The Community of Madrid is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Central Plateau ; its capital and largest municipality is Madrid. The Community of Madrid is bounded to the south and east by Castilla–La Mancha and to the north and west by Castile and León. It was formally created in 1983, in order to address the particular status of the city of Madrid as the capital of the Spanish State and in urban hierarchy. Its boundaries are coextensive with those of the province of Madrid, which was until then conventionally included in the historical region of New Castile.