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The Autonomous Community of Catalonia (; ; Aranese: Comunautat Autonoma de Catalonha), known throughout history simply as Catalonia, is today one of the 17 autonomous communities that constitute the Kingdom of Spain. Its territory corresponds to most of the historic territory of the former Principality of Catalonia. The autonomous community of Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² with an official population of 7,083,600 (2006). Immigrants from outside Spain represent 12.2% of the total population *. Official languages are Catalan and Spanish (also known as Castilian). In the Aran Valley, Aranese (Occitan) is also official. Geography The Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia borders on Valencia to the south, Aragon to the west, France and Andorra to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east and southeast. Mountains North Catalan Pyrenees: Rivers Ebre River, 910 km Her tributaries: Other natural spaces Conservation areas There are several conservation areas in Catalonia: History The territory that now constitutes the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain, and the adjoining Catalan region of France, was first settled during the Middle Palaeolithic. Like the rest of the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula, it was colonized by Ancient Greeks and Carthaginians and participated in the pre-Roman Iberian culture. With the rest of Iberia, it was part of the Roman Empire, then came under Visigothic rule after Rome's collapse. The northernmost part of Catalonia was briefly occupied by the Moorish (Muslim-ruled) al-Andalus in the eighth century, but after the defeat of Emir Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqiwas's troops at Tours in 732 local Visigoths regained autonomy, though they voluntarily made themselves tributary to the emerging Frankish kingdom, which gave the grouping of these local powers the generic name Marca Hispanica. Identifiably Catalan culture developed in the Middle Ages under the hegemony of the Counts of Barcelona. As part of the Crown of Aragon; the Catalans became a great maritime power, expanding the Crown of Aragon by trade and conquest into Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and even Sardinia and Sicily. The marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (1469) unified Christian Spain; in 1492, the last of Al-Andalus was conquered and the Spanish conquest of the Americas began. Political power began to shift away from Catalonia toward Castile. For some time, Catalonia continued to retain its own laws, but these gradually eroded (albeit with occasional periods of regeneration). Over the next few centuries, Catalonia was generally on the losing side of a series of wars that led steadily to more centralization of power in Spain. The most significant conflict was the War of the Spanish Succession, which began when Carlos II ''El Hechizado'' died without a successor in 1700. Catalonia supported the claim of a member of the Austrian branch of the Hapsburg dynasty, while the rest of Spain generally supported the French Bourbon claimant, Felipe V. Following the final surrender of Catalan troops on September 11, 1714, Felipe V's Nueva Planta decrees banned all the main Catalan political institutions and imposed military-based rule over the region. In the latter half of the 19th century, Catalonia became an industrial center; to this day it remains the most industrialised part of Spain, rivaled only by the Basque Country. In the first third of the 20th century, Catalonia gained and lost varying degrees of autonomy several times—even receiving its first statute of autonomy during the Second Spanish Republic (founded 1931)—but Catalan autonomy and culture were crushed to an unprecedented degree after the defeat of the Republic in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) brought General Francisco Franco to power. Even public use of the Catalan language was banned. After Franco's death (1975) and the adoption of a democratic Spanish constitution (1978), Catalonia recovered cultural autonomy and some political autonomy. Today, Catalonia is one of the most economically dynamic regions of Spain. The Catalan capital and largest city, Barcelona, is a major international cultural centre and tourist destination. Catalonia's second statute of autonomy, which was adopted by the Spanish government on December 22, 1979 officially recognized Catalonia as a nationality. This was recently superseded by a new statute of autonomy adopted on August 9, 2006, which defines Catalonia as a nation in the preamble, although the precise meaning of the term nation is ambiguous. Language Catalan, regarded as the native language of Catalonia, is one of the three official languages of the region as established in the Catalan Statute of Autonomy *. The others are Castilian Spanish, which is an official language throughout Spain, and Aranese. The Catalan government has a policy of promoting the Catalan language. Thus, while state education