Northern Catalonia

Coordinates: 42°38′N 2°40′E / 42.633°N 2.667°E / 42.633; 2.667
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Catalan / Valencian cultural domain
Northern Catalonia with respect to Catalonia, Spain (left); Northern Catalonia within France (right)
Language
People
  • Andorrans
  • Aragonese
  • Balearics
    • Ibizans
    • Majorcans
    • Minorcans
  • Catalans
  • Roussillonese
  • Sardinians
    • Alguerese
  • Valencians
History
Geo-political divisions
Government and politics
Traditions and symbols
Arts

Northern Catalonia, North Catalonia

département of the Pyrénées-Orientales which were historically part of Catalonia since the old County of Barcelona, and lasted during the times of the Crown of Aragon and the Principality of Catalonia
until they were given to France by Spain.

The equivalent term in French, Catalogne Nord, is used nowadays, although less often than the more politically neutral Roussillon (Catalan: Rosselló); Roussillon, though, historically did not comprise Vallespir, Conflent and Cerdagne (Cerdanya). The terms Pays Catalan (País Català), "Catalan Country" are sometimes used.

Geography

The Canigou (2785 m) seen from near Perpignan: the massif is roughly 60 km (37 mi) from the point where the photograph was taken

Northern Catalonia forms a triangle between the

flood plains of the rivers Tech, Têt, and Agly (Catalan: Tec, Tet, Aglí). The districts of Vallespir and Conflent cover the upper valleys of the Tech and the Têt respectively. The massif of the Canigou (Catalan
: Canigó), 2785 m, dominates much of the territory.

The climate is of the Mediterranean type, with hot, dry summers and winters which are relatively mild, at least on the Roussillon plain where snow is rare.

The city of Perpignan (Catalan: Perpinyà) accounts for over a quarter of the population, over one-third of its urban area is taken into account, and is the only major administrative and service center. Major road and rail links run north–south through Northern Catalonia between France and Spain, while a railway line also links Perpignan to Latour-de-Carol (Catalan: La Tor de Querol) via Prades (Catalan: Prada de Conflent or Prada).

Cerdagne

exclave
of Spain.

The district lies on the most direct route between Toulouse (Occitan: Tolosa de Lengadoc) and Barcelona (via Foix and Ripoll), and a railway line still links the two cities via Latour-de-Carol (Catalan: La Tor de Querol).

Administrative history

Spanish marches and the County of Barcelona

Further information: County of Cerdanya and County of Roussillon

Northern Catalonia formed part of the

Carolingian
kings and operated as princely states (whose rulers nevertheless retained the title of count).

As the seigneury of the counties became hereditary, the total number of Catalan counts fell steadily. One individual often had the charge of several counties, but these were not always transmitted based on

Wilfred I the Hairy, inherited the counties of Cerdanya and Conflent from his father in 897, and the counties of Besalú and Vallespir from his elder brother Sunyer I when the latter became Count of Barcelona
in 911.

The

Counts of Barcelona steadily gained suzerainty over the other Catalan counts, a process that was virtually complete by the twelfth century. The last Count of Rosselló, Girard II, left his title to the Crown of Aragon
on his death in 1172 to prevent the territory passing to his illegitimate half-brothers.

Crown of Aragon and the Monarchy of Spain

Royal administration in the

vegueries, under the charge of a veguer appointed by the King of Aragon as Count of Barcelona. In Northern Catalonia, the vegueries followed closely the boundaries of the old counties. The district of Capcir was a sotsvegueria, based around the castle of Puigbalador (French: Puyvalador) but subordinate to the vegueria of Conflent
.

The

Fenolheda
to France.

On the death of King

Balearic Isles to form a new Kingdom of Majorca, which passed to James II while the rest of the territory of the Crown of Aragon passed to his brother Peter III
. This division satisfied neither branch of the family, and the Kingdom of Majorca was retaken militarily by the Crown of Aragon in 1344, reintegrating Roussillon and Cerdanya into the Principality.

After the Treaty of the Pyrenees and cession to France

Main article: Roussillon

The

Perpinyà
) as its administrative centre.

Present day

Main article: Pyrénées-Orientales

The département of the Pyrénées-Orientales is divided into the

Communauté d'agglomération Têt Méditerranée, created in 2001. Enclaved in the southwest of the département there is the Spanish (Catalonia) exclave of Llívia
.

The territory of the Pyrénées-Orientales divided into "comarques" according to Joan Becat (Atles de Catalunya Nord, 1977).
Arrondissement
Cantons
Communes
 Population (1999) Area Population
density (1999)
Céret (Ceret) 5 40 66,624 954 km2 69.8 /km2
Perpignan (Perpinyà) 20 86 287,272 1317 km2 218 /km2
Prades (Prada) 6 100 38,907 1845 km2 21.1 /km2
TOTAL 31 226 392,803 4116 km2 95.4 /km2
All figures include the district of Fenouillèdes.

As is common, the present-day arrondissements do not correspond to pre-

Perpinyà
(Perpignan).

