 The territorial division of 1833 recognised a Murcian "historic region" consisting of two provinces, Murcia and Albacete, but no administrative powers were assigned to these regions.An independent Murcian canton was declared during the short-lived First Spanish Republic in 1873.On the inauguration of the Second Republic in 1931, a call was again made for a greater Murcian region within the more devolved state structure then envisaged.