Facts about Catalonia
Catalonia is divided into 41 comarques (counties) that are part, in turn, of four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona.
Catalonia saw the first railway construction in the Iberian Peninsula in 1848.
The Saskatchewan Museum of Natural History officially opened in Regina in 1955.
The name Catalunya (Catalonia) began to be used in the twelfth century to refer to the group of counties that comprised the Marca Hispanica, which gradually became independent from the French.
Over the next few centuries, Catalonia was generally on the losing side of a series of local conflicts that led steadily to more centralization of power in Spain, like the Reapers' War (1640–1652).
More than a third (36 percent) of Spain's exporting firms are established in Catalonia, with France, Portugal, Andorra, Italy, and Germany the main destination countries.
The Congost de Mont-rebei is a spectacular gorge through which the Noguera Ribagornza runs, dividing Catalonia from Aragon.
After Navarre and the Basque Country, Catalonia is the Spanish region with the highest degree of autonomy.
Catalonia is a Spanish Autonomous Community with a high level of self-government.
The frontier between Catalonia and the Valencian Community is formed for much of its length by the Sйnia, while the Noguera Ribagorзana forms the frontier with Aragon for much of its length.
During the last decade of Franco's rule, there was a resurgence of nationalist sentiment in Catalonia and other historic regions of Spain, such as the Basque country.
Castellers are one of the main manifestations of Catalonian popular culture.
The Catalan culture started to develop in the Middle Ages stemming from a number of these petty kingdoms organized as small counties throughout the northernmost part of Catalonia.
Catalonia continues to press for more political and economic autonomy, mainly in the form of the right to collect and spend more of its taxes locally.
Catalonia has a great variety of different landscapes very close to each other, from beaches to the Pyrenees mountains.
Catalonia has its own police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, whose origins trace back to the eighteenth century.
Catalonia is the foremost tourist destination of Spain, particularly the city of Barcelona, the beaches of the Costa Brava at Girona, and the Costa Daurada at Tarragona.
Following Franco's death in 1975 and the restoration of democracy by 1978, Catalonia regained its autonomous status.
According to data of the Society of Appraisal on December 31, 2005 Catalonia was, after Madrid, the second most expensive area for houses.
After Franco's death (1975) and with the adoption of a democratic Spanish constitution (1978), Catalonia recovered political and cultural autonomy.
The Preamble of the 2006 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia states the Parliament of Catalonia defined Catalonia as a nation but added that "the Spanish Constitution recognizes Catalonia's national reality as a nationality."
Catalonia is the principal Spanish industrial area, with automotive engineering, electronics, chemistry, and textiles as growth industries.
Like some other areas on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula, Catalonia was colonized by the ancient Greeks, who settled around the Roses area.
In 2007 the regional GDP of Catalonia was Ђ 202,509 million and per capita GDP was Ђ 24,445.
Irrigation is important in the drier areas of Catalonia, notably in the Central Depression and in the south.
Catalonia has made a name for itself internationally in activities such as research and development, design and engineering, logistics, and shared services centers.
Today, Catalonia is one of the most economically dynamic regions of Spain.
The autonomous community of Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 kmІ with an official population of 7,364,078 (2008), of whom immigrants represent an estimated 12.3 percent.
More than one-third of Catalonia's population lives in Barcelona, the capital city.
In 1900 the population of Catalonia was 1.9 million people and in 1970 it was over 5 million.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Catalonia was one of the main centers of Spanish industrialization.
The legal system is uniform throughout Spain, with the exception of so-called "civil law," which is administered separately within Catalonia.
Catalan nationalist and federalist movements arose in the nineteenth century, and when the Second Republic was declared in 1931, Catalonia became an autonomous region.
The first private bank originated in Catalonia is Banc Sabadell, ranking fourth among Spanish private banks.
Politics of Catalonia are primarily related to the autonomous Parliament of Catalonia and the Generalitat institutional system.
One-fifth of Catalonia's manufacturing companies export, while 23 percent of them import.
Catalonia borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east (with a 580 km coastline).
Catalonia has hundreds of festes that go on around the region every week of the year.
Catalonia is also home to a number of emerging industries with a strong potential for growth, illustrated by the fact that many foreign companies have invested in the biotechnology, aeronautics, renewable energy, and recycling industries.
In Catalonia that wave arrived from several regions of Spain, especially Andalusia, Murcia, and Extremadura.