Everything about Pyren Es-orientales totally explained
Pyrénées-Orientales ( ) is a
department of southern
France adjacent to the northern
Spanish frontier and the
Mediterranean Sea.
History
Prior to the
Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, most of the present department was part of the former
Principality of Catalonia, within the
Crown of Aragon, so the majority of it has historically been
Catalan-speaking, and it's still sometimes referred to (mainly by Catalans) as
Northern Catalonia.
Pyrénées-Orientales also corresponds almost exactly to the pre-
Revolutionary province of
Roussillon.
See also:
French Cerdagne.
Invaded by Spain in April
1793, the area was recaptured thirteen months later.
Administration
Pyrénées-Orientales is grouped with neighbouring
Aude and three other departments to the north-east in the region of
Languedoc-Roussillon.
Geography
Pyrénées-Orientales has an area of 4115 km². and a population of 422,000, of whom just over a quarter live in the capital,
Perpignan. Other towns include
Argelès-sur-Mer,
Thuir,
Elne (the ancient
Illiberis) and Prades, each of 6-10,000 inhabitants.
Pyrénées-Orientales consists of three river valleys in the
Pyrenees mountain range - from north to south, those of the
Agly,
Têt and
Tech - and the eastern Plain of Roussillon into which they converge. Most of the population and agricultural production are concentrated in the plain, with only 30% of the area.
The upper Tech valley comprises the departments westernmost third, with just over a tenth of the total population. To the south-east, the Têt valley and the
Côte Vermeille contain nearly 100,000 inhabitants. The Agly basin in the north-east has much in common with neighboring areas of Aude.
Economy
Pyrénées-Orientales is a
wine-growing area and a tourist destination.
Demographics
French is spoken by all the population. Minority languages in the region are
Catalan and
Occitan, which between them are estimated to be spoken by rather more than a quarter of the population and understood by more than 40%.
The area is traditionally divided into
comarques, of which five (
Alta Cerdanya,
Capcir,
Conflent,
Rosselló and
Vallespir) are Catalan speaking and one (
Fenolheda) is Occitan speaking. The five Catalan speaking comarques were historically part of the
Kingdom of Mallorca and so of
Catalonia.
Culture
Places of interest include:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Pyren Es-orientales'.
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