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Barcelona within Barcelonès | |||||
| Population ( 2003) | 1,582,738 | ||||
| Area | 100'4 Km2 | ||||
| Population density ( 2001) | 15,764/Km2 | ||||
Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, an autonomous region in northeastern Spain (41º 23' N, 2º 11' E). It is in the comarca of Barcelonès. It is also the largest city of Spain after Madrid. Barcelona is located on the Mediterranean coast, between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs , 160 km south of the Pyrenees mountain range, the border with France. As of the 2003 censusA census is the process of obtaining information about every member of a population (not necessarily a human population). It can be contrasted with sampling in which information is only obtained from a subset of a population. As such it is a method used f, the population of the city of Barcelona was 1,582,738, and the population of the entire urban area was estimated to be 4,667,136. The mayor of Barcelona is Joan Clos.
Legend attributes the CarthaginianThis article is about the ancient city-state of Carthage in North Africa. For other uses of the word, see Carthage (disambiguation). Mediterranean Sea, showing location of Carthage (near modern Tunis). Map also shows Italy and the islands Sicily, Sardinia foundation of Barcino to Hamilcar BarcaHamilcar Barca (about 270 228 BC), or Barcas ( Hebrew barak "lightning"), was a Carthaginian general and statesman, father of Hannibal. He distinguished himself during the First Punic War in 247, when he took over the chief command in Sicily, which at thi, father of HannibalHannibal Barca ( 247 BC- 182 BC) was a military commander of ancient Carthage, best known for his achievements in the Second Punic War in marching an army from Spain over the Pyrenees and the Alps into northern Italy and defeating the Romans at the Battle. Later on, Romans redrew the town as a castrumIn the Roman Empire, a castra (the plural form of castrum, castri a fortification) was a Roman military camp. Roman camps were always constructed according to a certain pattern, with two main crossing streets: the " Cardus Maximus", running north and sout (a Roman military camp) centered on the Mons Taber, a little hill nearby the contemporary city hall (Plaça de Sant Jaume). This planning is still visible today on the map of the historical center and the remaining fragments of the Roman walls. Important Roman remains are exposed under the Plaça del Rei, entrance by the city museum, Museu d'Història de la Ciutat. The city was conquered by the Visigoths in the 5th century, by the Moors in the 8th century, reconquered in 801 by the Frankish kings, and sacked by Al-Mansur in 985.
Barcelona became a Frankish county, which eventually became independent and expanded to include the Principate of Catalonia, later formed the Kingdom of Aragon who conquered many overseas possessions, ruling the Mediterranean Sea from Barcelona to Athens. The forging of a dynastic link between the Catalonia-Aragon Confederation and Castile marked the beginning of Barcelona's decline. This legacy exists to this day as evidenced by the fact that the city (and Catalonia as a whole) still has a substantial proportion of people whose first language is Castilian.
The city was devastated after the Catalonian Republic of 1640 - 1652, and again during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714. King Philip V demolished half of the merchants' quarter (La Ribera) to build a military citadel as a way of both punishing and controlling the rebel city.
During the 19th century, Barcelona grew with the industrial revolution and the introduction of many new industries. During a period of weaker control by the Madrid authorities, the medieval walls were torn down and the citadel of La Ribera was converted into an urban park: the modern Parc de la Ciutadella, site of the 1888 "Universal Exposition" ( World's Fair). The exposition also left behind the Arc de Triomf and the Museu de Zoologia (a building originally used during the fair as a cafe-restaurant). The fields that had surrounded the artificially constricted city became the Eixample ("extension"), a bustling modern city surrounding the old.
The beginning of the 20th century marked Barcelona's resurgence as Catalans clamoured for political autonomy and greater freedom of cultural expression.
Barcelona was a stronghold for the anarchist cause, siding with the Republic's democratically elected government during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). It was overrun by Franco's forces in 1939, which ushered in a reign of cultural and political repression that lasted decades. The protest movement of the 1970s and the demise of the dictatorship turned Barcelona into a centre of cultural vitality, enabling it to become the thriving city it is today. While it may still be the second city of Spain, it has a charm and air that is unique and prized. A decline in the inner city population and displacement towards the outskirts and beyond raises the threat of urban sprawl.
The city has been the focus of the revival of the Catalan language. Despite the immigration of Castilian speakers from other parts of Spain during the Franco dictaorship for political and economic reasons to Barcelona, there has been notable success in the increased use of Catalan in everyday life.
Barcelona was the site of the 1992 Summer Olympics. The city's controversial Forum of Cultures was held between May and September 2004, lasting a marathon 141 days.
See also: List of Counts of Barcelona