| Catalans |
|---|
 |
| Salvador Dalí · Pau Casals · Antoni Gaudí · Jacint Verdaguer |
| Total population |
Over 7 Million |
| Regions with significant populations |
 Spain: 7,134,697 France: 302,000 Argentina: 176,000[1] |
| Languages |
| Catalan; Spanish, French, Aranese |
| Religions |
| Roman Catholicism, Atheism, Agnosticism |
| Related ethnic groups |
| Andalusians, Asturians, Castilians, Galicians and other Spanish peoples; Occitans |
The Catalans are the people from Catalonia, an autonomous community of Spain, or, additionally, people originating in that region living elsewhere. Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech 1st Marquis of Púbol (May 11 1904 &ndash January 23 1989 was a Spanish Catalan Surrealist Jacint Verdaguer i Santaló (Folgueroles May 17, 1845 - Vallvidrera June 10, 1902) is one of the greatest poets of Catalan literature Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Venezuela (ˌvɛnəˈzweɪlə) officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish República Bolivariana de Venezuela) is a country on the The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}} Chile, officially the Republic of Chile ( Spanish:) is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow Coastal strip wedged between the The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Aranese (aranés is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon variety of the Occitan language spoken in the Aran Valley, in northwestern Catalonia Atheism Agnosticism ( Greek: α- a-, without + γνώσις gnōsis, knowledge after Gnosticism) is the philosophical view that the The Andalusians are an Ethnic group or Nation in Spain centered in Andalusia. The Asturians are one of the regional nationalities of Spain, issuing from the historical country of the Principality of Asturias, and also from the provinces The Castilian people are the inhabitants of those regions in Spain where most people identify themselves as Castilian The Galicians ( Galician: Galegos) are an Ethnic group or Nationality whose homeland is Galicia, which is a historical region Occitania ( Occitan: Occitània) refers to the lands where Occitan is the traditional language in use though more recently viewed as a minority language Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. An autonomous community is a first-level political division of the Kingdom of Spain, established in accordance with the Spanish Constitution. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France— known in Catalonia proper as Northern Catalonia, and in France as Pays Catalan— are often included in this definition. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.
Contents |
Historical background
The history of Catalonia entails major events that have shaped the western Mediterranean and local histories that often overlap with those of modern Spain and France. For other perspectives on the History of Catalonia, see also History of Europe; History of Spain; History of France; Crown of Aragon The area that is now Catalonia was inhabited by early Iberian peoples and later Celts who morphed into a localized variant known as Celtiberians by the 8th century BCE. The Iberians were a set of peoples that Greek and Roman sources (among others Hecataeus of Miletus, Avienus, Herodot and Strabo Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts The Celtiberians (or Celt-Iberians were a Celtic people of Hallstatt culture These groups came under the rule of various invading groups starting with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians who set-up colonies along the coast including Barcino (present-day Barcelona) itself. Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun Carthage (Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Carthago from the Phoenician קרת חדשת phn-Latn Qart-ḥadašt meaning new town) refers Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia Following the Punic Wars, the Romans replaced the Carthaginians as the dominant power in Catalonia by 206 BCE and established Latin as the official language and imparted a distinctly Roman culture upon the local population that merged with Roman colonists from the Italian peninsula. The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage between 264 and 146 BC and were probably the largest wars yet of the ancient Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC Th Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula (Penisola italiana or Penisola appenninica) is one of the three Peninsulas of Southern Europe An early precursor to the Catalan language began to develop from a local vulgarized form of Latin before and during the collapse of the Roman Empire. Various Germanic tribes arrived following nearly six centuries of Roman rule which had completely transformed the area into the Roman province of Tarraconensis. The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic A province is a territorial unit almost always an Administrative division. Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. The Visigoths established themselves in the 5th century CE and would rule the area until 718 when Muslim Arab-Berbers conquered the region and held it for close to a century. The Visigoths (Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. The Franks held back small Muslim raiding parties which had penetrated virtually unchallenged as far as central France and Frankish suzerainty became established over much of present-day Catalonia. The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group Suzerainty (ˈsjuːzərənti RP or /ˈsjuːzəreɪnti/ RP) (/ˈsuːzərənti/ GA) is a situation in which a Region or people is a Larger wars with the Muslims began with the Spanish March which led to the beginnings of the reconquista (reconquest) by Catalonian forces of most of Catalonia by the year 801. The Marca Hispanica (or Spanish March, also March of Barcelona) was a Buffer zone beyond the province of Septimania, created by Charlemagne The Reconquista (a Spanish and Portuguese word for "Reconquest" Arabic: الاسترداد, "Recapturing" was a period Events By Place Europe December 28 — Louis the Pious occupies Barcelona. It was during this period that a Catalan national identity fully emerged as Barcelona became an important center for Christian forces in the Iberian peninsula. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
Catalonia emerged from the conflicts in Muslim Spain as a regional power as Christian rulers entrenched themselves in the region during the Carolingian period. Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolings, or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the Rulers such as Wilfred the Hairy became masters of a larger territory encompassing Catalonia. Wilfred or Wifred, called the Hairy, was Count of Urgell (870&ndash897 Cerdanya (870&ndash897 Barcelona (878&ndash897 The Crown of Aragon included Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. The Crown of Aragon was a permanent union of multiple titles and states in the hands of the King of Aragon. Aragon ( Spanish: "Aragón") is an autonomous community of Spain. The Christian Kingdom of Valencia, located in the Eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean The marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon and the conquest of the last Muslim kingdom of Granada in 1492, tied Catalonia politically to the fate of the new Spanish kingdom, while a regional culture continued to survive and thrive. Ferdinand II of Aragon the Catholic (Fernando II de Aragón y V de Castilla "el Católico" Ferran II d'Aragó "el Catòlic" Ferrando II d'Aragón Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous region of Andalusia, Spain.