Catalan writers sometimes speak of the "

autonomous community of Catalonia, these comarques have no administrative significance, although they usually correspond to a certain historical and geographical unity. A commonly used division is that of Joan Becat in his 1977 work Atles de Catalunya Nord, which follows closely the boundaries of the former vegueries except insofar as it promotes the former sotsvegueria of Capcir (177 km2, pop.
 1532 (1990)) to a full comarca.

Politics

The region is divided among those who support a union with France and those who support reuniting with

municipal elections. It is now the most popular Catalan nationalist party in the region.[1][2]

Northern Catalans are proud of their Catalan heritage and have developed a "Northern Catalan" identity. However, unlike their Southern neighbors in Spanish Catalonia, the Catalan identity is not a nationalist movement in French Catalonia. According to a 2020 study, French Catalans experienced mass education in the second half of the 19th century, leading them to adopt French patriotism. Catalans in Spain were mass educated in the early 20th century locally by Catalans and not by a strong Spanish state, which led to the formation of a salient Catalan national identity.[3]

In 2016, Northern Catalonia was merged with other areas of Occitania to form a new French region. This has led to fears that the Occitan language and culture will be given precedence over the Catalan language and culture.[1]

In December 2017,

Express.co.uk reported that 2000 people took part in a protest in Perpignan, in order to get the French government to hold a referendum on Northern Catalonia reuniting with Southern Catalonia.[4] Northern Catalans helped print ballot slips for the 2017 Catalan independence referendum.[5]

Language and culture

Extent of traditionally Catalan speaking municipalities in Pyrénées-Orientales

Prominence of Catalan heritage

Language

Catalan is spoken in all regions of Northern Catalonia except for

Fenolleda which speaks the related (and mutually intelligible) Occitan language.[2]

In Perpignan, where a quarter of the population lives, 44% know the Catalan language.[2]

Culture

The Catalan folk dance Sardana is a dance in the region. Northern Catalans support the USAP rugby union team and the Catalans Dragons rugby league team.[2] There are four castells (Catalan human towers) teams in Northern Catalonia.[6]

Recognition

French is the only official language in France as a whole, and therefore of these municipalities. Catalan, in its Northern Catalan variety, is however recognized as a regional language by the region of Languedoc-Roussillon which contains Northern Catalunya; this recognition provides cultural support in education and public media, with some more regional power since the laws of regionalization of France during the 1980s. The language is estimated to be spoken by 34% of the population of Northern Catalonia,[7] but understood by 65%.

On 10 December 2007, the

General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales proclaimed Catalan as one of the languages of the department, alongside French and Occitan (in Fenouillèdes),[8] The 'Charter in Support of Catalan' was adopted which called for the inclusion of the Catalan language on signs and its use in material produced by the administrative department.[9]

Suppression

In 1700, the government of Louis XIV prohibited the use of the Catalan language in official documents,[10] although the government only irregularly enforced the edict throughout the eighteenth century.[11]

In Perpignan Catalan was also prohibited from being used by priests during Mass.[12]

From 1700 all public acts had to be written in French, from 1738 this was extended to include registers of births, marriages and deaths.[12]

In the 1950s, after centuries of being forbidden in education, the Catalan language was permitted to be studied for one hour per week in secondary school. In the 1970s, the Arrels Association and la Bressola network of private schools started to offer complete bilingual French/Catalan classes from nursery up to secondary education.[13]

Leisure

North Catalonia is one of just two regions in France where

French Catalan pattern cards which are used to play local games like a variant of Spanish Truc
.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ (Catalan: Catalunya (del) Nord [kətəˈluɲə (ðəl) ˈnɔɾt]; French: Catalogne (du) Nord [katalɔɲ (dy) nɔʁ]; Occitan: Catalonha (del) Nòrd; Spanish: Cataluña (del) Norte)
  2. ^ The other being the region of Vendée and Brittany where Aluette cards are used to play the eponymous game.

References

  1. ^ a b Noble, Ainslie (21 November 2017). "Independence Sentiment Aroused in French Catalonia". Atlantic Sentinel. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780810875142
    .
  3. S2CID 143653041
    .
  4. ^ Smith, Oli (6 November 2017). "'French Catalonia' independence Stuns Macron: Thousands Demand to Join Catalan State". Express.
  5. ^ "How the French Helped Catalonia Hold Its Controversial Independence Vote". Euronews. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  6. ^ Armilla, Jordina (30 June 2015). "Esclat casteller a la Catalunya Nord". Revista Castells (in Catalan). Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  7. Institute of Catalan Studies. Archived from the original
    on 29 September 2007.
  8. General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales. "Charte en faveur du Catalan" (in French). Archived from the original
    on 22 December 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  9. ISBN 978-1-137-31456-7
    .
  10. Louis XIV (2 April 1700). "L'interdiction de la langue catalane en Roussillon" (PDF) (in French). Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 14 December 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  11. ISBN 0-313-30045-3
    .
  12. ^
    JSTOR 40240842
    .
  13. ^ "Catalan in France". Institut de Sociolingüística Catalana. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2010.

External links

Media

Associations

Essays


Miscellaneous sites

42°38′N 2°40′E / 42.633°N 2.667°E / 42.633; 2.667

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