Cerdanya () or often La Cerdanya ( la, Ceretani or ''Ceritania''; french: Cerdagne; es, Cerdaña), is a natural comarca and

historical region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic, linguistic or political basis, regardless of latterday borders. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing soc ...

of the eastern

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 ...

divided between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

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") , ...

. Historically it was one of the counties of Catalonia. Cerdanya has a land area of , divided almost evenly between Spain (50.3%) and France (49.7%). In 2001 its population was approximately 26,500, of whom 53% lived on Spanish territory. Its population density is 24 residents per km² (63 per sq. mile). The only urban area in Cerdanya is the cross-border urban area of

Puigcerdà Puigcerdà (; es, Puigcerdá) is the capital of the '' Catalan comarca'' of Cerdanya, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, northern Spain, near the Segre River and on the border with France (it abuts directly onto the French town of Bourg-Ma ...

Bourg-Madame Bourg-Madame (; ca, La Guingueta d'Ix) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localisation Bourg-Madame is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. I ...

, which contained 10,900 inhabitants in 2001. The area enjoys a high annual amount of sunshine – around 3,000 hours per year. For this reason, pioneering large-scale solar power projects have been built in several locations in French Cerdagne, including Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via, the Themis plant near Targassonne, and

Mont-Louis Solar Furnace The Mont-Louis Solar Furnace is an experimental solar furnace - a solar thermal energy facility that was built in 1949. It was the first facility of its kind in the world, and was a precursor of the Odeillo Solar Furnace. It provides a thermal ...

Mont-Louis Mont-Louis (; or ''el Vilar d'Ovansa'') is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Mont-Louis is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. Mont-Louis-La Cab ...

History

Antiquity

The first inhabitants of Cerdanya probably spoke a language related to the old Basque language and to Aquitanian. Many place names testify to this. In the first millennium BC came the

Iberians The Iberians ( la, Hibērī, from el, Ἴβηρες, ''Iberes'') were an ancient people settled in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. They are described in Greek and Roman sources (amon ...

from the south. In Cerdanya they probably mixed with the native inhabitants, and the resulting people were known as the Kerretes, from the native word ''ker'' or ''kar'', meaning ''rock'', related to old Basque ''karri'' (modern Basque ''harri''), ''stone''. The Kerretes were probably essentially of Basque and Aquitanian-related stock, as the Iberian clans who mixed with the native inhabitants can have comprised only small numbers of people. The Kerretes retained a language related to old Basque and Aquitanian, although some Iberian words may have entered the language, and Iberians probably occupied positions at the top of the Kerrete society. The main oppidum of the Kerretes, commanding the whole country, was called ''Kere'' and was built on the hill above the modern-day village of

Llívia Llívia (; es, Llivia ) is a town in the ''comarca'' of Cerdanya, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is a Spanish exclave surrounded by the French ''département'' of Pyrénées-Orientales. In 2009, the municipality of Llívia had a total ...

(a Spanish

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

in French territory). Later the Kerretes came under Roman rule, and the Romans renamed the oppidum ''Julia Lybica'', with a significant number of Roman citizens settling there. During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

, the area of Cerdanya was a ''pagus'' known as ''pagus Liviensis'' (a name derived from its capital Julia Lybica), part of the province of

Hispania Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia was the ...

. The ''pagus Liviensis'' was itself divided in two: the eastern part around Julia Lybica was known as ''Cerretania Julia'', while the western part was known as ''Cerretania Augusta''. The name Cerdanya comes from ''Cerretania'', itself coming from the old name of the inhabitants, the Kerretes. As for Julia Lybica, the name evolved into ''Julia Livia'' and then ''Llívia''. The Kerretes seem to have kept their old language until very late, probably as late as the 8th or 9th century. Romanization in the area was extremely slow, even though eventually the native language gave way, and the people in Cerdanya ended up speaking

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 ...

, a language derived from Latin. At the end of the Roman Empire, Julia Lybica entered a period of decadence, and lost much of its importance. It is around this time that the town of La Seu d'Urgell (in

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 no ...

, but outside of Cerdanya) started to replace Julia Lybica as the main center of population in that area of northern Catalonia, and in the 6th century when the

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

(bishopric) of Urgell was founded, Cerdanya was inside its limits.

Middle Ages

Devastated by the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...

and other Germanic tribes, Cerdanya was part of the

Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...

kingdom of

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

and later Toledo, until eventually it was conquered by the Muslims. After Muslim expansion was halted by

Odo the Great Odo the Great (also called ''Eudes'' or ''Eudo'') (died 735–740), was the Duke of Aquitaine by 700. His territory included Vasconia in the south-west of Gaul and the Duchy of Aquitaine (at that point located north-east of the river Garonne), a ...

in the

Battle of Toulouse (721) The Battle of Toulouse (721) was a victory of an Aquitanian Christian army led by Duke Odo of Aquitaine over an Umayyad Muslim army besieging the city of Toulouse, and led by the governor of Al-Andalus, Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani. The vi ...

