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[[Image:Catalonia.gif|right]]
[[Image:Catalonia.gif|right]]
'''Catalonia''' (Catalan: ''Catalunya'') is a self-governing region of north-western [[Spain]]. The administrative capital is [[Barcelona]]. Catalonia is based on the medieval kingdom of [[Aragon]] that merged into a united Spain on the marriage of [[Ferdinand and Isabella]].
'''Catalonia''' (Catalan: ''Catalunya'') is a self-governing region of north-western [[Spain]]. The capital is [[Barcelona]], Spain's second largest city.
Brief independence during the [[Spanish Civil War]] of 1936-39 was ended by the victory of General [[Francisco Franco]] in 1939. Barcelona during the Civil War is notably described in George Orwell's memoir ''Homage to Catalonia''. Catalonia has experienced a relatively high level of ETA activity. The State Department recognizes the [[ETA]] as a terrorist group.<ref>http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/03/158808.htm</ref>
In 801, King Louis the Pious of Aquitaine established the County of Barcelona as a "march," or border area, for the Frankish Empire. In 1137, Count Ramon Berenguer IV was betrothed to Petronila, queen of Aragon. This created the Kingdom of Aragon. Aragon was a major European power with control of the western Mediterranean. Until 1410, Catalonia was the dominate region. The kingdom spoke Occitan, a language also spoken in southern France at this time. This language was favored by the troubadours and a great deal of medieval literature is written in it.
[[Aragon]] and Castile were united into a single Spanish kingdom by the marriage of [[Ferdinand and Isabella]] in 1469. Catalonia retained the Generalitat, a regional parliament, until the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714). In this war, Catalonia sided with the Habsburg claimant and thus lost its autonomy when the Bourbons gained the Spanish throne.
Many Catalans supported the Carlist revolt of 1833–39. Catalonian nationalism emerged during the ''Renaixença'' of the 1850s.
Brief independence during the [[Spanish Civil War]] of 1936-39 was ended by the victory of General [[Francisco Franco]] in 1939. Barcelona during the Civil War is described in George Orwell's memoir ''Homage to Catalonia''. Catalonia has experienced a relatively high level of ETA activity. The State Department recognizes the [[ETA]] as a terrorist group.<ref>http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/03/158808.htm</ref>
Catalonia has its own distinct language, known as the [[Catalan language]].
Catalonia has its own distinct language, known as the [[Catalan language]].
==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}\
[[Category:Regions of Spain]]
[[Category:Regions of Spain]]