is partly given in Catalan and partly in Spanish, government bureaucracy is entirely in Catalan, and the heavily-subsidised Catalan media, as well as businesses, are required to display all information (e.g. menus, posters) at least in Catalan. Some Catalan speakers argue that this policy is necessary to protect their language in the face of previous prohibition and new residents who fail to learn or use Catalan. Catalan is regarded by most linguists as being an Iberian Romance language (the group that includes Spanish), but it has many features of Gallo-Romance languages such as French. Since the Statute of Autonomy of 1979, Occitan, in its Aranese variety (a dialect of Gascon), has been official and subject to special protection in the Val d'Aran (Aran Valley). This small region of 7,000 has been the only place where Occitan (spoken mainly in France and some Italian valleys) has received full official status. Since August 9 2006, after the application of a new Statute, Occitan is also official in the whole of Catalonia. Literacy According to the 2001 Linguistic Census *, about 5,900,000 people in Catalonia (nearly 95% of the population) understand the Catalan language. The percentage of people aged two and older who can speak, read and write Catalan is as follows: Over the last 20 years, knowledge of Catalan has advanced significantly in all these areas, with the ability to write it having experienced the most pronounced increase, from 31.6% of the population in 1986 to 49.8% in 2001. By age groups, those between 10 and 29 have the highest level of Catalan-language literacy (e.g., 98.2% aged 10–14 understand it, and 85.2% can write it); this is attributed to these individuals having received a proper education in Catalan. Geographically, Catalan is most understood in northwest Catalonia (Alt Pirineu, Val d'Aran), at 97.4%, followed by south and western Catalonia, whereas Barcelona's metropolitan area sees the lowest knowledge, at 93.8%. The situation is analogous for written-language skills, with central Catalonia scoring the highest percentages (61.4%), and Barcelona the lowest (46.4%). Barcelona is one of the main centres of the Spanish publishing industry for both Spanish-language publishing and Catalan-language publishing. Social Use According to a study carried out in 2003 by the Generalitat de Catalunya *, Catalan is used by 50.1% of the population in everyday situations. Significantly, over 55% of respondents use Spanish to address their parents (versus 42% who choose Catalan). This is attributed to massive immigration from southern Spain from the second half of the 20th century until the 1980s, as a consequence of which many Catalans have one or both parents from outside Catalonia. However, a majority (52.6%) use Catalan with their children (42.3% Spanish). This can be attributed to some Spanish-speaking citizens shifting from their mother tongue to Catalan at home. Outside the family, 48.6% of the population indicate that they address strangers exclusively or preferentially in Catalan, while the proportion of those who use Spanish is 41.7%. 8.6% claim to use both equally. Aranese According to the 2001 Aranese Linguistic Census *, knowledge of Aranese in the Occitan-speaking territory of Aran is as follows: Compared to previous data from 1996, the number of those able to understand Aranese has declined slightly (90.5% in 1996), while at the same time there has been a marginal increase in the number of those able to write it (24.97% in 1996). By age groups, the largest percentage of those with knowledge of Aranese is in the 15-19 and 65-69 groups (both above 96%), while those aged 30-34 score lowest (just over 80%). Literacy is higher in the 10-19 group with over 88% declaring themselves able to read, and 76% able to write Aranese. Those over 80 are the least literate, with only about 1.5% of them being able to write the language. It is significant to note that in the Val d'Aran, those born outside Spain outnumber Spaniards born outside Aran and Catalonia in the active use of Aranese (17% of non-Spaniards can write Aranese, while the percentage for Spaniards excluding Catalans is 10%). Economy of Catalonia The GDP as of 2005 is €157,124 billion, ranking 4th among autonomous communities in Spain. Per capita GDP is $26,550. The Catalan economy is distinguished by an industrial profile. The population profile is: The GDP growth is 2.5 %, the land dedicated to agricultural use is 33 %. The most commonly cultivated crops in Catalonia are maize, potatoes, forage, vines, olives and cereals. Also commonly practiced are horticulture and animal husbandry; most important to the latter the porcine livestock, bovine livestock and ovine livestock. Airports Commercial and passenger ports Roads, Highways... etc There are 12000 km of road in Catalonia. The principal highway is AP-7 know also as Autopista del Mediterraneo. It follows the coast from the French Border to the Provence of Valencia to the south. The main roads generally radiate from Barcelona. The A-2 and AP-2 connect inland and onward to Madrid. Other