Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in Spain on the northeastern corner of the Iberian Peninsula, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy. Catalonia consists of four provinces: Barcelona, Girona and Tarragona; the capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second-most populated municipality in Spain and the core of the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union. It comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia, it is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, the Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon to the west and Valencia to the south. The official languages are Catalan and the Aranese dialect of Occitan. In the late 8th century, the counties of the March of Gothia and the Hispanic March were established by the Frankish kingdom as feudal vassals across and near the eastern Pyrenees as a defensive barrier against Muslim invasions; the eastern counties of these marches were united under the rule of the Frankish vassal, the count of Barcelona, were called Catalonia.
In the 10th century the County of Barcelona became independent de facto. In 1137, Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon were united by marriage under the Crown of Aragon; the de jure end of Frankish rule was ratified by French and Aragonese monarchs in the Treaty of Corbeil in 1258. The Principality of Catalonia developed its own institutional system, such as courts, constitutions, becoming the base for the Crown of Aragon's naval power and expansionism in the Mediterranean. In the Middle Ages, Catalan literature flourished. During the last Medieval centuries natural disasters, social turmoils and military conflicts affected the Principality. Between 1469 and 1516, the king of Aragon and the queen of Castile married and ruled their realms together, retaining all of their distinct institutions and legislation. During the Franco-Spanish War, Catalonia revolted against a large and burdensome presence of the royal army in its territory, being proclaimed a republic under French protection. Within a brief period France took full control of Catalonia, until it was reconquered by the Spanish army.
Under the terms of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, the Spanish Crown ceded the northern parts of Catalonia the County of Roussillon, to France. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the Crown of Aragon sided against the Bourbon Philip V of Spain; this led to the eclipse of Catalan as a language of literature, replaced by Spanish. Along the 18th century, Catalonia experienced economic growth, reinforced in the late quarter of the century when the Castile's trade monopoly with American colonies ended. In the 19th century, Catalonia was affected by the Napoleonic and Carlist Wars. In the second third of the century, Catalonia experienced significant industrialisation; as wealth from the industrial expansion grew, Catalonia saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers movements appeared. In 1914, the four Catalan provinces formed a commonwealth, with the return of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic, the Generalitat of Catalonia was restored as an autonomous government.
After the Spanish Civil War, the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan self-government and banning the official use of the Catalan language again. After a first period of autarky, from the late 1950s through to the 1970s Catalonia saw rapid economic growth, drawing many workers from across Spain, making Barcelona one of Europe's largest industrial metropolitan areas and turning Catalonia into a major tourist destination. Since the Spanish transition to democracy, Catalonia has regained considerable autonomy in political, educational and cultural affairs and is now one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain. In the 2010s there has been growing support for Catalan independence. On 27 October 2017, the Catalan Parliament declared independence from Spain following a disputed referendum; the Spanish Senate voted in favour of enforcing direct rule by removing the entire Catalan government and calling a snap regional election for 21 December. On 2 November of the same year, the Spanish Supreme Court imprisoned 7 former ministers of the Catalan government on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds, while several others—including then-President of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont—fled to other European countries.
The name Catalonia—Catalunya in Catalan, spelled Cathalonia, or Cathalaunia in Medieval Latin—began to be used for the homeland of the Catalans in the late 11th century and was used before as a territorial reference to the group of counties that comprised part of the March of Gothia and 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 Launia, since the origins of the Catalan counts and people were found in the March of Gothia, known as Gothia, whence Gothlan
Valderrobres
Valderrobres or Vall-de-roures is a municipality and the major town of the comarca of Matarraña in the province of Teruel, Aragon. It is located in view of the landscape of the northwestern foothills of the Ports de Tortosa-Beseit, by the Matarranya River, a tributary to the right of the Ebro. Valderrobres is part of the Taula del Sénia free association of municipalities; the town has a Gothic church of a Gothic castle and a Renaissance townhall building. The soprano Elvira de Hidalgo was born in Valderrobres in 1891; this town and the surrounding comarca are considered by Catalans a part of La Franja and the local dialect is a western variant of Catalan close to Valencian. The name of the town means "Valley of the Oaks", referred to the presence of Portuguese oak. However, the main trees in the forests of this town are the Aleppo pine and the black pine, followed by the Evergreen oak. Ports de Tortosa-Beseit Pàgina web de l'Ajuntament de Vallderoures
Provinces of Spain
Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces. Spain's provincial system was recognized in its 1978 constitution but its origin dates back to 1833. Ceuta and the Plazas de soberanía are not part of any provinces; the layout of Spain's provinces follows the pattern of the territorial division of the country carried out in 1833. The only major change of provincial borders since that time has been the subdivision of the Canary Islands into two provinces rather than one; the provinces served as transmission belts for policies enacted in Madrid, as Spain was a centralised state for most of its modern history. The importance of the provinces has declined since the adoption of the system of autonomous communities in the period of the Spanish transition to democracy, they remain electoral districts for national elections and as geographical references: for instance in postal addresses and telephone codes. A small town would be identified as being in, Valladolid province rather than the autonomous community of Castile and León.
