. Its long standing function as a frontier area is doubtless an essential component in its present day identity.

Its coasts were conquered and its mines exploited by the Phoenician. Carthaginians and Romans made Cartagena the capital of the province and the centre of their power in Spain. The territory was subsequently subjected to a number of invasions, including those of the Vandals, the Byzantines and the Visigoths.

At the beginning of the 8th century it was invaded by the Arabs until it was reconquered in 1266 by James I. After the Middle Ages, Murcia flourished in the splendour of the Baroque.

Its division for legal purposes into three areas, entrusted respectively to the concejos de realengo, the ecclesiastical senores seculares, as a reward for their controbution to the Reconquest and to the Military Orders, is due to Alfonso X.

From the mid-18th century, the need began to be felt for a reform plan involving institutional rearrangements. In 1789 Floridablanca undertook a reform to meet the requirements of a renewed administration. Following the constitutional reform of 1812, the kingdom of Murcia changes its name to province of Murcia.