Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy. Its territory is situated on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, to the south of the Pyrenees mountain range. Catalonia is administratively divided into four provinces or eight vegueries (regions), which are in turn divided into 43 comarques. The capital and largest city, Barcelona, is the second-most populous municipality in Spain and the fifth-most populous urban area in the European Union.

Modern-day Catalonia comprises most of the medieval and early modern Principality of Catalonia, with the remainder of the northern area now part of France's Pyrénées-Orientales. It is bordered by France (Occitanie) and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, and the Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon to the west and Valencia to the south. In addition to its approximately 580 km of coastline, Catalonia also has major high landforms such as the Pyrenees and the Pre-Pyrenees, the Transversal Range (Serralada Transversal) or the Central Depression. The official languages are Catalan, Spanish, and the Aranese dialect of Occitan.

In 1137, the County of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon formed a dynastic union, resulting in a composite monarchy, the Crown of Aragon. Within the Crown, Barcelona and the other Catalan counties merged in to a state, the Principality of Catalonia, with its distinct institutional system, such as Courts, Generalitat, and constitutions, being the base and promoter for the Crown's Mediterranean trade and expansionism. Catalan literature flourished. In 1516, Charles V became monarch of the crowns of Aragon and Castile, retaining both their previous distinct institutions and legislation. Growing tensions led to the revolt of the Principality of Catalonia (1640–1652), briefly as a republic under French protection. By the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), the northern parts of Catalonia were ceded to France. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), the states of the Crown of Aragon sided against the Bourbon Philip V, but following Catalan capitulation (11 September 1714) he imposed a unifying administration across Spain via the Nueva Planta decrees which suppressed Catalonia's institutions and legal system, thus ending its separate status. Catalan as a language of government and literature was eclipsed by Spanish.

In the 19th century, Napoleonic and Carlist Wars affected Catalonia, however, it experienced industrialisation, as well as a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism and several workers' movements. The Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939) granted self-governance to Catalonia, restoring the Generalitat as its government. After the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing self-government and banning again the official use of the Catalan language. After a harsh autarky, from the late 1950s Catalonia saw rapid economic growth, drawing many workers from across Spain and making it a major industrial and touristic hub. During the Spanish transition to democracy (1975–1982), the Generalitat and Catalonia's self-government were reestablished, remaining one of the most economically dynamic communities in Spain.

In the 2010s until the 2020s, there was growing support for Catalan independence. On 27 October 2017, the Catalan Parliament unilaterally declared independence following a referendum that was deemed unconstitutional. The Spanish State enforced direct rule by removing the Catalan government and calling a snap regional election. The Spanish Supreme Court imprisoned seven former Catalan ministers on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds, while several others—including then-President Carles Puigdemont—fled to other European countries. Those in prison were pardoned in 2021.

Etymology and pronunciation

The name "Catalonia" (Medieval Latin: Cathalaunia), spelled Cathalonia, began to be used for the homeland of the Catalans (Cathalanenses) in the late 11th century and was probably used before as a territorial reference to the group of counties that comprised part of the March of Gothia and the March of Hispania under the control of the Count of Barcelona and his relatives. The origin of the name Catalunya is subject to diverse interpretations because of a lack of evidence.

One theory suggests that Catalunya derives from the name Gothia (or Gauthia) Launia ("Land of the Goths"), since the origins of the Catalan counts, lords and people were found in the March of Gothia, known as Gothia, whence Gothland > Gothlandia > Gothalania > Cathalaunia > Catalonia theoretically derived. During the Middle Ages, Byzantine chroniclers claimed that Catalania derives from the local medley of Goths with Alans, initially constituting a Goth-Alania.

Other theories suggest:

• Catalunya derives from the term "land of castles", having evolved from the term castlà or castlan, the medieval term for a castellan (a ruler of a castle). This theory therefore suggests that the names Catalunya and Castile have a common root.
• The source is the Celtic catalauni, meaning "chiefs of battle", similar to the Celtic given name *Katuwalos; although the area is not known to have been occupied by the Celtiberians, a Celtic culture was present within the interior of the Iberian Peninsula in pre-Roman times.
• The Lacetani, an Iberian tribe that lived in the area and whose name, due to the Roman influence, could have evolved by metathesis to Katelans and then Catalans.
• Miguel Vidal, finding serious shortcomings with earlier proposals (such as that an original -t- would have, by normal sound laws in the local Romance languages, developed into -d-), suggested an Arabic etymology: qattāl (‏قتال‎, pl. qattālūn قتالون) – meaning "killer" – could have been applied by Muslims to groups of raiders and bandits on the southern border of the Marca Hispanica. The name, originally derogatory, could have been reappropriated by Christians as an autonym. This is comparable to attested development of the term Almogavar in nearby areas. In this model, the name Catalunya derives from the plural qattālūn while the adjective and language name català derives from the singular qattāl, both with the addition of common Romance suffixes.

In English, Catalonia is pronounced . The native name, Catalunya, is pronounced [kətəˈluɲə] in Central Catalan, the most widely spoken variety, and [kataˈluɲa] in North-Western Catalan. The Spanish name is Cataluña ([kataˈluɲa]), and the Aranese name is Catalonha ([kataˈluɲa]).

History

Prehistory

The first known human settlements in what is now Catalonia were at the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic. The oldest known trace of human occupation is a mandible found in Banyoles, described as pre-Neanderthal, that is, some 200,000 years old; other sources suggest it to be only about one third that old. There are important remains from the Epipalaeolithic or Mesolithic, dated between 8000 and 5000 BC. The most important sites from these eras, all excavated in the region of Moianès, are the Balma del Gai (Epipaleolithic) and the Balma de l'Espluga. The Neolithic era began in Catalonia around 5000 BC, although the population was slower to develop fixed settlements thanks to the abundance of woods, which allowed the continuation of a fundamentally hunter-gatherer culture, for example, La Draga at Banyoles, an "early Neolithic village which dates from the end of the 6th millennium BC".

The Bronze Age occurred between 1800 and 700 BC. There were some known settlements in the low Segre zone. The Bronze Age coincided with the arrival of the Indo-Europeans through the Urnfield Culture, whose successive waves of migration began around 1200 BC, and they were responsible for the creation of the first proto-urban settlements. Around the middle of the 7th century BC, the Iron Age arrived in Catalonia.

Pre-Roman and Roman period

In pre-Roman times, the area that is now Catalonia was populated by the Iberians. The Iberians tribes – the Ilergetes, Indigetes and Lacetani (Cerretains) – also maintained relations with the peoples of the Mediterranean. Some urban agglomerations became relevant, including Ilerda (Lleida) inland, Hibera (perhaps Amposta or Tortosa) or Indika (Ullastret). Coastal trading colonies were established by the ancient Greeks, who settled around the Gulf of Roses, in Emporion (Empúries) and Roses in the 8th century BC.