The provinces were the "building-blocks". No province is divided between more than one of these communities. Most of the provinces—with the exception of Álava, Biscay, Guipúzcoa, Balearic Islands, La Rioja, Navarra — are named after their principal town. Only two capitals of autonomous communities — Mérida in Extremadura and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia — are not the capitals of provinces. Seven of the autonomous communities comprise no more than one province each: Asturias, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, La Rioja, Madrid and Navarra; these are sometimes referred to as "uniprovincial" communities. The table below lists the provinces of Spain. For each, the capital city is given, together with an indication of the autonomous community to which it belongs and a link to a list of municipalities in the province; the names of the provinces and their capitals are ordered alphabetically according to the form in which they appear in the main Wikipedia articles describing them. Unless otherwise indicated, their Spanish language names are the same.
List of Spanish provinces by population List of Spanish provinces by area Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces Autonomous communities of Spain Comarcas of Spain ISO 3166-2:ESGeneral: Political divisions of Spain Maps of the provinces of Spain Maps of Spain's Provinces List of municipalities of Spain listed by province from the Spanish INE
La Fresneda
La Fresneda or La Freixneda is a municipality located in the Matarraña/Matarranya comarca, province of Teruel, Spain. According to the 2004 census, the municipality has a population of 451 inhabitants
Aragon
Aragon is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces: Huesca and Teruel, its capital is Zaragoza. The current Statute of Autonomy declares Aragon a historic nationality of Spain. Covering an area of 47720 km2, the region's terrain ranges diversely from permanent glaciers to verdant valleys, rich pasture lands and orchards, through to the arid steppe plains of the central lowlands. Aragon is home to many rivers—most notably, the river Ebro, Spain's largest river in volume, which runs west-east across the entire region through the province of Zaragoza, it is home to the highest mountains of the Pyrenees. As of January 2016, the population of Aragon was 1308563, with over half of it living in its capital city, Zaragoza. During the same year, the economy of Aragon generates a GDP of €34687 million, which represents 3.1% of Spain's national GDP, is 6th in per capita production behind Madrid, Basque Country, Catalonia and La Rioja.
In addition to its three provinces, Aragon is subdivided into counties. All comarcas of Aragon have a rich geopolitical and cultural history from its pre-Roman and Roman days, four centuries of Islamic period as Marca Superior of Al-Andalus or kingdom of Saraqusta, as lands that once belonged to the Frankish Marca Hispanica, counties that formed the Kingdom of Aragon and the Crown of Aragon; the current coat of arms of Aragon is composed of the four barracks and is attested for the first time in 1499, consolidating since the Early Modern Ages to take root decisively in the 19th century and be approved, according to precept, by the Real Academia de la Historia in 1921. The first quartering appears at the end of the 15th century and commemorates, according to traditional interpretation, the legendary kingdom of Sobrarbe; this emblem of gules and gold was used in seals, banners and standards indistinctly, not being but a familiar emblem that denoted the authority as King of Aragon until, with the birth of Modern State, began to be a territorial symbol.
The current flag was approved in 1984, with the provisions of Article 3 of the Statute of Autonomy of Aragon, the flag is the traditional of the four horizontal red bars on a yellow background with the coat of arms of Aragon shifted towards the flagpole. The bars of Aragon, common historic element of the current four autonomous communities that once were integrated into the Crown of Aragon, present in the third quartering of the coat of arms of Spain; the anthem of Aragon was regulated in 1989 with music by the Aragonese composer Antón García Abril that combines the old Aragonese musical tradition with popular musical elements within a modern conception. The lyrics were elaborated by the Aragonese poets Ildefonso Manuel Gil, Ángel Guinda, Rosendo Tello and Manuel Vilas and highlights within its poetic framework, values such as freedom, reason, open land... that represent the expression of Aragon as a people. The Day of Aragon is celebrated on April 23 and commemorates Saint George, patron of the Kingdom of Aragon since the 15th century.
