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Aran (; ; ) (previously officially called in Occitan Val d'Aran, Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an administrative entity (formerly considered a
comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...
) in Lleida,
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 nort ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, consisting of the Aran Valley, in area, in the
Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
mountains, in the northwestern part of the province of Lleida. This valley constitutes the only contiguous part of Catalonia located on the northern side of the Pyrenees. Hence, this valley holds the only Catalan rivers to flow into the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
(for the same reason, the region is characterized by an Atlantic climate, instead of a Mediterranean one). The
Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – ...
river flows through Aran from its source on the Pla de Beret (Beret Flat) near the
Port de la Bonaigua Port de la Bonaigua (el. 2072 m., 6,798 ft) is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees in Catalonia, Spain. It connects Esterri d'Àneu in the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Pallars Sobirà with Vielha e Mijaran in the comarca of Aran, Catalonia, Aran ...
. It is joined by the Joèu river (from the slopes of Aneto mountain) which passes underground at the '' Forau de Aigualluts''. It then reappears in the Val dera Artiga de Lin before reaching the Aran valley, then through France and eventually to the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. The
Noguera Pallaresa The Noguera Pallaresa (; oc, Noguèra Palharesa, ) is a river in Catalonia, Spain. It is named after the Pallars region. Course Its source is at ''Era Font d'era Noguereta'' in the municipality of Naut Aran (Aran Valley) at an elevation of ab ...
river, whose source is only a hundred meters from that of the Garonne, flows the opposite way towards the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
. Aran borders
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
on the north, the Autonomous Community of Aragon to the west and the
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
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 ...
of
Alta Ribagorça Alta Ribagorça () is one of the comarques of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Pont de Suert. The highest peak is the Comaloformo (3030 metres above sea level) in the massif of Bessiberri. Northeast of the region is the western part of the Ai ...
to the south and
Pallars Sobirà Pallars Sobirà () is a comarca (comparable to a county or shire in much of the English-speaking world) in the mountainous northwest of Catalonia, Spain. The name means "Upper Pallars", distinguishing it from the more populous (and less mountain ...
to the east. Its capital is
Vielha Vielha e Mijaran (; ca, Viella – Mitg-Aran ) is a municipality in Aran, Lleida, Spain. It was created in 1970 by the merger of the municipalities of Arròs e Vila, Betlan, Escunhau, Gausac, Vielha and Vilac: some of the former municipalities re ...
, with 5,474 inhabitants (2014). The entire population of the valley is about 9,991 (2014). As of 2001, a plurality of people in Aran spoke Spanish (38.78%) as their native language, followed by
Aranese Aranese ( oc, aranés) is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon variety of the Occitan language spoken in the Val d'Aran, in northwestern Catalonia close to the Spanish border with France, where it is one of the three official languag ...
(34.19%), then Catalan (19.45%) with 7.56% having a different native language. While Aranese is the mother tongue of 62.87% of people born in the region, it is less frequent among residents born outside the valley.


History

In 1313,
James II of Aragon James II (Catalan: ''Jaume II''; Spanish: ''Jaime II;'' 10 April 1267 – 2 or 5 November 1327), called the Just,, an, Chaime lo Chusto, es, Jaime el Justo. was the King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. He ...
granted administrative and political autonomy to the Aran Valley, the legal details of which are described in a
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
manuscript called the Querimonia. The devolution of power was a reward for the Aranese pledging allegiance to James II in a dispute with the kingdoms of France and Mallorca over control of the valley. This status was suppressed in 1834, when the Valley was integrated into the new Province of Lleida, in the context of the establishment of the Spanish provinces at the beginning of the liberal state. On 19 October 1944,
Spanish Communist Party The Spanish Communist Party (in es, Partido Comunista Español), was the first communist party in Spain, formed out of the Federación de Juventudes Socialistas (Federation of Socialist Youth, youth wing of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). Th ...
guerrillas invaded the valley in an attempt to bring about the fall of the Spanish
dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship a ...
. They took control of several villages until October 27, 1944, but were forced to retreat back into France after Franco sent reinforcements to defend Vielha. Before the construction of the Vielha tunnel, opened in 1948, the Aran valley had no direct communication with the south side of the mountains during winter. In 1987 it became an administrative comarca. In 1990 the special status of Aran within Catalonia was restored by the
Parliament of Catalonia The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...
, reestablishing the Conselh Generau, granting it a degree of home rule and declaring Occitan as official language. In 2015 the Catalan Parliament passed a new law which increased the powers of the Conselh Generau and recognized Aran as an "Occitan national reality". The population of Val d'Aran has generally been opposed to the
Catalan independence movement The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The beginnings ...
due to lack of a strong Catalan identity.