Some sporadic regional unrest led to conflicts such as Germanies in Valencia and Majorca, and the 1640 revolt in Catalonia known as the Reapers' War. The Catalan Revolt (known in Catalan as the Guerra dels Segadors or Reapers' War) affected a large part of Catalonia between the years of This latter conflict embroiled Spain in a larger war with France as many Catalan nobles allied themselves with Louis XIII. For the cognac see Louis XIII de Rémy Martin. Louis XIII ( September 27, 1601 – May 14, 1643) The war continued until 1659 and ended with the Peace of the Pyrenees which effectively partitioned Catalonia as the northern tip of the March came under French rule, while the rest remained under Spanish hegemony. The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed in 1659 to end the war between France and Spain that had begun in 1635 during the Thirty Years' War. Hegemony (hɨˈdʒɛməni (Amer /hɨˈɡɛməni/ (Brit (ἡγεμονία hēgemonía) is a concept that has been used to describe and explain the dominance of one social Still restive under Spanish rule, the Catalans rebelled against Bourbon rule during the War of the Spanish Succession that started in 1705 and ended in 1714. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714 several European powers combined to stop French succession to the Spanish throne and what would likely have been a resulting The Catalan failure to defend the perpetuation of Habsburgian dynasty in Spain culminated in the surrender of Barcelona on September 11, 1714, which came to be commemorated as Catalonia's National day. Events 9 - The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul Year 1714 ( MDCCXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a On September 11, Catalonia ( Spain) commemorates the 1714 Siege of Barcelona defeat during the War of the Spanish Succession.
During the Napoleonic Wars, much of Catalonia was seized by French forces by 1813 as France ruled the entire region briefly until driven out by British and Spanish armies in 1814. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions Catalan uprisings continued throughout the 19th century to no avail. In France, strong assimilationist policies integrated many Catalans into French society, while in Spain a Catalan identity was increasingly suppressed in favor of a national identity. The Catalans regained autonomy during the Spanish Second Republic from 1932 until Francisco Franco's nationalist forces retook Catalonia by 1939. The Second Spanish Republic was the system of government in Spain between April 14 1931, when King Alfonso XIII left the country Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde (born December 4, 1892 in Ferrol, died November 20, 1975 in Madrid It was not until 1975 and the death of Franco that the Catalans began to fully regain their right to a national identity, which was established by the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The Constitution of Spain is regarded as the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy. Since this period, Catalan nationalism has emerged as a political force mainly in Spain that seeks to attain ever greater autonomy and/or independence for Catalans in Spain and France. Catalan Nationalism, or Catalanism (from Catalanisme in Catalan) is a political movement advocating for either further political
Geography
The vast majority of Catalans reside in Spain, where they number over 7 millions. At least 100,000 Catalan speakers live in France, while over 31,000 live in Andorra and 20,000 in Italy (principally in Sardinia). Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Sardinia (sɑrˈdɪnɪə Sardegna Sardigna or Sardinnya is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily) An indeterminate number of Catalans emigrated to the Americas during the height of the Spanish Empire with important colonies establishing themselves in Chile, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, as well as throughout mainland Latin America. The Spanish Empire (Imperio Español was one of the largest Empires in history and one of the first Global empires In the 15th and 16th centuries Chile, officially the Republic of Chile ( Spanish:) is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow Coastal strip wedged between the The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}} The Dominican Republic ( Spanish: República Dominicana;) is a nation located in the Caribbean region and shares the island of Hispaniola with [2]
Culture and society
Described by author Walter Starkie in The Road to Santiago as a subtle people, he sums up their national character with a local term seny (pronounced /seɲ/) meaning common sense or a pragmatic attitude towards life. The masia or mas is a defining characteristic of the Catalonian countryside and includes a large house, land, cattle, and an extended family, but this tradition is in decline as the nuclear family has largely replaced the extended family, as in the rest of western Europe. While Catalans in Spain are recognised as a "nationality" and enjoy a high degree of political autonomy, leading to reinforcement of a Catalan identity, the situation in France has been drastically different as French policies have favored the assimilation of Catalans. This has reduced the number of citizens who still identify themselves as such within the French Republic.
