Albacete is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. It is in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, in the region known as the Meseta Central within the historic region of La Mancha, in the smaller historic region of La Mancha de Montearagón; the area around the city is known as Los Llanos. With a population of 172,487 in the municipality proper, and 219,121 in the larger metropolitan area, it is the largest city in both the province and the region of Castilla-La Mancha, and indeed one of the largest of inland Spain, being included in the 20 largest urban areas in Spain. The municipality of Albacete is also the seventh largest in Spain by area, being 1125.91km².Albacete is the economic and judicial capital of Castilla-La Mancha, being home to the regional High Court of Justice. The writer, novelist, essayist and literary critic Azorin described the city of Albacete in a poem as "The New York of La Mancha".The origins of the city are uncertain, with the earliest proof of settlement dating to the time of Al-Andalus, when the settlement was originally named البسيط, meaning "The Flat" in the Arabic referring to the flat land around. The city increased in prominence in the early 20th century during the Spanish Civil War due its strategic importance as national headquarters of the International Brigades.