Name and local language

Aranese Aranese ( oc, aranés) is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon variety of the Occitan language spoken in the Val d'Aran, in northwestern Catalonia close to the Spanish border with France, where it is one of the three official languag ...
is the standardized form of the local Gascon variety of the
Occitan language Occitan (; oc, occitan, link=no ), also known as ''lenga d'òc'' (; french: langue d'oc) by its native speakers, and sometimes also referred to as ''Provençal'', is a Romance language spoken in Southern France, Monaco, Italy's Occitan Vall ...
. Aranese has been regularly taught at school since 1984. Like several other
minority language A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities. With a total number of 196 sovereign states recognized internationally (as of 2019) a ...
s in Europe that recently faced decline, Aranese is experiencing a renaissance. The name Aran comes from
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
''haran'', meaning valley. Maps and road signs in Spain use the name "era Val d'Aran" to refer to the valley, where ''era'' is the Aranese singular feminine article. The same practice goes for all towns and other locations in Aran, for example, the Aranese spelling ''Vielha'' is used instead of Catalan and Spanish ''Viella'' to refer to the capital of Aran. Basque toponyms reveal that Basque was spoken further east along the Pyrenees than today. The growing influence of
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
began to drive Basque out after the turn of the first millennium.


Government and economy

Administratively, Aran is a "unique territorial entity" roughly equivalent to a ''comarca'' with additional powers, and informally referred to as a comarca. This status was most recently formalised in February 2015. The area is divided into six administrative divisions called ''terçons'' (oc) (meaning "thirds", as there were formerly three divisions). The current arrangement of the divisions dates from the 15th century. Since 1991, Aran has an autonomous government called the '' Conselh Generau'' ( oc, General Council), headed by the
Síndic d'Aran The Síndic d'Aran (''Aran Syndic'' in Occitan) is the head of government of the Val d'Aran, an autonomously governed region within the Province of Lleida of Catalonia, Spain. The Síndic leads the thirteen-member Conselh Generau d'Aran, the gov ...
. The major political parties are the Unity of Aran - Aranese Nationalist Party (the local chapter of the
Socialists' Party of Catalonia The Socialists' Party of Catalonia ( ca, Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, PSC–PSOE official acronym) is a social-democratic political party in Catalonia, Spain, resulting from the merger of three parties: the Socialist Party of Catalonia ...
), the Aranese Democratic Convergence (the local chapter of the ( Democratic Convergence of Catalonia). The
Occitan Republican Left Occitan Republican Left ( oc, Esquèrra Republicana Occitana) is an Occitan nationalism, Occitanist political party in Val d'Aran comarca of Catalonia, Spain. Founded in 2008 to contest Unity of Aran (Socialists' Party of Catalonia, PSC section) an ...
party was founded in 2008. The main economic activity in the valley is tourism; from the
ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...
resorts in the winter and from other tourist activity in the summer. Other primary sectors of the economy include forest products, cattle ranching and agriculture, all of which have become progressively less important since the opening of ski resorts.


Municipalities


Fauna

Many native animals of Aran are in danger of extinction. There are programs to reintroduce and/or protect: *
Aran rock lizard The Aran rock lizard (''Iberolacerta aranica'') is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. Geographic range ''I. aranica'' is found in a small area of the central Pyrenees on the Spanish-French border. It lives only in Mauberme massif, inc ...
(''Lacerta aranica'') *
Bearded vulture The bearded vulture (''Gypaetus barbatus''), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage, is a very large bird of prey and the only member of the genus ''Gypaetus''. Traditionally considered an Old World vulture, it actually forms a separate mi ...
(''Gypaetus barbatus'') *
Brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is ...
(''Ursus arctos'') *
Rock ptarmigan The rock ptarmigan (''Lagopus muta'') is a medium-sized game bird in the grouse family. It is known simply as the ptarmigan in the UK. It is the official bird for the Canadian territory of Nunavut, where it is known as the ''aqiggiq'' (ᐊᕿ ...
(''Lagopus mutus'')


References


External links


Page of the Conselh Generau d'Aran

Information from the Generalitat de Catalunya

Touristic information about the Val d'Aran
* Smith, Dominic
"Language planning in the Val d’Aran: The recent work of the Conselh Generau d’Aran’s ‘Oficina de Foment e Ensenhament der Aranés’ and its effects on the Aranés-speaking population."
( PDF). 2003. {{Authority control Valleys of Catalonia Pyrenees Comarques of the Province of Lleida