Language
The Catalan language is a Romance language of the Iberian group. Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all It is the language closest to Occitan, and it shares many features with other Iberian languages such as Spanish and Portuguese. Occitan ( IPA BrE: /ˈɒksɪtn/ AmE: /ˈɑksəˌtɑn/ known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name occitan Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. It also shares some features with French and Italian. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Apart from the most spoken dialect, Central Catalan, there are some other varieties (which some, under mostly political motivations, have been considered separate languages) notably: Valencian, North-Western Catalan, and Balearic. Central Catalan is the Eastern Catalan Dialect with the highest number of speakers since it is commonly spoken in densely populated areas such as the whole Barcelona Valencian ( valencià) is the historical traditional and official name used in the Valencian Community of Spain to refer to the region's native language Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official Balearic is the name given collectively to the group of Catalan variants spoken in the Balearic Islands, Spain.
The number of Catalan speakers is well over 7 million, but exact figures are difficult to obtain - especially for those in France who speak Catalan only as their second language.
In September 2005, the .cat TLD, the first Internet language-based top-level domain, was approved for all webpages intending to serve the needs of the Catalan linguistic and cultural community on the Internet. This community is made up of those who use the Catalan language for their online communications or promote the different aspects of Catalan culture online.
Traditional clothes
The traditional clothes (now, practically only used in folkloric celebrations) included the barretina and the "faixa" among men and "ret" among women. A barretina is a traditional Catalan hat that was frequently worn by men The traditional footwear was the espardenya.
Traditional diet
The Catalan diet is part of the Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet is a modern nutritional recommendation inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of some of the countries of the Mediterranean Basin. They fry with olive oil, and milk is widely consumed. Olive oil is a fruit oil obtained from the olive ( Olea europaea; family Oleaceae along with Lilacs Jasmine and ash trees Catalan people eat fowl more than the red meat of the English diet and like to eat young cows (vedella) and sheep (xai).
There are three main daily meals:
- In the morning: a very light breakfast, consisting of fruit or fruit juice, milk, coffee, or pa amb tomàquet "bread with tomato". Pa amb tomàquet (literally bread with tomato in Catalan) is a typical preparation of Catalan cuisine, that consists of Bread — optionally Although it's considered less consistent than the British breakfast, Catalan breakfast is also important; people tend to divide their breakfast into two parts: one early in the morning before going to work or study (first breakfast), and the other one between 10:00 and 12:00 (second breakfast).
- Afternoon (roughly from 13:00 to 14:30): the main meal of the day. Usually three dishes: the first consisting of pasta or vegetables, the second of meat or fish and the third of fruit or yogurt. It is common to drink moderate quantities of wine.
- In the evening (roughly from 21:00 to 22:30): more food than in the morning but less than at lunch. Very often only a single big dish and fruit.
In Catalan gastronomy, embotits (a wide variety of Catalan sausages) are very important; these are pork sausages such as botifarra or fuet. Botifarra (butiˈfarə is the Catalan name for the Roman Sausage lucanica, made of raw pork and spicesthe recipe for which is still used today in Italy and other parts of the Fuet is a Catalan thin cured dry Sausage of Pork meat in a pork gut In the past, bread (similar to French bread) figured heavily in the Catalan diet; now it is used mainly in the morning (second breakfast, especially among young students and some workers) and supplements the noon meal, at home and in restaurants. Bread is still popular among Catalans; some Catalan fast-food restaurants don't serve hamburgers but a wide variety of sandwiches.
In the past, the poor ate soup each day and rice on Thursday and Sunday. Soup is a Food that is made by combining ingredients such as Meat and Vegetables in stock or hot/boiling Water, until the flavor Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many
The discipline of abstinence, not eating meat during Lent, was once very strong but has practically disappeared in the 20th century. In modern English usage meat most often refers to Animal tissue used as food mostly Skeletal muscle and associated Fat, but it may also refer Lent, in some Christian denominations, is the forty-day-long liturgical season of fasting and prayer before Easter.
