Àmbit metropolità de Barcelona
() is one of the seven territories defined by the Regional Plan of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

( ca, Pla territorial general de Catalunya). It is located in the central coast of

, in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

(capital city of Catalonia) and its influence area. It is formed of five ''

comarques This is a list of the 42 ''comarques'' (singular ''comarca'', , ) into which Catalonia is divided. A ''comarca'' is a group of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the US or a district or council in the UK. However, in the context ...

'':

Baix Llobregat Baix Llobregat () is a comarca (county) on the coast of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Sant Feliu de Llobregat. Municipalities Proposed changes It has long been proposed to split the northern part of Baix Llobregat into a separate comarca. ...

Barcelonès Barcelonès () is the most economically important comarca (county) of Catalonia, Spain. It contains Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of ...

Maresme Maresme () is a ''comarca'' (county) located along the Catalan Mediterranean coast in Spain, between the ''comarques'' of Barcelonès (at the Southwest) and Selva (at the Northeast), and also bordering with Vallès Oriental (at the west). Its c ...

Vallès Occidental Vallès Occidental () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. Sabadell and Terrassa are the comarcal capitals. Along with Vallès Oriental it forms the grand comarca of Vallès, and is part of the Barcelona metropolitan area. Physical geogra ...

and

Vallès Oriental Vallès Oriental () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Granollers. Along with Vallès Occidental it forms the grand comarca of Vallès. In May 2015, Vallès Oriental lost four municipalities - Castellcir, Castellterçol, ...

. It has been suggested by local authorities that

Alt Penedès Alt Penedès () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, northern Spain. The capital is Vilafranca del Penedès Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca (), is the capital of the ''comarca'' of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. The Spanish ...

and

Garraf Garraf (), better known as El Garraf (), is a comarca (county) in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, northern Spain. It is named after the Garraf Massif. The GR 92 long distance footpath, which roughly follows the length of the Mediterranea ...

should form a separate administrative entity called '' Vegueria del Penedès'', as Penedès was a historical territory, or ''

vegueria The ''vegueria'' (; pl. ''vegueries'') was the feudal administrative territorial jurisdiction of the Principality of Catalonia (to the Crown of Aragon) during the Middle Ages and into the Modern Era until the Nueva Planta decrees of 1716. The ve ...

'', with two ''comarques'':

Baix Penedès Baix Penedès () is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca in Catalonia, Spain. The area has been settled since the times of the Iberians, with ancient ruins remaining in Banyeres at ''Can Canyís'', in the capital El Vendrell at the village of ''Guà ...

(

Camp de Tarragona Camp de Tarragona () is a natural and historical region of Catalonia, Spain. It includes a central plain, surrounded by the Serralada Prelitoral mountain chain on the west and in the north, with the Mediterranean sand beaches of the Costa Daur ...

) and

Anoia Anoia () is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca (county) in central Catalonia, Spain, with its capital at Igualada. The comarca of l'Anoia is irrigated by the Anoia River; the leading industry is the making of paper. To the north are Solsonès an ...

(

Comarques Centrals Comarques Centrals is one of the seven territories defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia. It is located in the central part of Catalonia and will be formed by five comarques: Anoia, Bages, Berguedà, Osona, Solsonès and Moianès Moianès () ...

). To a large extent coincides with the

Barcelona metropolitan area The Barcelona urban area is an urban area in Catalonia (Spain) centered on the city of Barcelona and located less than 100 km south of the border with France. With a population of over 5 million, it is the most populous urban area on the Med ...

. Àmbit metropolità is the most populous ''vegueria'' with 5,012,961 inhabitants (2010), and a density of 1,549 inhabitants/km².

Vegueria

The ''vegueria'' was a

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

land division in the

Principality of Catalonia The Principality of Catalonia ( ca, Principat de Catalunya, la, Principatus Cathaloniæ, oc, Principat de Catalonha, es, Principado de Cataluña) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian P ...

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

, and

Duchy of Athens The Duchy of Athens (Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade as part of the ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and into the

Modern Era The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...

until the

Nueva Planta decrees The Nueva Planta decrees ( es, link=no, Decretos de Nueva Planta, ca, Decrets de Nova Planta, en, link=no, "Decrees of the New Plant") were a number of decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V, the first Bourbon King of Spain, during ...

of 1716. It was the primary division of a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in Catalonia and the basic territorial entity of government in Sardinia and Athens after those countries became part of the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...

. The office of a veguer was called a "vigeriate" (Latin: ''vigeriatus''). In 1936, Catalonia was reconstituted into ''

''. Although these were quickly abolished in 1939 they were reconstituted again in 1987. Each ''comarca'' was grouped with two to four others into a ''vegueria'', of which there were nine, with their capitals at

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

Tremp Tremp () is a municipality in Catalonia, Spain, the capital of the ''comarca'' of the Pallars Jussà. It is the largest municipality in Catalonia in terms of area (),The municipality of Tortosa is historically larger than Tremp, but was subdivid ...

Vic Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...

Manresa Manresa () is the capital of the Comarca of Bages, located in the geographical centre of Catalonia, Spain, and crossed by the river Cardener. It is an industrial area with textile, metallurgical, and glass industries. The houses of Manresa are ...

Lleida Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague. Nowadays it is k ...

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

, and

Tortosa Tortosa (; ) is the capital of the ''Catalonia/Comarques, comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buin ...

. Since the 1987 reconstitution it has been decided that Vegueries be formally re-established in 2011. Under the 2006

Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006 ( ca, Estatut d’Autonomia de Catalunya) provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Cataloni ...

, the four

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

which make up Catalonia are due to be replaced by seven vegueries, which will also take over many of the functions of the ''comarques''. As of October 2010, whereas the final boundaries of the new vegueries have yet to be formally approved, they are expected to incorporate largely historical boundaries: Àmbit metropolità de Barcelona,

Alt Pirineu i Aran Alt Pirineu i Aran
(in

, Comarques Gironines,

Ponent Ponent, Lleida or Terres de Lleida is one of the seven territories defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia. It is not clear what name will have, being all of them traditionally accepted names for the region. It is located in the westernmost par ...

(or Lleida) and

Terres de l'Ebre Terres de l'Ebre (, literally in English 'The Ebre Lands') is one of the seven territories defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia. It is located in the south-west of Catalonia, in the southern part of river Ebre, and will be formed by four coma ...

References

External links

Statistical Institute of Catalonia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambit Metropolita De Barcelona Geography of Catalonia

Vegueria

See also

References

External links