Parts of this article (those related to Government as of 2024) need to be updated.(October 2024) |
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Catalonia:
Catalonia – nationality and autonomous community of Spain, located on the northeastern corner of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. With 7,7 million inhabitants, it is the second most populous Spanish autonomous community, as well a major industrial and touristic powerhouse.
Once a polity within the Crown of Aragon known as the Principality of Catalonia, it was integrated in to the Monarchy of Spain at the beginning of the 16th century. It lost its separate status, public law and institutions in 1714, after Bourbon victory on the War of the Spanish Succession. Throughout the nineteenth century, it became an industrial center while workers' movements and Catalan nationalism appeared. The Second Spanish Republic (1931-1939) granted it self-government, defending the Republican cause during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), while experiencing a revolutionary process. The dictatorship of Francisco Franco abolished autonomy and repressed liberties and Catalan culture and language. After his death and the subsequent transition to democracy (1975-1981), self-government was restored.
Administrative divisions of Catalonia
Municipalities of Catalonia (947)
Most populous municipalities :
Ethno-linguistic groups of Catalonia:
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory is situated on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, to the south of the Pyrenees mountain range. Catalonia is administratively divided into four provinces or eight vegueries (regions), which are in turn divided into 42 comarques. The capital and largest city, Barcelona, is the second-most populous municipality in Spain and the fifth-most populous urban area in the European Union.
The comarques of Catalonia, often referred to in English as counties, are an administrative division of Catalonia. Each comarca comprises a number of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the United States. Currently, Catalonia is divided into 42 comarques and Aran, considered a "unique territorial entity" and not a comarca.
Pallars is a historical and natural region of Catalonia. Located in the Pre-Pyrenees and Pyrenees area, most of its territory is mountainous.
Barcelona is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is 7,726 km2 (2,983 sq mi). A total of 5,743,402 people live in the province, of whom about 29% (1,664,182) live within the administrative limits of the city of Barcelona, which itself is contained in the Barcelona metropolitan area.
Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira is a Catalan politician. He was the Vice-president of the Catalan Government from 2006 to 2010. From 1996 to 2008 he was the leader of the Republican Left of Catalonia . ERC campaigns for Catalonia's independence from Spain and, secondarily, extend it to other Catalan Countries, the whole Catalan linguistic domain.
Alt Empordà is a comarca (county) located in the Girona region, in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of two comarques into which Empordà was divided by the comarca division of Catalonia in 1936, the other one being Baix Empordà. The capital is the municipality of Figueres.
Baix Empordà is a comarca (county) in the Girona region, Catalonia, in Spain. It is one of the two comarques into which Empordà was divided in the comarcal division of 1936, the other one being Alt Empordà. It is popularly known as L'Empordanet. The capital is La Bisbal d'Empordà.
Tarragonès is a comarca (county) in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia (Spain). It lies on the Mediterranean coast, between the comarques of Baix Penedès to the northeast and Baix Camp to the south. Over 60% of the population live in the capital, Tarragona.
A vegueria, plural vegueries, is one of eight regional divisions of Catalonia, 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".
Penedès is a natural and historical region of Catalonia. It is located in the south of the Principality of Catalonia between the pre-coastal mountain range and the Mediterranean Sea. The comarcal division of the Generalitat de Catalunya in 1936 and 1987, divided Penedès into three administrative comarques: Alt Penedès, Baix Penedès and Garraf, and their capitals are Vilafranca del Penedès, el Vendrell and Vilanova i la Geltrú.
Alt Pirineu is one of the nine regions (vegueries) of Catalonia.
Àmbit metropolità de Barcelona, also referred to as the vegueria of Barcelona, is one of the nine regions (vegueries) of Catalonia.
Rail transport in Catalonia operates on three rail gauges and services are operated by a variety of public operators:
Comarques Gironines or the Girona region is the northeasternmost of the nine regions (vegueries) of Catalonia. It has an area of 5,558 km² and 761,690 inhabitants as of 2022.
Ponent, also known as the Lleida region following the vegueries law, is the westernmost of the eight regions (vegueries) defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia. It has an area of 5,586 km2, and 365,289 inhabitants as of 2022.
Rodalies de Catalunya is the main commuter and regional rail system in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. It is administered by the Government of Catalonia and operated by the national rail operator Renfe Operadora. The system consists of 17 service lines chiefly centred in the Barcelona area, serving a total of 203 stations throughout Catalonia, with an average number of 1,000 trains running on it every day. In 2016, it had an annual ridership of 117 million.
Tabarnia is a fictional region within Catalonia, a satirical parody of the Catalan independence movement and a movement against the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The Tabarnia movement mirrors the independentist movement advocating for a referendum to create a new Spanish autonomous community out of coastal urban parts of Catalonia, a region that gathers most of the population of Catalonia and in which, in general, votes for independentist parties rarely reach 30% of the votes but generates most of the gross domestic product of Catalonia. It would encompass the current Catalan comarques of Maresme, Baix Camp, Baix Penedès, Alt Penedès, Garraf, Baix Llobregat, Barcelonès, Vallès Oriental, Vallès Occidental and Tarragonés.
The R16 is a line of Rodalies de Catalunya's regional rail service, operated by Renfe Operadora. It runs southwards from the Barcelona area to the town of Tortosa, passing through the Vallès Occidental, Baix Llobregat, Garraf, Baix Penedès, Camp de Tarragona, Baix Ebre and Montsià regions. With a total line length of 172 kilometres (107 mi), it extends notably beyond the limits of the Barcelona metropolitan area, along the Mediterranean coast.
Catalonia, referring to the autonomous community in Spain, is territorially divided into numerous types and levels of subdivisions with varying administrative, organisational and cultural functions.
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