, the Berber commander

Uthman ibn Naissa Uthman ibn Naissa () better known as Munuza, was a Berber governor depicted in different contradictory chronicles during the Umayyad conquest of Hispania. Munuza in Asturias One account says that he was the governor of Gijón (or possibly León) ...

established a small realm in Cerdanya and allied with Odo, so that the Aquitanian leader could secure his south-eastern borders. However, Uthman ibn Naissa came next under Umayyad attack and the Berber lord was defeated, opening the way to

Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah Al-Ghafiqi ( ar, عبدالرحمن بن عبداللّه الغافقي, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ghāfiqī; died 732), was an Arab Umayyad commander of Andalusian Muslims. He unsuccessfully led int ...

's expedition into Aquitaine. During Abd al-Rahman I's military campaign across the Ebro region (781), the Cordovan commander received the submission of Ibn Belaskut, or Galindo Belascotenes, in Cerdanya. Under Carolingian pressure, Cerdanya became a Frankish vassal about 785. ;County of Cerdanya The

county of Cerdanya The County of Cerdanya ( ca, Comtat de Cerdanya, ; la, Comitatus Ceritaniae; es, Condado de Cerdaña, french: Comté de Cerdagne) was one of the Catalan counties formed in the last decades of the 8th century by the Franks in the ''Marca Hispanica' ...

has its origin in the Spanish Marches established by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

. In the 9th century, Cerdanya was one of the lordships united in the person of the

counts of Barcelona The Count of Barcelona ( ca, Comte de Barcelona, es, Conde de Barcelona, french: Comte de Barcelone, ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality ...

, who were also counts of

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capit ...

, Narbonne, and Urgell.

Wilfred the Hairy {{Infobox noble, type , name = Wilfred , title = Count of Barcelona , image = Wilfredo el Velloso 01.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = Statue in Madrid, L. S. Carmona, 1750–53 , alt ...

(count 870–897) had three sons and established the youngest, Miron (died 927), as Count of Cerdanya, a sovereign state. Rosselló i Cerdanya sobre mapa actual

The sovereign county of Cerdanya bordered the

county of Urgell The County of Urgell ( ca, Comtat d'Urgell, ; la, Comitatus Urgellensis) is one of the historical Catalan counties, bordering on the counties of Pallars and Cerdanya. History The county of Urgell was carved by the Franks out of a former secti ...

, the

county of Barcelona The County of Barcelona ( la, Comitatus Barcinonensis, ca, Comtat de Barcelona) was originally a frontier region under the rule of the Carolingian dynasty. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona became progressively independent, heredi ...

, the

county of Besalú The County of Besalú ( ca, Comtat de Besalú, ; la, Comitatus Bisuldunensis) was one of the landlocked medieval Catalan counties near the Mediterranean coastline. It was roughly coterminous with the modern '' comarca'' of Garrotxa and at various ...

, the county of Roussillon, and the

county of Razès The County of Razès was a feudal jurisdiction in Occitania, south of the County of Carcassonne, in what is now Southern France. It was founded in 781, after the creation of the Kingdom of Aquitania, when Septimania was separated from that state. ...

. The county of Cerdanya was made up of Cerdanya proper with the addition of other areas which it managed to acquire over time through inheritance, such as Capcir and

Conflent Conflent () is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, now part of the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. In the Middle Ages it comprised the County of Conflent. The capital of this ''pays'' is Prades ( ca, Prada de Conf ...

. Thus, the county of Cerdanya was actually quite an important county. The counts of Cerdanya were great patrons of abbeys, most famously Saint-Michel de Cuxa (Catalan: ''Sant Miquel de Cuixà''), dating back to the 10th century and located in Conflent, and

Saint-Martin-du-Canigou The abbey of Saint-Martin-du-Canigou ( Catalan: ''Sant Martí del Canigó'') is a monastery built in 1009 in the Pyrenees of Northern Catalonia on Canigou mountain in present-day southern near the Spanish border. Pau Casals wrote a composit ...

(Catalan: ''Sant Martí del Canigó''), dedicated by Count Guifred of Cerdanya in 1009. However, the line of the counts died out in 1117 and the county was inherited by the counts of Barcelona, later to become kings of Aragon.

Modern times

Cerdanya proper was split between Spain and France by the

Treaty of the Pyrenees The Treaty of the Pyrenees (french: Traité des Pyrénées; es, Tratado de los Pirineos; ca, Tractat dels Pirineus) was signed on 7 November 1659 on Pheasant Island, and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were ...

of 1659, with the north of Cerdanya becoming French, while the south of Cerdanya remained Spanish. The counties of Rosselló, Capcir, and

also became French at that time. Today, the Spanish side of Cerdanya is a Catalan ''comarca'' known as Baixa Cerdanya (i.e. "Lower Cerdanya"), and whose capital is

. Puigcerdà was already the capital of Cerdanya before the division of 1659, having replaced Hix in 1178 as capital of Cerdanya. Hix, the place where the counts of Cerdanya resided, is now a village inside the commune of

on the French side of the border. Hix had itself replaced

, which was the ancient capital of Cerdanya in

Antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...

