Linares is geographically located in the northeast of the province of Jaén, between the east part of Sierra Morena and the Depression of the River Guadalquivir, which stands 419 metres above sea level.
The city borders on Carboneros and Guarromán in the north; on Lupión, Torreblascopedro and Jabalquinto in the south; on Vilches and Ibros in the east; and Bailén in the west. Moreover, it is almost totally limited by the course of the rivers Guadalén, Guarrizas, Guadalimar and Guadiel. Linares is not a mountainous city. It doesn’t have prominent drops or heights.
The city, whose extension is about 198 km2, has always been well communicated, in its origin through the Roman via, and today through a dense road network and through the railway.
It is a very rich enclave because of its mineral deposits (silver galena, linarite, azurite, malachite or pyrite) and other geological resources (granite and sandstone). They have been exploited at least since the 3rd millennium BC and they have been used in construction. This fact, together with the mark left by the farming operation places, has provoked the change of its landscape since Prehistory until today.
The demographic history of the city has been determined by the mining development, which has increased its population six times, having 6,000 inhabitants in 1849 and 38,000 just in 30 years. After a period of stabilisation, Linares has increased its population to 62,000 inhabitants.
These figures make the municipal territory, of almost 20,000 hectares, one of the most populated enclaves of the province ?being the second biggest city of Jaén.
The economy of the city in the past was centred in the agricultural sector and later in the mining industry. Today it is centred in the service sector, in industry and in the olive oil sector. Its great development has turned Linares into the most important industrial and commercial city of the province.