Alt Pirineu i Aran
Encyclopedia
Alt Pirineu i Aran is one of the seven vegueries
(territories) defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia
. It is located in the Catalan
High Pyrenees
(in Catalan
Alt Pirineu).
It is formed by six comarques
(roughly equivalent to a county): Alt Urgell
, Alta Ribagorça
, Baixa Cerdanya, Pallars Jussà
, Pallars Sobirà
and Val d'Aran. Val d'Aran is has an autonomous government called Conselh Generau d'Aran.
The veguerie of Alt Pirineu i Aran is the largest territory, with 18% of Catalonia's total surface area, but the one with the least population (69,335 inhabitants), with a density of 12.2 inhabitants/km2 (31.5/mi2).
land division in the Principality of Catalonia
, the Kingdom of Sardinia
, and the Duchy of Athens
during the Middle Ages
until the Nueva Planta decrees
of 1716. It was the primary division of a county
in Catalonia and the basic territorial unit of government in Sardinia and Athens after those countries became part of the Crown of Aragon
. The office of a veguer was called a vigeriate (Latin: vigeriatus).
In 1936, Catalonia was reconstituted into comarques
. Although these were quickly abolished in 1939 they were reconstituted again in 1987. Each comarca was grouped with two to four others into a veguerie, of which there were nine, with their capitals at Barcelona
, Girona
, Tremp
, Vic
, Manresa
, Lleida
, Reus
, Tarragona
, and Tortosa
.
Since the 1987 reconstitution it has been decided that Vegueries will be formally re-established in 2011. Under the 2006 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia
, the four provinces
which make up Catalonia are due to be replaced by seven vegueries, which will also take over many of the functions of the comarques. As of October 2008, the final boundaries of the new vegueries have yet to be formally approved, they are expected to incorporate largely historical boundaries: Àmbit metropolità de Barcelona
, Alt Pirineu i Aran, Camp de Tarragona
, Comarques Centrals
, Comarques Gironines
, Ponent
or Lleida, Terres de l'Ebre
.
Vegueria
The vegueria was the feudal administrative territorial jurisdiction of the Principality of Catalonia during the Middle Ages and into the Modern Era until the Nueva Planta decrees of 1716...
(territories) defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
. It is located in the Catalan
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
High Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
(in Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
Alt Pirineu).
It is formed by six comarques
Comarques of Catalonia
This is a list of the comarques of Catalonia . A comarca is roughly equivalent to a US "county" or a UK "district". 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...
(roughly equivalent to a county): Alt Urgell
Alt Urgell
Alt Urgell is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain, a modern representation of part of the historic County of Urgell , seat of the Counts of Urgell and the historic region of Urgellet.- Municipalities :...
, Alta Ribagorça
Alta Ribagorça
Alta Ribagorça is one of the comarques of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Pont de Suert. The highest peak is the Comaloformo in the massif of Bessiberri. Northeast of the region is the western part of the National Aiguas Tortas and Lake of San Mauricio...
, Baixa Cerdanya, Pallars Jussà
Pallars Jussà
Pallars Jussà is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain. It was established as a comarca in 1936, out of the old county of Pallars. The name means "Lower Pallars"; to the northeast and into the mountains is Pallars Sobirà. Its capital and largest municipality is Tremp.-Municipalities:Populations are...
, Pallars Sobirà
Pallars Sobirà
El Pallars Sobirà is a comarca in the mountainous northwest of Catalonia, Spain. The name means "Upper Pallars", distinguishing it from the more populous Pallars Jussà to its southwest...
and Val d'Aran. Val d'Aran is has an autonomous government called Conselh Generau d'Aran.
The veguerie of Alt Pirineu i Aran is the largest territory, with 18% of Catalonia's total surface area, but the one with the least population (69,335 inhabitants), with a density of 12.2 inhabitants/km2 (31.5/mi2).
| Comarques | Population |
|---|---|
| Alta Ribagorça Alta Ribagorça Alta Ribagorça is one of the comarques of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Pont de Suert. The highest peak is the Comaloformo in the massif of Bessiberri. Northeast of the region is the western part of the National Aiguas Tortas and Lake of San Mauricio... |
4.332 |
| Alt Urgell Alt Urgell Alt Urgell is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain, a modern representation of part of the historic County of Urgell , seat of the Counts of Urgell and the historic region of Urgellet.- Municipalities :... |
21.942 |
| Cerdanya | 18.658 |
| Pallars Jussà Pallars Jussà Pallars Jussà is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain. It was established as a comarca in 1936, out of the old county of Pallars. The name means "Lower Pallars"; to the northeast and into the mountains is Pallars Sobirà. Its capital and largest municipality is Tremp.-Municipalities:Populations are... |
13.715 |
| Pallars Sobirà Pallars Sobirà El Pallars Sobirà is a comarca in the mountainous northwest of Catalonia, Spain. The name means "Upper Pallars", distinguishing it from the more populous Pallars Jussà to its southwest... |
7.446 |
| Vall d'Aran | 10.194 |
Veguerie
The Veguerie (Vegueria in Catalan) was an important feudalFeudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
land division in the Principality of Catalonia
Principality of Catalonia
The Principality of Catalonia , is a historic territory in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula, mostly in Spain and with an adjoining portion in southern France....
