Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory lies on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, to the south of the Pyrenees mountain range. Catalonia is administratively divided into four provinces or eight regions, which are in turn divided into 42 comarques. The capital and largest city, Barcelona, is the second-most populated municipality in Spain and the fifth-most populous urban area in the European Union.
The lands of what today is known as Catalonia, in Spain, were first settled during the Middle Palaeolithic era. Like the rest of the Mediterranean side of the Iberian Peninsula, the area was occupied by the Iberians and several Greek colonies were established on the coast before the Roman conquest. It was the first area of Hispania conquered by the Romans. It then came under Visigothic rule after the collapse of the western part of the Roman Empire. In 718, the area was occupied by the Umayyad Caliphate and became a part of Muslim ruled al-Andalus. The Frankish Empire conquered the area from the Muslims, ending with the conquest of Barcelona in 801, as part of the creation of a larger buffer zone of Christian counties against Islamic rule historiographically known as the Marca Hispanica. In the 10th century the County of Barcelona became progressively independent from Frankish rule.
A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property, family, and obligations.
The Generalitat de Catalunya, or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government as an autonomous community of Spain. It is formed by the Parliament of Catalonia, the Presidency of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and the Executive Council of Catalonia. It is ruled according to the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia.
Catalan nationalism is the ideology asserting that the Catalans are a distinct nation. A related term is Catalanism, which tends to have a wider meaning, as some people define themselves as Catalanist but not Catalan nationalist.
The Catalan independence movement is a social and political movement which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain.
The National Day of Catalonia is a day-long festival in Catalonia and one of its official national symbols, celebrated annually on 11 September. It commemorates the fall of Barcelona during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the subsequent loss of Catalan institutions and laws.
The Parliament of Catalonia is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as deputies (diputats/deputats/diputados), who are elected for four-year terms or after extraordinary dissolution, chosen by universal suffrage in lists of four constituencies, corresponding to the Catalan provinces. The Parliament building is located in Ciutadella Park, Barcelona.
The Principality of Catalonia was a medieval and early modern state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of its history it was in dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon, constituting together the Crown of Aragon. Between the 13th and the 18th centuries, it was bordered by the Kingdom of Aragon to the west, the Kingdom of Valencia to the south, the Kingdom of France and the feudal lordship of Andorra to the north and by the Mediterranean Sea to the east. The term Principality of Catalonia was official until the 1830s, when the Spanish government implemented the centralized provincial division, but remained in popular and informal contexts. Today, the term Principat (Principality) is used primarily to refer to the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain, as distinct from the other Catalan Countries, and usually including the historical region of Roussillon in Southern France.
The Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya is a historic palace in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It houses the offices of the Presidency of the Generalitat de Catalunya. It is one of the few buildings of medieval origin in Europe that still functions as a seat of government and houses the institution that originally built it.
The Catalan constitutions were the laws of the Principality of Catalonia promulgated by the Count of Barcelona and approved by the Catalan Courts. The Corts in Catalan have the same origin as courts in English but instead meaning the legislature. The first constitutions were promulgated by the Corts of 1283. The last ones were promulgated by the Corts of 1705. They had pre-eminence over the other legal rules and could only be revoked by the Catalan Courts themselves. The compilations of the constitutions and other rights of Catalonia followed the Roman tradition of the Codex.
Catalonia is internally divided into eight regional divisions, known in Catalan as vegueries, following the regional plan of Catalonia. Each vegueria is further divided into comarques and municipalities, with the exception of the Aran Valley, considered a "unique territorial entity".
Anti-Catalanism is the collective name given to various historical trends in France, Italy, and Spain that have been hostile to Catalan culture and traditions.
The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia is a constitutional law defining the region of Catalonia as an autonomous community within the Kingdom of Spain. It was promulgated on 18 September 1979. It is one of seventeen such statutes granted, in various forms and capabilities, to the different autonomous communities of Spain since the Spanish transition to democracy of the 1970s. On 18 June 2006 a referendum altering the statute to expand the authority of the Catalan government was approved; it became effective on 9 August 2006.
The Library of Catalonia is the Catalan national library, located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The primary mission of the Library of Catalonia is to collect, preserve, and spread Catalan bibliographic production and that related to the Catalan linguistic area, to look after its conservation, and to spread its bibliographic heritage while maintaining the status of a center for research and consultation.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Catalonia:
The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006 provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Catalonia, the political institutions of the Catalan community, their competences and relations with the rest of Spain, and the financing of the Government of Catalonia.
The Catalan Courts or General Court of Catalonia were the policymaking and parliamentary body of the Principality of Catalonia from the 13th to the 18th century.
National Day for Yes was a gathering in Barcelona on 11 September 2017, the National Day of Catalonia, in support of Catalan independence. It was organized by the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), the main civil society organisations behind the massive pro-independence demonstrations held since 2012.
The Autonomous Region of Catalonia was established after the grant of self-government to Catalonia during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939), becoming an autonomous region within the Spanish Republic. The Generalitat of Catalonia was the institution in which the autonomous government of Catalonia was organized, it was established in order to replace the Catalan Republic proclaimed during the events of the proclamation of the Spanish Republic.
