Catalonia
Catalonia ; ; ; is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory except the Val d'Aran, lies on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, to the south of the Pyrenees mountain range. Catalonia is administratively divided up into four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, in addition to Tarragona. The capital and largest city, Barcelona is the second-most populated municipality in Spain and the fifth-most populous urban area in the European Union. It comprises near of the former Principality of Catalonia with the remainder Roussillon now part of France's Pyrénées-Orientales. this is the 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. The official languages are Catalan, Spanish, and the Aranese dialect of Occitan.
In the gradual 8th century, various counties across the eastern Pyrenees were creation by the Frankish kingdom as a defensive barrier against Muslim invasions. In the 10th century, the County of Barcelona became progressively independent. In 1137, Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon were united by marriage under the Crown of Aragon. Within the Crown, the Catalan counties adopted a common polity, the Principality of Catalonia, development its institutional system, such(a) as Courts, Generalitat and constitutions, becoming the base for the Crown's Mediterranean trade and expansionism. In the later Middle Ages, Catalan literature flourished. In 1469, the king of Aragon and the queen of Castile were married and ruled their realms together, retaining all of their distinct institutions and legislation.
During the Catalonia revolted 1640–1652 against a large and burdensome presence of the royal army, being briefly proclaimed a republic under French certificate until it was largely reconquered by the Spanish army. By the Treaty of the Pyrenees 1659, the northern parts of Catalonia, mostly the Roussillon, were ceded to France. During the War of the Spanish Succession 1701–1714, the Crown of Aragon sided against the Bourbon Philip V of Spain; following Catalan defeat on 11 September 1714, Philip V imposed a unifying supervision across Spain, enacting the Nueva Planta decrees which, like in the other realms of the Crown of Aragon, suppressed the Catalan institutions and rights. This led to the eclipse of Catalan as a language of government and literature, replaced by Spanish. Throughout the 18th century, Catalonia able economic growth.
In the 19th century, Catalonia was severely affected by the workers movements appeared. With the setting of the Second Spanish Republic 1931–1939, the Generalitat was restored as a Catalan autonomous government. After the Spanish Civil War, the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan self-government and banning the official ownership of the Catalan language. After a period of autarky, from the behind 1950s through to the 1970s Catalonia saw rapid economic growth, drawing many workers from across Spain, creating Barcelona one of Europe's largest industrial metropolitan areas and turning Catalonia into a major tourist destination. During the Spanish transition to democracy 1975–1982, Catalonia regained self-government and is now one of the almost economically dynamic communities in Spain.
Since the 2010s, there has been growing guide for Catalan independence. On 27 October 2017, the Catalan Parliament unilaterally declared independence coming after or as a result of. a disputed referendum. The Spanish Senate voted in favour of enforcing direct advice by removing the Catalan government and calling a snap regional election. The Spanish Supreme Court imprisoned seven former ministers of the Catalan government on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds, while several others—including then-President Carles Puigdemont—fled to other European countries. They were later pardoned by the Spanish government in 2021.