Murcia has a total area of 11,313 kmē and a population of 1,335,792 making it the 12th-largest metropolitan area of Spain. The Province Murcia lies in the middle of the valley through which the River Segura flows. Murcia city is the capital of both the province of Murcia and the autonomous community (which includes only the province). Road map of Murcia Shaded relief map of Murcia Outline map of Murcia The coastline of Murcia is 274 km long and has the added attraction of "two seas"; the Mediterranean with beaches of white sand, magnificent cliffs, lively ports and picturesque coves and the Mar Menor which was originally an open bay but is now a large costal lake of warm seawater measuring 170 km ē. The waters have an average depth of 3.5 metres. Inland are conservation areas with mountain peaks reaching 2001 meters. There are two airports serving the region: the San Javier Airport (code MJV) which is situated on the north shore of the "Mar Menor" close to the towns of San Javier and Santiago de la Ribera, 45 km southeast of Murcia, and about 30 minutes by car and the "El Altet" airport at Alicante (approximately 11 kilometres west from the city) with easy access to the A7 motorway.
