42°30′N 1°58′E / 42.500°N 1.967°E / 42.500; 1.967

French Cerdagne (highlighted) on a map of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in France.
Map of Catalonia and the historical comarques.

French Cerdagne (Catalan: Alta Cerdanya, IPA: [ˈaltə səɾˈðaɲə]) 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 a part of Catalonia). Catalans often refer to French Cerdagne as Upper Cerdanya (Catalan: Alta Cerdanya). It is the only French territory on the Iberian Peninsula, as it is located on the south side of the Pyrenees Range between France and Spain.[1][2][3] For example, the Segre river, which goes west and then south to meet the Ebro, has its source in the French Cerdagne. An inadvertent result of the Treaty of the Pyrenees is the Spanish exclave of Llívia (the small uncolored area in the map) which is sovereign Spanish territory surrounded by French Cerdagne.

French Cerdagne has no special status inside France, simply forming a physiographic region within the department of Pyrénées-Orientales, unlike the Spanish part of Cerdanya, which is officially a Catalan comarca called simply Cerdanya. In France, the French area is referred to as either Cerdagne française (i.e. "French Cerdagne"), Haute-Cerdagne (i.e. "Upper Cerdagne") or just Cerdagne.

French Cerdagne has a land area of 539.67 km² (208.37 sq. miles). Its 1999 population was 12,035, resulting in a density of only 22 people per km2 (58 per sq. mile).

French Cerdagne has the most cloud-free days in France, and was therefore chosen as the place to build:

Communes

There are 26 communes in French Cerdagne, all of them are parts of the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes, in the arrondissement of Prades.

Below is a list of the communes in alphabetical order. The population data are extracted from the 1999 French census (unless otherwise stated).

  1. Angoustrine-Villeneuve-des-Escaldes (Catalan: Angostrina) – pop. 549
  2. Bolquère (Catalan: Bolquera) – pop. 730 (779 at the 2004 census)
  3. Bourg-Madame (Catalan: La Guingueta d’Ix) – pop. 1,166 (1,198 at the 2004 census)
  4. Dorres – pop. 219
  5. Égat (Catalan Èguet) – pop. 494 (475 at the 2004 census)
  6. Enveitg (Catalan Enveig) – pop. 621
  7. Err (Catalan Er) – pop. 551
  8. Estavar – pop. 409
  9. Eyne (Catalan Eina) – pop. 127 (161 at the 2004 census)
  10. Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via (Catalan Font-Romeu, Odelló i Vià) – pop. 2,003
  11. La Cabanasse (Catalan La Cabanassa) – pop. 622 (756 at the 2004 census)
  12. Latour-de-Carol (Catalan La Tor de Querol) – pop. 367
  13. Llo – pop. 133
  14. Mont-Louis (Catalan Montlluís) – pop. 270
  15. Nahuja (Catalan Naüja) – pop. 63
  16. Osséja (Catalan Osseja) – pop. 1,282
  17. Palau-de-Cerdagne (Catalan Palau de Cerdanya) – pop. 424 (496 at the 2004 census)
  18. Planès – pop. 27
  19. Porta – pop. 98
  20. Porté-Puymorens (Catalan Portè) – pop. 147
  21. Saillagouse (Catalan Sallagosa) – pop. 820
  22. Saint-Pierre-dels-Forcats (Catalan Sant Pere dels Forcats) – pop. 213
  23. Sainte-Léocadie (Catalan Santa Llocaia) – pop. 140
  24. Targassonne (Catalan Targasona) – pop. 203 (194 at the 2004 census)
  25. Ur – pop. 308
  26. Valcebollère (Catalan: Vallsabollera) – pop. 49

See also

References

  1. ↑ Peter Sahlins (1989). Boundaries: The Making of France and Spain in the Pyrenees. University of California Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-520-91121-5.
  2. ↑ Paul Wilstach (1931). Along the Pyrenees. Robert M. McBride Company. p. 102.
  3. ↑ James Erskine Murray (1837). A Summer in the Pyrenees. J. Macrone. p. 92.

Further reading

  • Peter Sahlins, Boundaries. The Making of France and Spain in the Pyrenees (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1989). ISBN 0-520-07415-7
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