Catalan Countries

The Catalan Countries (in Catalan: Països Catalans, abbreviated to PPCC) are a cultural territory of southwestern Europe where Catalan is the native language and where Catalan culture is autochthonous. Some activists wish to call the whole of the Catalan Countries Catalonia (Catalunya in Catalan).

The Catalan Countries include approximately the following territories:

• Northern Catalonia, that is the department of the Pyrénées-Orientales, in southern France, around Perpignan
• Andorra, a sovereign state.
• The Western Strip (Franja de Ponent) in the east of the autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain
• Catalonia, an autonomous community in eastern Spain, around Barcelona
• The Valencian Community, an autonomous community in eastern Spain, around the city of Valencia
• The Balearic Islands, an autonomous community in eastern Spain, around Palma
• The Carche, a small area in the autonomous community of Murcia, in eastern Spain
• Alghero, a city and a Catalan linguistic enclave on the island of Sardinia, in Italy

The exact definition of the Catalan Countries varies according to the criteria followed:

• According to strict linguistic criteria, some non-Catalan-speaking areas should not be included in the Catalan Countries. These are the Occitan area of the Fenouillèdes in the Pyrénées-Orientales, the Occitan area of Aran Valley in Catalonia and the peripherical Spanish-speaking areas of the Valencian Community
• However, according to administrative criteria, some Catalan activists think that those Occitan- and Spanish-speaking areas should be seen as parts of the Catalan Countries, but not the enclave of Alghero which they consider too remote

The Catalan Countries have 12.8 million inhabitants according to the first criteria, but 13.5 million according to the second one. Their area is approximately 70 000 km².