Spicy food is rare in the Catalan diet, but there are quite spicy sauces such as allioli or romesco. Aioli ( Provençal Occitan alhòli, Catalan allioli) is a sauce made of Garlic and Olive oil. Romesco, (central catalan pronunciation romescu) is a sauce originating in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain, that is typically made from
Traditional dishes
One type of Catalan dish is escudella soup which contains chick peas, potatoes, and vegetables such as green cabbage, celery, carrots, turnips, and meats like botifarra (a Catalan sausage), pork feet, salted ham, chicken, and veal. Escudella is a Catalan stew It is characterized by the use of sausages called Botifarra or a pieces of meat spiced with peppers In Northern Catalonia, it's sometimes called ollada.
Other Catalan dishes are calçots (similar to leeks and often eaten with a romesco sauce) and escalivada. Calçot is a variety of Scallion known as Blanca Grande Tardana from Lleida. The leek, Allium ampeloprasum var porrum (L also sometimes known as Allium porrum, is a vegetable which belongs along with the Onion and Romesco, (central catalan pronunciation romescu) is a sauce originating in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain, that is typically made from Escalivada is a typical preparation of Catalan cuisine and Valencian cuisine that consists of several types of grilled vegetables such as Eggplants (genus
Religion
The majority of Catalans are of Roman Catholic tradition, while significant numbers of Catalans profess either no religion or appear to be atheists or agnostics.
Social conditions
Catalonia has traditionally been one of the richest and most well developed regions of Spain. Barcelona is the most industrialized metropolis and is both a regional capital and a magnet for various migrants from other regions in Spain as well as foreign immigrants. Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia Catalan people have made numerous contributions from art and architecture to film and science.
Identity and nationalism
Due to the continued identification with a distinct national identity, some support Catalan nationalism or Catalan independentism in Spain and, to a lesser extent, in France. Catalan Nationalism, or Catalanism (from Catalanisme in Catalan) is a political movement advocating for either further political Catalan independentism is a Political movement which supports the independence of Catalonia from Spain and France, this is usually
Famous Catalans
See also
- Catalonia
- History of Catalonia
- Catalan Countries
- Catalan independentism
- Catalan myths and legends
- Andorra
- Balearic Islands
- Valencia
- Nationalities of Spain
References
- Balcells, Albert et al. This is a list of famous Catalan people. Artists Ramon Casas i Carbó (1866–1932 artist Salvador Dalí (1904-1989 Catalonia (Cataluña Catalunya Aranese: Catalonha) is an Autonomous Community in the northeast part of Spain. For other perspectives on the History of Catalonia, see also History of Europe; History of Spain; History of France; Crown of Aragon Different meanings Països Catalans is a polysemic expression and so it has different meanings depending on the context Catalan independentism is a Political movement which supports the independence of Catalonia from Spain and France, this is usually Catalan myths and legends are the traditional myths and Legends of the Catalan -speaking world especially Catalonia itself passed down for generations Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( Catalan: Principat d'Andorra) is a small Landlocked country in western The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean The Valencian Community ( Valencian and official Comunitat Valenciana; Comunidad Valenciana is an Autonomous community located in central to Historically, the modern country of Spain was formed by the accretion of several independent Iberian realms ( Asturias, León, Galicia Catalan Nationalism : Past and Present (Palgrave Macmillan, 1995).
- Collier, Basil. Catalan France (J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd. , 1939).
- Conversi, Daniele. The Basques, the Catalans and Spain: Alternative Routes to Nationalist Mobilization (University of Nevada Press, 1997).
- Guibernau, Montserrat. Catalan Nationalism: Francoism, Transition and Democracy (Routledge, 2004).
- Hargreaves, John. Freedom for Catalonia?: Catalan Nationalism, Spanish Identity and the Barcelona Olympic Games (Cambridge University Press, 2000).
- Simonis, Damien. Lonely Planet Catalunya & the Costa Brava (Lonely Planet Publications, 2003).
- Starkie, Walter. The Road to Santiago (John Murray, 2003).
- Michelin THE GREEN GUIDE France (Michelin Travel Publications, 2000).
- Puntual references
Online references
- US Library of Congress Country Studies: Spain, The Catalans
- Ethnologue for Catalan language
- Lletra. Catalan Literature Online
- Catalans in France
- Catalan Resources
- Catalan Identity
- Museum of the History of Catalonia
- Catalanism
- Catalan Dancing
- The Spirit of Catalonia. 1946 book by Oxford Professor Dr. Josep Trueta
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