The comarques of Catalonia (singular comarca, Eastern Catalan:[kuˈmarkə], Western Catalan:[koˈmaɾka]), often referred to in English as counties, are an administrative division of Catalonia. Each comarca comprises a number of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the United States. Currently, Catalonia is divided into 42 comarques and Aran, considered a "unique territorial entity" and not a comarca.
Each comarca has a representative county council (Catalan: consell comarcal), except for Barcelonès, which abolished it in 2019, and Aran, which instead has the Conselh Generau d'Aran.
Llívia is separated from the rest of Spain by a corridor approximately 1.6 km (1.0 mile) wide, which includes the French communes of Ur and Bourg-Madame. This corridor is traversed by a road, owned by both France (where it is part of Route nationale 20 and RD68) and Spain (where it is part of N-154). Before the implementation of the Schengen Area in 1995, it was considered a "neutral road", a custom-free route with access for both French and Spanish people; since 1995, there have been no formal borders. The two countries share a hospital in Puigcerdà (which lies close to Llívia), as well as other local initiatives.
Urgell (Catalan pronunciation:[urˈ(d)ʒeʎ]), also known as Baix Urgell (baix meaning "lower", by contrast with Alt Urgell "Upper Urgell"), is a comarca (county) in Ponent, Catalonia (Spain), forming only a borderland portion of the region historically known as Urgell, one of the Catalan counties.
Comarques of Catalonia in the context of Cerdanya (comarca)
Cerdanya (Catalan pronunciation:[səɾˈðaɲə]; Spanish: Baja Cerdaña, pronounced[ˈbaxaθeɾˈðaɲa]; French: Basse-Cerdagne, pronounced[bɑssɛʁdaɲ,bas-]) is a comarca in northern Catalonia, in the Pyrenees, on the border of Catalonia with France and Andorra. Within Catalonia, Cerdanya is divided between Catalan provinces of Girona and Lleida. Cerdanya's neighbouring comarques are Alt Urgell, Berguedà, and Ripollès.
Cerdanya is in the "vegueria" of Alt Pirineu, according to "Vegueries of Catalonia law".
Empúries (Catalan: Empúries[əmˈpuɾiəs]) was an ancient Greek city on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, Spain. Empúries is also known by its Spanish name, Ampurias (Spanish: Ampurias[amˈpuɾjas]). The city Ἐμπόριον (Greek: Ἐμπόριον, Emporion, meaning "trading place", cf.emporion) was founded in 575 BC by Greeks from Phocaea. The invasion of Gaul from Iberia by Hannibal the Carthaginian general in 218 BC, prompted the Romans to occupy the city (Latin: Emporiae), thus initiating the Roman conquest of Hispania. In the Early Middle Ages, the city's exposed coastal position left it open to marauders and it was abandoned.
Comarques of Catalonia in the context of Granollers
Granollers (Catalan:[ɡɾənuˈʎes]; Spanish:[ɡɾanoˈʝers]) is a city in central Catalonia, about 30 kilometres north-east of Barcelona. It is the capital and most densely populated city in the comarca of Vallès Oriental.
Granollers is now a bustling business centre, having grown from a town dominated by Catalonia's textile industry that was prominent during the 19th century. However, in the southern portion of the municipality, the Palou area retains the agricultural characteristics of the past.
Comarques of Catalonia in the context of Val d'Aran
Aran (Occitan:[aˈɾan]; Catalan:[əˈɾan]; Spanish:[aˈɾan]) (often known as the Aran Valley, or Val d'Aran in Aranese Occitan; in other forms of Occitan: Vath d'Aran or Vau d'Aran; Catalan: Vall d'Aran; Spanish: Valle de Arán) is an autonomous administrative entity (formerly considered a comarca) in northwest Catalonia, Spain, consisting of 620.47 square kilometres (239.56 sq mi) in area, located in the Pyrenees mountains, in the Alt Pirineu i Aran region and in the province of Lleida. The capital is Vielha e Mijaran.
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 (for the same reason, the region is characterized by an Atlantic climate, instead of a Mediterranean one). The Garonne river flows through Aran from its source on the Pla de Beret (Beret Flat) near the Port de la Bonaigua. It is joined by the Joèu river (from the slopes of Aneto mountain) which passes underground at the Forau d'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 Noguera Pallaresa river, whose source is only a hundred meters from that of the Garonne, flows the opposite way towards the Mediterranean.