Northern Catalonia, North Catalonia or French Catalonia is the Catalan-speaking and cultural territory ceded to France by Spain through the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 in exchange for France's effective renunciation to the protection over Catalonia in the context of the Reapers' War (1640–1659). The area corresponds roughly to the modern French département of the Pyrénées-Orientales which was historically part of the Principality of Catalonia since the old County of Barcelona, and remained part of it during the times of the Crown of Aragon and the Habsburg-ruled Monarchy of Spain, until they were separated and given to the Kingdom of France by the Crown of Spain.
The equivalent term in French, Catalogne du Nord, is used nowadays, although less often than the more politically neutral Roussillon (Catalan: Rosselló); Roussillon, though, historically did not include Vallespir, Conflent and Cerdagne (Cerdanya). The term Pays Catalan (País Català), "Catalan Country", is sometimes used.
