Catalonia

**Catalonia** (; : ) is a Spanish autonomous community. It is south of the eastern Pyrenees, and has a northern border with France.

Catalonia is made up of four provinces: Barcelona, Tarragona, Girona () and Lleida (). It has a population of over seven million people. Catalonia has three official languages: Catalan, Spanish and Occitan. The last is spoken in a small region of northern Catalonia that borders France and is known in Occitan as Val d'Aran.

The capital of Catalonia is Barcelona, on the Mediterranean Coast. Between Costa del Garraf and Costa del Maresme, Barcelona very popular in summer for tourists, foreign or national.

The Catalan people have autonomy within Spain and so they have their own local government and their own police and some control over their own community. In September 2005, the Catalan Parliament decided to call Catalonia a 'nation' in the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, which was approved in 2006. According to the Spanish Constitution, Spain is a group of historical nationalities and regions, but that declaration has no judicial status since it only appears in the preamble to the constitution.

On 27 October 2017, Catalonia declared independence from Spain after a vote in Parliament, but that was not recognised by the international community. The Spanish Senate voted in favour of direct rule. It removed the Catalan government and called a snap regional election. The Spanish Supreme Court imprisoned seven former ministers of the Catalan government on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds. Several others—including then-President Carles Puigdemont—fled to other European countries.

Catalonia is one of Southern Europe's most prosperous regions. Industrialization, especially in the textile industry, began  earlier and took place faster than in other Spanish territories. The region is also greener than Southern Spain as it gets more rain, and it has different kinds of crops grown. Catalonia, especially the northern part, is much less hot than the rest of Spain.

## References

**Notes**

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Catalonia
- **settlement type**: Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous community
- **image flag**: Flag of Catalonia.svg
- **flag size**: 125px
- **flag alt**: Senyera
- **image shield**: Coat of Arms of Catalonia.svg
- **shield size**: 65px
- **anthem**:

<div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;"></div>
- **image map**: Cataluna in Spain (including Canarias).svg
- **map alt**: Map of Catalonia in Spain
- **map caption**: Location of Catalonia (red) in Spain
- **image map1**: E.U-Catalonia.png
- **mapsize1**: 270px
- **map alt1**: Catalonia in Spain and Europe
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: Spain
- **subdivision type1**: Status
- **subdivision name1**: Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous community <small>(styled as Nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality)</small>
- **established title**: History of Catalonia, Formation
- **established date**: 988 (Catalan Counties)
1137 (Crown of Aragon, Union with Aragon)

1469 (Catholic Monarchs, Union of Castile and Aragon under Catholic Monarchs)
1716 (Nueva Planta decrees)
- **established title1**: Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, Statute of Autonomy
- **established date1**: Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 1932, 9 September 1932
 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 1979, 18 September 1979
Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, 9 August 2006 (current version)
- **seat type**: Capital city, Capital

- **seat**: Barcelona
<small></small>
- **parts type**: Provinces of Spain, Provinces
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Province of Barcelona, Barcelona
- **government type**: Devolution, Devolved government in a constitutional monarchy
- **governing body**: Generalitat de Catalunya, Generalitat of Catalonia
- **leader title**: President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, President
- **leader name**: Pere Aragonès (Republican Left of Catalonia, ERC)
- **leader title1**: Legislature
- **leader name1**: Parliament of Catalonia, Parliament
- **area total km2**: 32108
- **area rank**: Ranked lists of Spanish autonomous communities, 6th in Spain
- **population total**: 7,522,596
- **population as of**: 2016
- **population density km2**: 234
- **population rank**: Ranked lists of Spanish autonomous communities, 2nd in Spain (16%)
- **population demonyms**: Catalans, Catalan or Catalonian
 (Catalan language, ca)
 (Spanish language, es)
 (Occitan language, oc)
- **demographics type1**: Gross domestic product, GDP
- **demographics1 footnotes**:  (nominal; 2017)
- **demographics1 title1**: Total
- **demographics type2**: Gross domestic product, GDP
- **demographics2 footnotes**:  (Purchasing power parity, PPP; 2017)
- **demographics2 title1**: Total
- **demographics2 info1**: $343 billion
- **blank3 name sec2**: Human Development Index, HDI (2017)
- **blank3 info sec2**: 0.905
 · List of Spanish autonomous communities by Human Development Index, 4th
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **area code**: +34 93 (Barcelona area)
 +34 97 (rest of Catalonia)
- **area code type**: Telephone numbers in Spain, Area code
- **iso code**: ES-CT
- **blank name sec1**: Official languages
- **blank1 name sec1**: Patron saints
- **blank1 info sec1**: Saint George (), Virgin of Montserrat
- **website**: [http://web.gencat.cat/en/inici/ gencat.cat]
- **p2**: Province of Girona, Girona
- **p3**: Province of Lleida, Lleida
- **p4**: Province of Tarragona, Tarragona
- **leader title3**: Congress of Deputies (Spain), Congress of Deputies
- **leader name3**: 48 Deputies (of 350)
- **leader title4**: Senate of Spain, Senate
- **leader name4**: 24 Senators (of 265)
- **demographics1 info1**: €224 billion
- **demographics1 title2**: Per capita
- **demographics1 info2**: €30,100
- **demographics2 title2**: Per capita
- **demographics2 info2**: $46,024
- **timezone**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset**: +1