Catalonia and Catalan People
Catalonia
Catalonia (English /kætəˈloʊniə/, /kætəˈloʊnjə/; Catalan: Catalunya [kətəˈɫuɲə] or [kataˈluɲa]; Spanish: Cataluña [kataˈluɲa]; Occitan: Catalonha [kataˈluɲɔ]) is an autonomous community of Spain, with the official status of a nationality.[1] Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the center of one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,535,251.[2]
It comprises the larger part of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia, with the remainder of the historic Catalan region now part of southern France. Catalonia borders France and Andorra to the north and the Mediterranean Sea to the east (580 km coastline). The neighbouring Spanish regions of Aragon and the Valencian Community lie to the west and south respectively. The official languages are Catalan, Spanish, and Aranese (Occitan); Catalan Sign Language is also officially recognised.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalonia
Catalan people
The Catalans are a cultural group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia who form a historic nationality chiefly located in northern Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France (known in Catalonia proper as Catalunya Nord, and in France as the Pays Catalan) are included in this definition.[6][7] Also, Catalan is sometimes used to define people from Catalan Countries, which include other areas where the Catalan language is spoken.[8][9]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_people
Catalan language
Catalan (pron.: /kætəˈlæn/, /ˈkætəlæn/, or /ˈkætələn/;[3] autonym: català [kətəˈɫa] or [kataˈɫa]) is a Romance language named for its origins in the historical region of Catalonia in the northeastern part of Spain and adjoining parts of what is now France. It is the national and only official language of Andorra, a European microstate, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian. It also has semi-official status in the city of Alghero (where the Algherese dialect is spoken) on the Italian island of Sardinia. It is also spoken with no official recognition in the autonomous communities of Aragon (in La Franja) and Murcia (in Carche) in Spain, and in the historic Roussillon region of southern France, roughly equivalent to the current French department of Pyrénées-Orientales (Northern Catalonia).
Although recognized as a regional language of the Pyrénées-Orientales department[4] since 2007, Catalan has no official recognition in France, as French is the only official language of that country, according to the French Constitution of 1958.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_language
Catalan Proverbs
Advice
¶ De l'arbre dolent no esperis bon fruit.
English equivalent: The apple does not fall far from the tree.
Children observe daily and — in their behaviour — often follow the example of their parents.
Wisdom
¶ Com més vell més poc cervell.'
Idiomatic translation: ”Wisdom goes not always by years.”
Meaning: Age will not refrain people from acting foolish and unprudent.
References
Catalonia
[1]^ First article of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia. "Catalonia, as a nationality, exercises its self-government constituted as an autonomous community..."
[2]^ Idescat.net. (Catalan)
[3]^ a b Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia (2006), Articles 6, 50. parlament-cat.net
Catalan people
[6]^ "[1] Présentation Perpinyà 2008" (French) (Catalan)
[7]^ Culture et catalanité Conseil Général des Pyrénées-Orientales (French) (Catalan)
[8]^ Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana: (In Catalan)
Catalan : individual from a people, of Catalan language, developed in the Catalan Countries.
[9]^ The IEC dictionary, made by the Institut d'Estudis Catalans sources catalan as "Own, related or Natural of the Catalan Countries", in some of its meanings
Catalan language
[3]^ Catalan Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. (Retrieved 20 March 2010).
[4]^ a b "Charte en faveur du Catalan". "La catalanitat a la Catalunya Nord". "Catalanité". cg66.fr. 28 July 2004. Retrieved 16 May 2010.[dead link]
[5]^ French Constitution, 1958: Article 2. The language of the Republic shall be French.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalonia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Spain