It appears in Article 3 of the Statute of Autonomy of Aragon since 1984. Institutional acts such as the delivery of the Aragon Awards by the Government of Aragon or the composition of a flag of Aragon of flowers, with the collaboration of citizens, in the Plaza de Aragón square of Zaragoza; the area of Aragon is 47720 km2 of which 15636 km2 belong to the province of Huesca, 17275 km2 to the province of Zaragoza and 14810 km2 to the province of Teruel. The total represents a 9.43% of the surface of Spain, being thus the fourth autonomous community in size behind Castile and León, Castile-La Mancha. It is located in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, at a latitude between 39º and 43º'N in the temperate zone of the Earth, its boundaries and borders are in the north with France, the regions of, in the west with the autonomous communities of Castile-La Mancha, Castile and León, La Rioja and Navarre and in the east with the autonomous communities of Catalonia and Valencian Community. The orography of the community has as central axis the Ebro valley which tr
Province of Teruel
Teruel is a province of Aragon, in the northeast of Spain. The capital is Teruel, it is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Castellón, Cuenca and Zaragoza. The area of the province is 14,809 km², its population is 134,572, of whom about a quarter live in the capital, its population density is 9.36/km². It contains 236 municipalities; the main language throughout the province is Spanish, although Catalan is spoken in the comarca of Matarranya. This province is located in the mountainous Sistema Ibérico area; the main ranges in the province of Teruel are Sierra de la Virgen, Sierra de Santa Cruz, Sierra de Cucalón, Sierra de San Just, Sierra Carrascosa, Sierra Menera, Sierra Palomera, Sierra de Javalambre, Sierra de Gúdar, Sierra de Albarracín and the Montes Universales, among others. Most of the Teruel Province has undergone massive depopulation since the middle of the 20th century; this situation is shared with other areas in Spain with those near the Iberian mountain range and with other areas in Aragón.
The exodus from the rural mountain areas in Teruel rose after General Franco's Plan de Estabilización in 1959. The population declined steeply as people migrated towards the industrial areas and the large cities in Spain, leaving behind their small villages where living conditions were harsh, with cold winters and basic facilities; as a consequence there are many ghost towns in different parts of the province. A great number of surviving towns in Teruel province have only a residual population, reviving somewhat during the summer when a few city-dwellers spend their holidays there. Other causes of the strong emigration have been the low productivity of traditional agricultural practices, like sheep and goat farming, the closing of mines, like the large Sierra Menera mine near Ojos Negros, as well as the lifestyle changes that swept over rural Spain during the second half of the 20th century; the "Teruel Exists" movement began at the turn of the 21st century. It is a platform of provincial authorities and sympathizers seeking to reverse the long-standing neglect of this province.
The following Comarcas of Aragon are located in Teruel Province: Bajo Martín Jiloca Cuencas Mineras Andorra-Sierra de Arcos Bajo Aragón Comunidad de Teruel Maestrazgo Sierra de Albarracín Comarca Gúdar-Javalambre Matarranya Luis Buñuel, film director from Calanda Gaspar Sanz, music composer from Calanda Antón García Abril, music composer Pablo Serrano, sculptor from Crivillén Luis Milla, retired footballer who played for CD Teruel, FC Barcelona and R. Madrid David Civera, light music singer Federico Jiménez Losantos, author and radio host Manuel Pizarro Moreno, businessman and jurist La Vaquilla del Ángel List of Aragonese comarcas List of municipalities in Teruel Lower Aragon Sistema Ibérico Teruel.org Teruel Info. - Caciquismo & desarrollismo – N. B; this text-only website is in Japanese. Content not clear. Teruel Digital Directory in dmoz.org Fundación Amantes de Teruel Estado de los embalses de Teruel Teruel.com - Tourism Deteruel.com — Comunidad virtual de Teruel El número de ancianos españoles aumenta un 20% en 13 años
Natural region
A natural region is a basic geographic unit. It is a region, distinguished by its common natural features of geography and climate. From the ecological point of view, the occurring flora and fauna of the region are to be influenced by its geographical and geological factors, such as soil and water availability, in a significant manner, thus most natural regions are homogeneous ecosystems. Human impact can be an important factor in the destiny of a particular natural region; the concept "natural region" may refer to a small, well defined area, or to a large basic geographical unit, like the vast boreal forest region. The term may be used generically, like in alpine tundra, or to refer to a particular place; the term is useful where there is no corresponding or coterminous official region. The Fens of eastern England, the Thai highlands, the Pays de Bray in Normandy, are examples of this. Others might include regions with particular geological characteristics, like badlands, such as the Bardenas Reales, an upland massif of acidic rock, or The Burren, in Ireland.
Ecoregion Natural regions of Chile Natural regions of Colombia Natural regions of Germany Natural regions of Venezuela Physiographic regions of the world Natural regions of Texas Alberta's Natural Regions Natural regions in Valencia
Spain
Aragon
