Quote Originally Posted by Fahad I View Post
That's what we call it here in the middle east. It's commonly known as a genuine culture, not a province.

Interesting to know.

My justification for referring to it as a province:


Al-Andalus (Arabic: الأندلس‎) was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Arab Muslims, at various times in the period between 711 and 1492. As a political domain or domains, it successively constituted a province of the Umayyad Caliphate, initiated by the Caliph Al-Walid I (711-750); the Emirate of Córdoba (c. 750-929); the Caliphate of Córdoba (929-1031); and the Caliphate of Córdoba's taifa (successor) kingdoms.
In succeeding centuries, al-Andalus became a province of the Arab-Berber dynasties of the Almoravids and Almohads, subsequently fragmenting into a number of minor states, most notably the Emirate of Granada. For large parts of its history, particularly under the Caliphate of Córdoba, Andalus was a beacon of learning, and the city of Córdoba became one of the leading cultural and economic centers in both the Mediterranean basin and the Islamic world.

Oxford Dictionary of Islam

- obviously this doesn't negate the fact that it could also refer to a civilization but I would have expected the civilization to be referred to as the Almoravid, Almohad or Marinid civilization depending on the date in question.