Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...

, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .Indicadors geogràfics. Superfície, densitat i entitats de població
- idescat.cat 5,743,402 people live in the province, of whom about 29% (1,664,182)
- Instituto Nacional de Estadística. (National Statistics Institute) live within the administrative limits of the

city of Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, which itself is contained in the

Barcelona metropolitan area The Barcelona urban area is an urban area in Catalonia (Spain) centered on the city of Barcelona and located less than 100 km south of the border with France. With a population of over 5 million, it is the most populous urban area on the ...

Divisions

The capital of the province is the city of Barcelona, and the provincial council is based in the Casa Serra on the Rambla de Catalunya in that city. Some other cities and towns in Barcelona province include

L'Hospitalet de Llobregat L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (; es, Hospitalet de Llobregat), often shortened to L'Hospitalet or just L'H, is a municipality of Spain, located to the immediate southwest of Barcelona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is part of the Bar ...

Badalona Badalona (, , , ) is a municipality to the immediate north east of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Besòs River and on the Mediterranean Sea, in the Barcelona metropolitan area. By population, it is the third l ...

, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Martorell, Mataró, Granollers, Sabadell, Terrassa, Sitges,

Igualada Igualada () is a municipality in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Anoia River and at the western end of the Igualada-Martorell-Barcelona Railway. Igualada is the capital and central market of the ...

Vic Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense) ...

, Manresa, Berga. See also List of municipalities in Barcelona. Since the division by provinces in Spain and the division by ''

comarques This is a list of the 42 ''comarques'' (singular ''comarca'', , ) into which Catalonia is divided. A ''comarca'' is a group of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the US or a district or council in the UK. However, in the contex ...

'' in Catalonia do not completely agree, the term ''comarques of the province of Barcelona'' would not be entirely correct. However, a list of the ''comarques'' that are included—totally or partially—in the province of Barcelona can be made: *Fully included: **

Alt Penedès Alt Penedès () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, northern Spain. The capital is Vilafranca del Penedès Vilafranca del Penedès, or simply Vilafranca (), is the capital of the ''comarca'' of the Alt Penedès in Catalonia, Spain. The Spani ...

Anoia Anoia () is a comarca (county) in central Catalonia, Spain, with its capital at Igualada. The comarca of l'Anoia is irrigated by the Anoia River; the leading industry is the making of paper. To the north are Solsonès and Bages, to the west, ...

Bages Bages () is a comarca (county) in the center of Catalonia, Spain. It includes a ''subcomarca'', Lluçanès. Industries include the mining of potash at Súria and Sallent, and the manufacture of textiles along the rivers Llobregat and Ca ...

Baix Llobregat Baix Llobregat () is a comarca (county) on the coast of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Sant Feliu de Llobregat. Municipalities Proposed changes It has long been proposed to split the northern part of Baix Llobregat into a separate comarca. ...

** Barcelonès ** Garraf **

Maresme Maresme () is a ''comarca'' (county) located along the Catalan Mediterranean coast in Spain, between the ''comarques'' of Barcelonès (at the Southwest) and Selva (at the Northeast), and also bordering with Vallès Oriental (at the west). Its ...

Moianès Moianès () is a ''comarca'' in the centre of Catalonia, Spain. It became a comarca in May 2015, following approval in a local referendum and by the Parliament of Catalonia. Its 10 municipalities were in the comarques of Bages, Osona, and Vallè ...

** Vallès Occidental **

Vallès Oriental Vallès Oriental () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Granollers. Along with Vallès Occidental it forms the grand comarca of Vallès. In May 2015, Vallès Oriental lost four municipalities - Castellcir, Castellterçol ...

*Partially included: ** Berguedà (all

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

except Gósol) **

Osona Osona () is a comarca situated in Catalonia, Northeast Spain. Its capital is Vic. Its population in 2001 was 129,543. Osona covers roughly the same area as the historic Catalan county of Osona. The name Osona comes from ''Ausetans'', a group of ...

(all municipalities except

Espinelves Espinelves is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Osona in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the Guilleries in the east of the ''comarca''. Forestry is the main economic activity of the municipality, particularly the cultivation of the local ...

Vidrà Vidrà is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Osona in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the valley of the Ges river, between the Bellmunt and Milany ranges, in the north of the ''comarca''. It is linked to Sant Quirze de Besora by a local r ...

and

Viladrau Viladrau is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Osona in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the south-east of the ''comarca'', beneath the massifs of the Guilleries and the Montseny, and is served by the GE-520 road, which links the municipal ...

) **

Selva Selva () is a coastal comarque (county) in Catalonia, Spain, located between the mountain range known as the Serralada Transversal or Puigsacalm and the Costa Brava (part of the Mediterranean coast). Unusually, it is divided between the provin ...

(only the municipality of

Fogars de la Selva Fogars de la Selva is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Selva in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated to the north of the Montnegre range, and is linked to Tordera by a local road. The village used to be called Fogars de Tordera, and is the on ...

)

Geography

The

Catalan Pre-Coastal Range The Catalan Pre-Coastal Range ( ca, Serralada Prelitoral Catalana) is a system of mountain ranges running parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast in Catalonia. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System. Its main axis runs between the Catal ...

and

Catalan Coastal Range The Catalan Coastal Range ( ca, Serralada Litoral Catalana, ) is a system of mountain ranges running parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System. Its main axis runs between the Fo ...

mountains run through the Province of Barcelona. There are several notable smaller mountain ranges that are located in the province, including

Montseny Massif Montseny () is a mountain range west of the coastal hills north of Barcelona. It is part of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range. Features The Montseny massif is located within a triangle formed by the AP-7, C-17 and C-25 roads. It has the highes ...

Serra de Collserola The Serra de Collserola (), or simply Collserola, is a mountain range between the rivers Besòs and Llobregat. It is part of the Catalan Coastal Range. These mountains separate Barcelona from the Vallès plain and their tallest peak is the Tib ...

, and

Tibidabo Tibidabo () is a hill overlooking Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. At , it is the tallest hill in the Serra de Collserola. Rising sharply to the north-west, it has views over the city and the surrounding coastline. The summit of the hill is occupie ...

. Pedraforca is the tallest mountain in the province, located on the north side as part of the Pre-Pyrenees.

is the mountain that overlooks the city of Barcelona. The majority of the Province of Barcelona has a Mediterranean climate on the coast and an oceanic climate inland.

Population development

The historical population is given in the following chart: Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:40 bottom:40 top:20 right:20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:6000 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:100 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo PlotData= color:skyblue width:25 shift:(-60,-5) fontsize:M anchor:till bar:1857 from:0 till: 713 text: 713,734 bar:1877 from:0 till: 828 text: 827,629 bar:1887 from:0 till: 880 text: 879,771 bar:1900 from:0 till:1053 text:1,052,977 bar:1910 from:0 till:1136 text:1,136,068 bar:1920 from:0 till:1341 text:1,340,906 bar:1930 from:0 till:1729 text:1,728,683 bar:1940 from:0 till:1936 text:1,935,707 bar:1950 from:0 till:2216 text:2,215,901 bar:1960 from:0 till:2839 text:2,838,801 bar:1970 from:0 till:3915 text:3,915,010 bar:1980 from:0 till:4623 text:4,623,204 bar:1990 from:0 till:4654 text:4,654,407 bar:2000 from:0 till:4806 text:4,805,927 bar:2010 from:0 till:5523 text:5,522,565 bar:2020 from:0 till:5743 text:5,743,402 TextData= pos:(35,20) fontsize:M text:"Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE"

Notes and references

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barcelona, Province of