Salamanca is a city in western Spain, the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. As of 2018, the municipality has a population of 143,978.

It is one of the most important university cities in Spain and supplies 16% of Spain's market for the teaching of the Spanish language. Salamanca attracts thousands of international students.

The University of Salamanca, which was founded in 1218, is one of the oldest universities in Spain and the third oldest western university, but the first to be given its status by the Pope Alexander IV who gave universal validity to its degrees. With its 30,000 students, the university is, together with tourism, a primary source of income in Salamanca. It is on the Via de la Plata path of the Camino de Santiago.

The city lies on the banks of the Tormes river, a major left-bank tributary of the Douro. It is also part of the Vía de la Plata, an ancient S-N path in Western Spain. It is situated approximately 200 kilometres (120 miles) west of the Spanish capital Madrid and 80 km (50 mi) east of the Spanish-Portuguese border.