major roads are: Railroad Catalonia saw the first railway construction in Spain. Given the topography most lines radiate from Barcelona. The city has both suburban as well as inter-city services. The main eastcoast line runs through the province connecting with French Railways at Portbou on the coast. The railroad companies operating in Catalonia are FGC and RENFE. Highspeed AVE services currently reach Llieda but construction is near completion of the line into Barcelona (and Airport). Agreement has been reached to connect onwards to the French highspeed network by building a new line and rail tunnel through the Pyrenees. Law and government of Catalonia The Government of Catalonia is known as the Generalitat in the Catalan language. It consists of a Parliament, a President and an Executive Council. Local governments include comarques (roughly equivalent to counties), as well as smaller forms of municipal administration. Catalonia is divided into four provinces: Barcelona, Girona (Gerona in Spanish), Lleida (Lérida in Spanish, Lhèida in Aranese), Tarragona. Catalan self-government After Franco's death in 1975 and the adoption of a democratic constitution in Spain in 1978, Catalonia recovered the autonomous status it had lost with the fall of the Second Spanish Republic at the conclusion of the Spanish Civil War in 1939. The region has gradually achieved a greater degree of autonomy since 1979. The Generalitat holds exclusive jurisdiction in various matters of culture, environment, communications, transportation, commerce, public safety and local governments, but shares jurisdiction with the Spanish government in education, health and justice. Catalonia has its own police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, which is currently in the process of taking over most of the role within Catalonia of the Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional, which are under the authority of the Spanish national government, although the Spanish government will keep agents in the region for matters relating to terrorism and immigration. Most of the justice system is administered by national judicial institutions. The legal system is uniform throughout the Spanish State, with the exception of so-called "civil law", which is administered separately within Catalonia *. After the Navarre and the Basque Country regions, Catalonia has the greatest level of self-government in Spain. As an autonomous community of Spain, Catalonia has no official status or recognition at an international level. On June 18, 2006, a referendum across Catalonia approved reforms to the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, which are now in effect. These reforms include a provision in which the Parliament of Catalonia defines Catalonia as a nation. Politics of Catalonia
Parties Summary of votes and seats Votes and seats after the 1 November, 2006 elections, compared with those won at the 2003 election. Voters: 5,212,444 Voting: 2,959,027 56.77% Invalid votes: 13,324 0.45% Valid votes: 2,945,703 99.54% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Party Votes % Seats ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blank vote (No list chosen) 60,025 2.03 - Ciutadans de Catalunya 89,567 3.04 (+3.04) 3 (+3) Convergència i Unió 928,511 31.52 (+0.58) 48 (+2) Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya 414,067 14.06 (-2.38) 21 (-2) Iniciativa Verds-Esquerra Alternativa 281,474 9.56 (+2.28) 12 (+3) Others 68,813 2.33 - Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya-CpC 789,767 26.81 (-4.35) 37 (-5) Partit Popular 313,479 10.64 (-1.25) 14 (-1) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 2,945,703 135 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Environmental policy Awareness of environmental problems tends to be much lower in Catalonia (and in Spain as a whole) than in northern Europe. Carbon dioxide emissions in Catalonia have increased by 40% since 1992, and 60% of the region's electricity comes from aging nuclear power stations (a figure exceeded in Europe only by France and Lithuania). Despite Catalonia's change of government in 2004 from a conservative CiU/PP alliance to a "red/green" tripartite coalition of PSC, ERC, and ICV parties, there is little evidence of greater concern for the environment. The ICV was put in charge of the Ministry of the Environment but has largely continued the outgoing administration's environmentally-unfriendly policies. The Ministry's decision to build the controversial Bracons tunnel through an area of outstanding natural beauty, and a scheme to site an incinerator burning 90,000 metric tonnes of industrial waste * in a heavily-populated valley are just two cases in point. Although Catalonia participates in many international environmental forums, the political will to pursue "green" polices is generally lacking. UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Catalonia There are several UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Catalonia: See also | |||||||||
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