Catalonia
Catalunya (Catalan)
Cataluña (Spanish)
Catalonha (Occitan)
Catalonia
Flag
Coat of arms
Anthem: Els Segadors
Capital
Barcelona
Official languages Catalan, Spanish
and Aranese.
Area
– Total
– % of Spain
Ranked 6th
32,114 km²
6.3%
Population
– Total (2008)
– % of Spain
– Density
Ranked 2nd
7,354,411
16%
222.16/km²
Demonym
– English
– Spanish
– Catalan
Catalan
catalán (m); catalana (f)
català (m); catalana (f)
Statute of
Autonomy
9 September 1932,
31 December 1979
current: 9 August 2006
Parliamentary
representation
– Congress seats
– Senate seats
47
16
President
José Montilla Aguilera
(PSC)
ISO 3166-2
CT
Generalitat de Catalunya
Catalonia
(Catalan: Catalunya; Aranese:
Catalonha;
Spanish: Cataluña),
is
an
Autonomous Community in northeast Spain.
Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km²
and has an official population of 7,210,508[1].
It borders France and Andorra to the north,
Aragon to the west, the Valencian Com-
munity to the south, and the Mediterranean
Sea to the east (580 km coastline). Official
languages are Catalan, Spanish and Aranese.
The capital city is Barcelona. Catalonia is
divided into forty-one comarques that are
part, in turn, of four provinces: Barcelona,
Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona (often spelt
Gerona in English as it is in Spanish). Its ter-
ritory corresponds to most of the historical
territory of
the
former Principality of
Catalonia.
Etymology
The name Catalunya (Catalonia) began to be
used in the 12th century[2] in reference to
the group of counties that comprised the
Marca Hispanica, which gradually became in-
dependent from the French. The origin of the
term is subject to diverse interpretations.
The prevalent theory suggests that Catalunya
derives from the term "Land of Castles",[3]
having evolved from the term castlà, the
ruler of a castle (see castellan).[4] This the-
ory, therefore, suggests that the term cas-
tellà
("Castilian")
would
have
been
synonymous.
Another theory suggests that Catalunya
derives from Gothia, "Land of the Goths",
since the Spanish March was one of the
place