Aragon
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| Capital | Zaragoza | |
| Area
- % of Spain |
Ranked 4th
9,4% | |
| Population
- Density |
Ranked 11th
25,51/km² | |
| Demonym
- Spanish |
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| Statute of Autonomy | August 16, 1982 | |
| ISO 3166-2 | AR | |
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Congress seats Senate seats |
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| President | Marcelino Iglesias Ricou (PSOE) | |
| Gobierno de Aragón (http://www.aragob.es) | ||
Aragon (Spanish: Aragón; Aragonese language: Aragón; Catalan: Aragó) is an autonomous community of north-eastern Spain. It has an area of 47,719 km² with a population of 1,217,514 (2003).
Aragon is bounded on the north by France, on the east by Catalonia, on the south by Valencia, and on the west by Castile-La Mancha, Castile-Leon, La Rioja, and Navarre (Spanish: Navarra). It comprises the provinces of Zaragoza (English: Saragossa), Huesca, and Teruel.
Its capital is Zaragoza.
In addition to its three provinces, Aragon is subdivided into 33 comarcas (counties).
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Language
In addition to Spanish, there is an original Aragonese language, still spoken in some valleys of the Pyrenees, which is different from the Aragonese dialect of Castilian Spanish language.
Catalan is spoken as well in some comarques (counties) adjacent to Catalonia, in particular: the Ribagorzan dialect in Ribagorza (capital Benabarre) and Litera (capital Binefar), and a dialect similar to that of Terra Alta in Matarraña (capital Valderrobres) and Bajo Cinca (capital Fraga).
History
Aragín was a french feudal county (Jaca) self proclaimed kingdom, that was united to the kingdom of Pamplona (later Navarre) in 925. Splited the kingdom, Aragón was restablished in 1035 and until 1707 Aragon was also the name of an independent kingdom in personal union with Barcelona, and later with Castilla. Catalan kings of Aragón ruled not only the present administrative region but also Catalonia, and later the Balearic Islands, Valencia, Sicily, Naples and Sardinia (see Catalan-Aragonese Empire). The real centre of this kingdom was Barcelona, since it was the Catalan counts that inherited the Aragonese Crown and not the other way around. Present-day historians usually call the kingdom the "Catalan-Aragonese Confederation" or, some of them, simply "Catalonia-Aragon". Barcelona was the center of what was in many ways a Mediterranean Empire, ruling the Mediterranean Sea and setting rules for the entire sea (for instances, in the Llibre del Consolat del Mar (in Catalan).
See list of Kings of Aragon.
See list of Chancellors and Council Presidents of Aragón
See list of Liutenants of the Kingdom of Aragón
The dynastic union of Castile and Aragon in 1479, when Ferdinand II of Aragon wed Isabella I of Castile, led to the formal creation of Spain as a single entity in 1516. See List of Spanish monarchs and Kings of Spain family tree
See also
- River Aragón
- Aragonite
- Catherine of Aragon, 1st queen of Henry VIII of England
External links
- Government of Aragon (http://www.aragob.es) (in Spanish)
- Basic statistical data on Aragon (http://portal.aragob.es/servlet/page?_pageid=2885,591&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&cuerpo.est=ITPG_EHE_IAEST_001DB03_0%2CITPG_EHE_IAEST_001DB03_1%2CITPG_EHE_IAEST_001DB03_2&menu.est=ITM_EHE_IAEST_inicio_menu) (in Spanish)
- http://www.charrando.com/ Page about the Aragonese Language
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| Andalusia | Aragon | Asturias | Balearic Islands | Basque Country | Canary Islands | Cantabria | Castile-La Mancha | Castile-Leon | Catalonia | Extremadura | Galicia | La Rioja | Madrid | Murcia | Navarre | Valencia | Ceuta | Melilla | Plaza de soberanía | |
Aragon is also the name of a commune in the Aude département, in France
ast:Aragón ca:Aragó da:Aragonien de:Aragón es:Aragón eo:Aragono fr:Communauté autonome d'Aragon it:Aragona (Spagna) nl:Aragon ja:アラゴン州 pl:Aragonia ro:Aragon
Categories: Aragon