, the Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
, and the Duchy of Athens
Duchy of Athens
The Duchy of Athens was one of the Crusader States set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade, encompassing the regions of Attica and Boeotia, and surviving until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century....
during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
until the Nueva Planta decrees
Nueva Planta decrees
The Nueva Planta decrees were a number of decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V—the first Bourbon king of Spain—during and shortly after the end of the War of the Spanish Succession which he won....
of 1716. It was the primary division of a county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
in Catalonia and the basic territorial unit of government in Sardinia and Athens after those countries became part of the Crown of Aragon
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...
. The office of a veguer was called a vigeriate (Latin: vigeriatus).
In 1936, Catalonia was reconstituted into comarques
Comarques of Catalonia
This is a list of the comarques of Catalonia . A comarca is roughly equivalent to a US "county" or a UK "district". 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...
. Although these were quickly abolished in 1939 they were reconstituted again in 1987. Each comarca was grouped with two to four others into a veguerie, of which there were nine, with their capitals at Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Girona
Girona
Girona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, Spain at the confluence of the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants and Güell, with an official population of 96,236 in January 2009. It is the capital of the province of the same name and of the comarca of the Gironès...
, Tremp
Tremp
Tremp is a municipality in Catalonia, Spain, the capital of the comarca of the Pallars Jussà. It is the largest municipality in Catalonia in terms of area , accounting for nearly a quarter of the total area of the comarca....
, Vic
Vic
Vic is the capital of the comarca of Osona, in the Barcelona Province, Catalonia, Spain. Vic's location, only 69 km far from Barcelona and 60 km from Girona, has made it one of the most important towns in central Catalonia.-History:...
, Manresa
Manresa
Manresa is the capital of the Comarca of Bages, located in the geographic centre of Catalonia, Spain, and crossed by the river Cardener. It is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are arranged around the basilica of Santa María de la Seo....
, Lleida
Lleida
Lleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida, as well as the largest city in the province and it had 137,387 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raimat and Sucs. The metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants...
, Reus
Reus
Reus is the capital of the comarca of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague...
, Tarragona
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
, and Tortosa
Tortosa
-External links:* *** * * *...
.
Since the 1987 reconstitution it has been decided that Vegueries will be formally re-established in 2011. Under the 2006 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia
Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia
The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Catalonia , the political institutions of the Catalan nationality, their competences and relations with the rest of Spain, and the financing of the...
, the four provinces
Provinces of Spain
Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces .In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian , sing. província.*Galician , sing. provincia.*Basque |Galicia]] — are not also the capitals of provinces...
which make up Catalonia are due to be replaced by seven vegueries, which will also take over many of the functions of the comarques. As of October 2008, the final boundaries of the new vegueries have yet to be formally approved, they are expected to incorporate largely historical boundaries: Àmbit metropolità de Barcelona
Àmbit metropolità de Barcelona
Àmbit metropolità de Barcelona is one of the seven territories defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia . It is located in the central coast of Catalonia, Spain, in Barcelona and its influence area...
, Alt Pirineu i Aran, Camp de Tarragona
Camp de Tarragona
Camp de Tarragona is a natural and historical region of Catalonia, Spain. It includes a central plain, surrounded by the Serralada Prelitoral mountain chain on the west and in the north, with the Mediterranean sand beaches of the Costa Daurada on the east and limited in the south by the Coll de...
, Comarques Centrals
Comarques Centrals
Comarques Centrals is one of the seven territories defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia. It is located in the central part of Catalonia and will be formed by five comarques: Anoia, Bages, Berguedà, Osona and Solsonès.-References:...
, Comarques Gironines
Comarques Gironines
Comarques Gironines is one of the seven territories defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia. It is located in the north-east of Catalonia and will be formed by seven comarques: Gironès, Selva, Pla de l'Estany, Garrotxa, Ripollès, Alt Empordà and Baix Empordà....
, Ponent
Ponent
Ponent, Lleida or Terres de Lleida is one of the seven territories defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia and is not clear what name will have ....
or Lleida, Terres de l'Ebre
Terres de l'Ebre
Terres de l'Ebre is one of the seven territories defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia. It is located in the south-west of Catalonia, in the southern part of river Ebre, and will be formed by four comarques: Baix Ebre, Montsià, Terra Alta and Ribera d'Ebre.The northern coastal limit of the...
.