. At the Treaty of the Pyrenees it was decided that Llívia would remain Spanish (allegedly because the treaty stipulated that only villages were to be ceded to France, and Llívia was considered a city and not a village, due to its status as the ancient capital of Cerdanya), so Llívia is now an

of Spain inside French territory. The French side of Cerdanya is part of the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' of

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea ...

and has no particular status. People in France refer to it as ''Cerdagne française'' (that is, "French Cerdanya"), or just ''Cerdagne'', while people on the Spanish side refer to it as ''

Alta Cerdanya French Cerdagne ( ca, Alta Cerdanya, ) is the northern half of Cerdanya, which came under French control as a result of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, while the southern half remained in Spain (as part of Catalonia). Catalans often refer ...

'' ("Upper Cerdanya"). Its main towns are Bourg-Madame and the ski resort of Font-Romeu. Despite the split between France and Spain, ties remain between families on both sides of the border, with frequent travel from one country to the other. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Cerdanya has been the place of an important smuggling trade in which horses and mules went from French to Spanish Cerdanya, before being sold to the French army and going back to France through

Le Perthus Le Perthus (, ca, El Pertús, ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Natives of Le Pertus are called ''Perthusiens'' and, in 2016, there were 586 inhabitants. Le Perthus is also one of French territories on t ...

Municipalities

French side

Known as

French Cerdagne French Cerdagne ( ca, Alta Cerdanya, ) is the northern half of Cerdanya, which came under French control as a result of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, while the southern half remained in Spain (as part of Catalonia). Catalans often refe ...

(Catalan: ''Alta Cerdanya''). * Angoustrine-Villeneuve-des-Escaldes (Catalan: ''Angostrina'') * Bolquère (Catalan: ''Bolquera'') *

(Catalan: ''La Guingueta d’Ix'') * Dorres * Égat (Catalan ''Èguet'') * Enveitg (Catalan ''Enveig'') * Err (Catalan ''Er'') * Estavar *

Eyne Eyne (; ca, Eina) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localization Eyne is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades The arrondissement of Prades is ...

(Catalan ''Eina'') * Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via (Catalan ''Font-Romeu'' or ''Odelló i Vià'') *

La Cabanasse La Cabanasse (; ca, La Cabanassa) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localisation La Cabanasse is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. Go ...

(Catalan ''La Cabanassa'') * Latour-de-Carol (Catalan ''La Tor de Querol'') * Llo *

(Catalan ''Montlluís'') *

Nahuja Nahuja (; ca, Naüja) is a small village in the Cerdanya which is part of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It is only 8 km far from the Spanish border in Puigcerdà. Its closest neighbour towns are Osséja and Sain ...

(Catalan ''Naüja'') * Osséja (Catalan ''Osseja'') * Palau-de-Cerdagne (Catalan ''Palau de Cerdanya'') *

Planès Planès () is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Planès is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. Planès station Planès is a railway station in ...

(Catalan ''Planès'') * Porta *

Porté-Puymorens Porté-Puymorens (; ca, Portè) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Porté-Puymorens is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades The arrondissement ...

(Catalan ''Portè'') *

Saillagouse Saillagouse (; ca, Sallagosa) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. The inhabitants are called ''Saillagousains''. Geography Saillagouse is in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissemen ...

(Catalan ''Sallagosa'') *

Saint-Pierre-dels-Forcats Saint-Pierre-dels-Forcats ( ca, Sant Pere dels Forcats) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Saint-Pierre-dels-Forcats is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement ...

(Catalan ''Sant Pere dels Forcats'') *

Sainte-Léocadie Sainte-Léocadie (; ca, Santa Llocaia, named after the catholic saint Leocadia) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Sainte-Léocadie is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in t ...

(Catalan ''Santa Llocaia'') * Targassonne (Catalan ''Targasona'') * Ur * Valcebollère (Catalan: ''Vallsabollera'')

Spanish side

Known as Baixa Cerdanya.

Economy

Like neighboring areas of the Pyrenees, Cerdanya relies on tourism to provide strong support for the economy. Spas, skiing, and hiking are long-established attractions. In addition the

Yellow train The ''Ligne de Cerdagne'', usually referred to as ''Le Petit Train Jaune'' ( en, Little Yellow Train, ca, Tren Groc), is a gauge railway that runs from Villefranche-de-Conflent to Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg in the French Pyrenees. Construction st ...

is a major tourist attraction La Cerdanya is best known amongst Barcelona locals and tourists for its skiing. "Masella" ski resort, located close to Urus and Alp, opened on January 3rd and, due to the mountain's orientation to the North, offers one the longest skiing season in the Pyrenees. The ski station today boasts of 62 slopes with 15 ski lifts, and since 2013, has nocturnal skiing. Physically adjacent to Masella, though requiring a different ski pass, is "La Molina" with 68 ski slopes. Due to La Cerdanya's close proximity to Andorra and France, its residents also enjoy skiing in "Font Romeu," "Formigueres," "Les Angles," and "Grandvalira."

Notable people

* Dr. José Baselga, oncologist