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 "shire" or "county". 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 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 It was superseded after the 1939 victory of Francisco Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War, but restored in 1987 by the re-established Generalitat de Catalunya, with minor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.
See also lists of municipalities for the Catalan provinces of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, Tarragona.
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.
As of 2004 there is discussion of possibly further subdividing some of the comarques. [1] (http://www.racocatala.com/articles/4867)
Other historical comarques:
| Comarca | Capital | Current status |
|---|---|---|
| el Rosselló (Roussillon) | Perpinyà (Perpignan) | Part of France |
| l'Alta Cerdanya | Fontromeu | Part of France |
| el Capcir | Angles (Les Angles) | Part of France |
| el Vallespir | Ceret | Part of France |
| el Conflent | Prada de Conflent (Prades) | Part of France |
| la Baixa Ribagorça | Benavarri (Benabarre) | Part of Aragon |
| la Llitera | Tamarit de Llitera (Tamarite de Litera) | Part of Aragon |
| el Baix Cinca | Fraga | Part of Aragon |
| la Matarranya | Vall-de-roures (Valderrobres) | Part of Aragon |
See also
External links
- The Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya (http://www.idescat.es) 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.
- Comarcàlia (http://www.comarcalia.com/) - 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").
Template:Territorial division of Cataloniaast:Cotarros de Cataluña ca:Comarques de Catalunya de:Liste der Comarques Kataloniens es:Comarcas de Cataluña fr:Liste des comarques de Catalogne