Pyrénées-Orientales

**Pyrénées-Orientales** (English: _Eastern Pyrenees_; ; ) is a department in the region of Occitanie in southern France; it is next to the northern Spanish border and the Mediterranean Sea.

The department is formed by the historically Catalan-speaking area of **Rosillon** (with its different parts: Roussillon (modern), Haute Cerdagne (or simply Cerdagne), Conflent, Vallespir and Capcir) and Fenouillèdes, an historically Occitan-speaking area.

## History

Before 1659, most of the present department was part of the former Principality of Catalonia, within the Kingdom of Spain, so historically most of it has been Catalan-speaking, and it is still sometimes referred to as Northern Catalonia.

Pyrénées-Orientales was created in 1790 during the French Revolution, when the whole of France was divided into departments, replacing the old provinces. Pyrénées-Orientales was formed by the province of Roussillon and Fenouillèdes (), a small piece of territory which had formerly been on the southern edge of Languedoc.

## Geography

Pyrénées-Orientales has an area of . It has the department of Aude to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, Spain to the south, and Andorra and the department of Ariège to the west.

The department is dominated by the Pyrenees mountain range. The highest mountain is Pic Carlit () that is  high. The best known mountain in the department is Le Canigou () that is  high.

There are three main rivers in the department: from north to south, Agly, Têt (the largest river of the department) and Tech; the Agly has its source in the Corbières hills, in the southern part of the Aude department. The other two river has their sources in the Pyrenees. The three rivers flow into the eastern Plain of Roussillon before they flow into the Mediterranean Sea.

Most of the population and agricultural production are concentrated in the Plain of Roussillon, with only 30% of the area.

Llívia is a town of Cerdanya, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain, that forms a Spanish exclave surrounded by French territory.

### Climate

In the department, there are three subtypes of the group C in the Köppen climate classification:
1. **Csa** - Mediterranean climate with hot summers.
1. **Cfa** - Subtropical humid climate with hot summers.
1. **Cfb** - Oceanic climate with template summers.

## Administration

The département is managed by the _Departamental Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales_ in Perpignan. The Pyrénées-Orientales is part of the region of Occitanie.

### Administrative divisions

The area is traditionally divided into comarques, of which five (French Cerdagne, Capcir, Conflent, Roussillon and Vallespir) are historically Catalan-speaking and one (Fenouillèdes) is historically Occitan-speaking.

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 17 _cantons_ and 226 _communes_ (municipalities) in the Pyrénées-Orientales.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|661|Céret|Céret|73,192|953.5||40|
|662|Perpignan|Perpignan|349,959|1,317.4||86|
|663|Prades|Prades|43,176|1,845.1||100|

The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the **Pyrénées-Orientales** department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Les Aspres <small>(6601)</small>
1. Le Canigou <small>(6602)</small>
1. La Côte Sableuse <small>(6603)</small>
1. La Côte Salanquaise <small>(6604)</small>
1. La Côte Vermeille <small>(6605)</small>
1. Perpignan-1 <small>(6606)</small>
1. Perpignan-2 <small>(6607)</small>
1. Perpignan-3 <small>(6608)</small>
1. Perpignan-4 <small>(6609)</small>
1. Perpignan-5 <small>(6610)</small>
1. Perpignan-6 <small>(6611)</small>
1. La Plaine d'Illibéris <small>(6612)</small>
1. Les Pyrénées catalanes <small>(6613)</small>
1. Le Ribéral <small>(6614)</small>
1. La Vallée de la Têt <small>(6615)</small>
1. La Vallée de l'Agly <small>(6616)</small>
1. Vallespir-Albères <small>(6617)</small>

## Demographics

Pyrénées-Orientales has a population, in 2014, of 466,327, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Perpignan, with 349,959 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Ceret and Prades, have respectively 73,192 and 43,176 inhabitants.

The only important city is Perpignan with 120,605 people living there in 2012. The subprefectures Céret and Prades have 7,663 and 5,927, respectively.

**Evolution of the population in Pyrénées-Orientales**

The cities with more than 6,000 inhabitants in the department are:

|City|Population (2014)|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Perpignan|120,605|Perpignan|
|Canet-en-Roussillon|12,224|Perpignan|
|Saint-Estève|11,925|Perpignan|
|Argelès-sur-Mer|10,279|Céret|
|Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque|10,269|Perpignan|
|Saint-Cyprien|10,015|Perpignan|
|Cabestany|9,683|Perpignan|
|Elne|8,556|Perpignan|
|Rivesaltes|8,550|Perpignan|
|Pia|8,519|Perpignan|
|Céret|7,663|Céret|
|Le Soler|7,524|Perpignan|
|Thuir|7,374|Perpignan|
|Bompas|7,004|Perpignan|
|Toulouges|6,690|Perpignan|

The inhabitants of Pyrénées-Orientales are known, in French, as _Pyrénaliens_ (women: _Pyrénaliennes_) or _Catalans_ (women: _Catalanes_).

French is spoken by almost all the population. Minority languages in the region are Catalan and Occitan, which between them are estimated to be spoken by rather more than a quarter of the population and understood by more than 40%.

On 10 December 2007, the _Departamental Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales_ recognized Catalan as a regional language of the department, though French is still the only official language in France, according to the Constitution.

## Economy

Pyrénées-Orientales is a wine-growing area and a tourist destination.

The area is famous for its wine with the predominately red grape varieties grown all over the department.

## Places of interest

Some places of interest are:
- Prades () - site of the Catalan Summer University (_Universitat Catalana d'Estiu_).
- Banyuls-sur-Mer (Catalan _Banyuls de la Marenda_) famous for its wines.
- Prats de Molló - important defensive castle of the 17th century facing south to the Pyrenees.
- Salses - important defensive castle of the 16th century, on the ancient frontier with Spain.

## Related pages

- Northern Catalonia
- Arrondissements of the Pyrénées-Orientales department
- Communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department

## Other websites

- Departamental Council of Pyrénées-Orientales
- Prefecture website
- Réseau Culturel Terre Catalane

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Pyrénées-Orientales
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Canigó.jpeg
- **image alt**: Le Canigou peak, Pyrénées-Orientales, France
- **image caption**: Le Canigou mountain, Pyrénées-Orientales
- **image flag**: Drapeau proposé pour le département des Pyrénées-Orientales.svg
- **flag alt**: Flag
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Pyrénées-Orientales.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Pyrénées-Orientales-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Pyrénées-Orientales in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Occitanie
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Perpignan
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Céret
- **p2**: Prades (Pyrénées-Orientales), Prades
- **leader title**: Departamental council, President
- **leader name**: Hermeline Malherbe
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 4116
- **population total**: 466327
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Pyrénaliens, Pyrénaliennes
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 17
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 226
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-66
- **website**: [http://www.cg66.fr http://www.cg66.fr]