Àmbit metropolità de Barcelona
Encyclopedia
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...
(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...
, Pla territorial general de Catalunya). It is located in the central coast 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...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, in 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...
(capital city of Catalonia) and its influence area. It is formed for seven 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...
: Alt Penedès
Alt Penedès
Alt Penedès is a comarca in Catalonia, northern Spain. The capital is Vilafranca del Penedès.-Municipalities:*Avinyonet del Penedès - pop. 1334*Les Cabanyes - pop. 603*Castellet i la Gornal - pop. 1562*Castellví de la Marca - pop. 1497...
, Baix Llobregat
Baix Llobregat
Baix Llobregat is a comarca on the coast of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Sant Feliu de Llobregat.-Municipalities:Populations are from 2002.* Abrera - pop. 9,166* Begues - pop. 5,023* Castelldefels - pop. 52,405...
, Barcelonès
Barcelonès
Barcelonès is the most economically important comarca of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Barcelona, which is also the capital of Catalonia.- Municipalities :Population figures are for 2009 .-External links:* *...
, Garraf
Garraf
Garraf is a comarca in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, northern Spain.It is named after the Garraf Massif.-Municipalities:*Canyelles - pop. 3,127*Cubelles - pop. 10,617*Olivella - pop. 2,179*Sant Pere de Ribes - pop. 26,108...
, Maresme
Maresme
Maresme is a comarca located along the Catalan Mediterranean coast in Spain, between the comarques of Barcelonès and Selva , and also bordering with Vallès Oriental ....
, Vallès Occidental
Vallès Occidental
Vallès Occidental is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain. It is unique among the comarques in that the two cities Sabadell and Terrassa share the role of comarcal capital...
and Vallès Oriental
Vallès Oriental
Vallès Oriental is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Granollers. Along with Vallès Occidental it forms the grand comarca of Vallès.- Municipalities :*Aiguafreda - pop. 2,308*L'Ametlla del Vallès - pop. 7,319...
. However Alt Penedès
Alt Penedès
Alt Penedès is a comarca in Catalonia, northern Spain. The capital is Vilafranca del Penedès.-Municipalities:*Avinyonet del Penedès - pop. 1334*Les Cabanyes - pop. 603*Castellet i la Gornal - pop. 1562*Castellví de la Marca - pop. 1497...
and Garraf
Garraf
Garraf is a comarca in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, northern Spain.It is named after the Garraf Massif.-Municipalities:*Canyelles - pop. 3,127*Cubelles - pop. 10,617*Olivella - pop. 2,179*Sant Pere de Ribes - pop. 26,108...
want to form another veguerie called veguerie of Penedès
Penedès
Penedès is a natural and historical region of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. It is located in the south of the Principality of Catalonia between the pre-coastal mountain range and the Mediterranean sea...
(Penedès
Penedès
Penedès is a natural and historical region of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. It is located in the south of the Principality of Catalonia between the pre-coastal mountain range and the Mediterranean sea...
is an historical territory and veguerie) with two 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...
more: Baix Penedès (veguerie of 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...
) and Anoia (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:...
). To a large extent coincides with the Barcelona metropolitan area
Barcelona metropolitan area
This article is about the metropolitan area. For the administrative area, see Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona .Barcelona metropolitan area is the metropolitan area in Catalonia, north of Spain, centered on the city of Barcelona...
.
Veguerie of Àmbit metropolità is the vegueria
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...
with more population (5,012,961 inhabitants in 2010). With a density of 1,549 inhabitants/km2.
Veguerie
The Vegueria 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....
, 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 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...
and into the Modern Era 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 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, whereas 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
Alt Pirineu i Aran
Alt Pirineu i Aran is one of the seven vegueries defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia. It is located in the Catalan High Pyrenees ....
, 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...
.