Cantabria is an autonomous community and province in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a comunidad histórica, a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Country, on the south by Castile and León, on the west by Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea, which forms part of the Bay of Biscay.