Comarques of Catalonia
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This is a list of the comarques (singular "comarca") of Catalonia. A comarca is roughly equivalent to a US "county" or a UK "district". However, in the context of Catalonia, the term "county" can be a bit misleading, because in medieval Catalonia, the most important rulers were counts, notably the Counts of Barcelona (many of whom also held the Crown of Aragon) and of Urgell. Comarques have no particular relation to the "counties" that were ruled by counts.
The current division of Catalonia into comarques originates in an order of the semi-autonomous Catalan government under the Spanish Republic in 1936. It was superseded after the 1939 victory of Francisco Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War, but restored in 1987 by the re-established Generalitat de Catalunya, with minor revisions in 1988 (adding Pla de l'Estany, Pla d'Urgell and Alta Ribagorça) and 1990, when some borders were adjusted.
As of 2004 there is discussion of possibly further subdividing some of the comarques. [1]
See also lists of municipalities for the Catalan provinces of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, Tarragona.
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[edit] The articles in naming
Because the Catalan language has a relatively complex set of rules for the form of the definite article, and because (in Catalan) the names of comarques (except for Osona) typically take the definite article in any position except as the subject of a sentence, the following list indicates the appropriate form of the definite article for each comarca. Because Val d'Aran is an Aranese-speaking area, it is often written as "era Val d'Aran", using the Aranese definite article.
[edit] List of comarques
| Comarca | Capital | Population | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| l'Alt Camp | Valls | 35,635 | 544.7 |
| l'Alt Empordà | Figueres | 99,321 | 74 |
| l'Alt Penedès | Vilafranca del Penedès | 80,976 | 592.4 |
| l'Alt Urgell | La Seu d'Urgell | 19,105 | 1,446.9 |
| l'Alta Ribagorça | Pont de Suert | 3,477 | 426,8 |
| l'Anoia | Igualada | 93,529 | 866.6 |
| el Bages | Manresa | 155,112 | 1,295.2 |
| el Baix Camp | Reus | 145,675 | 695.3 |
| el Baix Ebre | Tortosa | 66,369 | 987.9 |
| el Baix Empordà | La Bisbal d'Empordà | 102,566 | 700.5 |
| el Baix Llobregat | Sant Feliu de Llobregat | 692,892 | 486.5 |
| el Baix Penedès | El Vendrell | 61,256 | 295.5 |
| el Barcelonès | Barcelona | 2,093,670 | 143.1 |
| el Berguedà | Berga | 37,995 | 1,182.5 |
| la Cerdanya | Puigcerdà | 14,158 | 546.4 |
| la Conca de Barberà | Montblanc | 18,766 | 648.9 |
| el Garraf | Vilanova i la Geltrú | 108,194 | 184.1 |
| les Garrigues | Les Borges Blanques | 18,999 | 799.7 |
| la Garrotxa | Olot | 47,747 | 734.2 |
| el Gironès | Girona | 136,543 | 575.5 |
| el Maresme | Mataró | 356,545 | 396.9 |
| el Montsià | Amposta | 57,550 | 708.7 |
| la Noguera | Balaguer | 34,744 | 1,733.0 |
| Osona | Vic | 129,543 | 1,263.8 |
| el Pallars Jussà | Tremp | 12,057 | 1,290.0 |
| el Pallars Sobirà | Sort | 6,174 | 1,355.2 |
| el Pla de l'Estany | Banyoles | 24.347 | 262.7 |
| el Pla d'Urgell | Mollerussa | 29,723 | 304.5 |
| el Priorat | Falset | 9,196 | 496.2 |
| la Ribera d'Ebre | Móra d'Ebre | 21,656 | 825.3 |
| el Ripollès | Ripoll | 25,744 | 958.7 |
| la Segarra | Cervera | 18,497 | 721.2 |
| el Segrià | Lleida | 166,090 | 1,393.7 |
| la Selva | Santa Coloma de Farners | 117,393 | 995.5 |
| el Solsonès | Solsona | 11,466 | 998.6 |
| el Tarragonès | Tarragona | 181,374 | 317.1 |
| la Terra Alta | Gandesa | 12,196 | 740.0 |
| l'Urgell | Tàrrega | 31,026 | 586.2 |
| era Val d'Aran | Vielha | 7,691 | 620.5 |
| el Vallès Occidental | Sabadell, Terrassa | 736,682 | 580.7 |
| el Vallès Oriental | Granollers | 321,431 | 851.9 |
[edit] Comarcal revisions
The following municipalities changed comarca in 1990, mostly following local referenda:
[edit] Historical comarques
There are some other comarques which are often referred as historical comarques of Catalonia, because their present territory was part of the former Principality of Catalonia, but they are not currently within the Autonomous Community of Catalonia.
| Comarca | Capital | Current status |
|---|---|---|
| el Rosselló (Roussillon) | Perpinyà (Perpignan) | Northern Catalonia / Part of France |
| l'Alta Cerdanya | Font-romeu (Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via) | Northern Catalonia / Part of France |
| el Capcir | Els Angles (Les Angles) | Northern Catalonia / Part of France |
| el Vallespir | Ceret (Céret) | Northern Catalonia / Part of France |
| el Conflent | Prada de Conflent (Prades) | Northern Catalonia / Part of France |
| la Baixa Ribagorça | Benavarri (Benabarre) | La Franja / Part of Aragon |
| la Llitera | Tamarit de Llitera (Tamarite de Litera) | La Franja / Part of Aragon |
| el Baix Cinca | Fraga | La Franja / Part of Aragon |
| la Matarranya | Vall-de-roures (Valderrobres) | La Franja / Part of Aragon |
[edit] Administration and government
In the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and Aragon, but not in Northern Catalonia, the comarca exists as a local government area, and has a representative consell comarcal (comarcal council).
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- (Catalan) The Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya is an excellent source of statistical information for Catalonia, down to the level of individual municipalities. It is also our source for which municipalities are in which comarca. Parts of the site are in English and Spanish, although most of it is in Catalan.
- (Catalan) Comarcàlia - Information about the various comarques in a variety of languages, including English. Includes good maps down to the level of individual municipalities (or, as they choose to translate, "boroughs").
- (Catalan) History of present comarcal division. Catalonia, La Franja and Northern Catalonia.
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| Territorial division of Catalonia series | ||||
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