Catalonia (Catalunya official name in Catalan) is an autonomous region (comunitat autònoma) in the east of Spain. It covers an area of 31,950 sq. km. with a population of 6.3 million, and its capital is Barcelona.

It constitutes the original nucleus and the most important and extensive territory of Catalan language and culture. The historic region of Catalonia also includes the Roussillon (Rosselló in Catalan), a province of France since 1659. The neighbouring Valencia region (València in Catalan), the Balearic Islands (Illes Balears, official name in Catalan), and an adjacent area of Aragon (informally referred as la Franja) are closely associated with Catalonia historically and linguistically.

Linguistic classifications are a politically contentious issue in Spain. While it makes sense to say that diferent dialects of the same language are spoken in all those areas (with further variations within the three regions), there are minorities in Valencia and the Balearic Islands who wish to consider their languages as separate ones.

History

In the 9th century the southernmost counties of the Frankish empire were separated from Muslim Spain by the Spanish March (Marca Hispanica), lying around the county of Barcelona.

Catalonia is first documented in an oath (early 12th century) to Ramon Berenguer III, count of Barcelona, in which he is referred to as catalanicus heroes, rector catanicus, and dux catalanensis, and also the name Catalania (Catalonia) is found. In it catalanenses (Catalans) appears opposite gots (Goths), referring to the people of southern France.

In 1137 the county of Barcelona came under the rule of the kings of Aragon to its west. Catalonia retained however its traditional rights, with one of the first parliaments in Europe. During the 13th and 14th centuries Catalonia became one of the most important regions of Europe, dominating a maritime empire extending across the western Mediterranean Sea, after the conquest of Valencia, Balearic Islands, Sardinia, and the accession to Sicily of the kings of Aragon.

Thirteen years after the union (1479) of Aragon and Castile which brought Catalonia into the new kingdom of Spain, The discovery of america by Columbus in a Spanish-sponsored expedition shifted Europe's economic centre of gravity from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and undermined Catalonia's economic and political importance. Aragon was already and would continue to be an important power in the Mediterranean, but the maritime expansion into the Atlantic and the conquest of central and south america was essentially a Castillian enterprise.

Catalan ressentment at Castilian domination of Spanish government produced a succession of uprisings and civil wars, notably in the Reapers' War (1640-1652) and during the War of the Spanish Succession (1705-1714). After the latter, Catalonia's traditional autonomy was revoked: Catalan language and customs were penalised for the next two centuries and a half.

In the latter half of the 19th century Catalonia became a centre of Spain's industrialisation. Demands for autonomy rose from the 1900s, and a provincial body, the Mancomunitat, represented the four provinces from 1914 until its suppression by the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera in 1925.

In April 1931 the monarchy was replaced by a Republic (see history of Spain), which granted political autonomy to Catalonia and the Basque Country. The Catalan "Generalitat" was established and autonomy was secured in September 1932. This was revoked following an uprising in October 1934, and after a second period of autonomy during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), Catalonia experienced with the rest of Spain the dictatorship of Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Only forty years later, after Franco's death (1975) and the adoption of a democratic constitution in Spain (1978), did Catalonia recover its autonomy and reconstitute the Generalitat (1979).

Culture

Famous Catalans include the musicians Pau Casals and Monsterrat Cavallé and Josep Carreras, the artists Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró, and the architect Antoni Gaudí. The Majorcan-born philosopher Raimon Llull wrote many of his works in his native Catalan.

Traditions

Catalonia's festivals and traditions unify Catalan society and help to give it its particular character. Amongst the most striking of festive events are the "correfocs", in which devils play with fire and with the people. These devils are not the incarnation of evil; they are sprightly and festive, dancing to the sound of the tambourine and the traditional oboe, while they set off their fireworks.

But perhaps the most spectacular of the Catalan festivals are those of the "colles castelleres", groups of enthusiasts who form impressive human towers (up to nine people high towers). This is an old tradition of the Tarragona region, which has now spread to many parts of Catalonia, and has become a real spectacle, or sport, that attracts thousands of Catalans. Amongst other important festivities are the carnival in Vilanova i la Geltrú and the Patum in Berga.

Then, there is the very special music of the cobles, the wind bands that play "sardanes". The sardana is a circular, open dance, that originated in the Empordà region (north of the country by the Mediterranean sea and the Pirineus mountains), and is now danced in many squares and streets. Anyone can join in.