Cerdanya (; , ; , ) or often La Cerdanya is a natural comarca and

historical region History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

of the eastern

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

divided between

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Historically it was one of the counties of Catalonia. Cerdanya has a land area of , divided almost evenly between Spain (50.3%) and France (49.7%). In 2001 its population was approximately 26,500, of whom 53% lived on Spanish territory. Its population density is 24 residents per km² (63 per sq. mile). The only urban area in Cerdanya is the cross-border urban area of

Puigcerdà Puigcerdà (; , ) is the capital city, capital of the Catalan ''comarques of Catalonia, comarca'' of Cerdanya (comarca), Cerdanya, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, northern Spain, near the Segre River and on the border with France (it abuts ...

Bourg-Madame Bourg-Madame (; ; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localisation Bourg-Madame is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. It lies right on the ...

, which contained 10,900 inhabitants in 2001. The area enjoys a high annual amount of sunshine – around 3,000 hours per year. For this reason, pioneering large-scale solar power projects have been built in several locations in French Cerdagne, including

Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via (; ), or simply Odeillo, is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales and Cerdagne near the Spanish border in the south of France. It comprises the villages of Odeillo and Via, as well as Font-Romeu, one of the oldest ski reso ...

, the Themis plant near Targassonne, and Mont-Louis Solar Furnace in Mont-Louis.

History

Antiquity

The first inhabitants of Cerdanya probably spoke a language related to the old

Basque language Basque ( ; ) is a language spoken by Basques and other residents of the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, a region that straddles the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque ...

and to Aquitanian. Many place names testify to this. In the first millennium BC came the

Iberians The Iberians (, from , ''Iberes'') were an ancient people settled in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. They are described in Greek and Roman sources (among others, by Hecataeus of Mil ...

from the south. In Cerdanya they probably mixed with the native inhabitants, and the resulting people were known as the Kerretes, from the native word ''ker'' or ''kar'', meaning ''rock'', related to old Basque ''karri'' (modern Basque ''harri''), ''stone''. The Kerretes were probably essentially of Basque and Aquitanian-related stock, as the Iberian clans who mixed with the native inhabitants can have comprised only small numbers of people. The Kerretes retained a language related to old Basque and Aquitanian, although some Iberian words may have entered the language, and Iberians probably occupied positions at the top of the Kerrete society. The main

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...

of the Kerretes, commanding the whole country, was called ''Kere'' and was built on the hill above the modern-day village of

Llívia Llívia (; ) is a town in the '' comarca'' of Cerdanya, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It is a Spanish exclave surrounded by the French '' département'' of Pyrénées-Orientales. It is named after Livia, the wife of Augustus and matr ...

(a Spanish

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

in French territory). Later the Kerretes came under Roman rule, and the Romans renamed the oppidum ''Julia Lybica'', with a significant number of Roman citizens settling there. During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, the area of Cerdanya was a ''pagus'' known as ''pagus Liviensis'' (a name derived from its capital Julia Lybica), part of the province of

Hispania Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern North Region, Portugal, northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now ...

. The ''pagus Liviensis'' was itself divided in two: the eastern part around Julia Lybica was known as ''Cerretania Julia'', while the western part was known as ''Cerretania Augusta''. The name Cerdanya comes from ''Cerretania'', itself coming from the old name of the inhabitants, the Kerretes. As for Julia Lybica, the name evolved into ''Julia Livia'' and then ''Llívia''. The Kerretes seem to have kept their old language until very late, probably as late as the 8th or 9th century. Romanization in the area was extremely slow, even though eventually the native language gave way, and the people in Cerdanya ended up speaking Catalan, a language derived from Latin. At the end of the Roman Empire, Julia Lybica entered a period of decadence, and lost much of its importance. It is around this time that the town of

La Seu d'Urgell La Seu d'Urgell (; , formerly ''Urgell'') is a town located in Alt Urgell county in Alt Pirineu, Catalonia, Spain. The town is also the head of its judicial district and the seat of the Bishop of Urgell, one of the co-princes of Andorra. It is ...

(in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, but outside of Cerdanya) started to replace Julia Lybica as the main center of population in that area of northern Catalonia, and in the 6th century when the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

(bishopric) of Urgell was founded, Cerdanya was inside its limits.

Middle Ages

Devastated by the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

and other Germanic tribes, Cerdanya was part of the

Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

kingdom of

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

and later Toledo, until eventually it was conquered by the Muslims. After Muslim expansion was halted by

Odo the Great Odo the Great (also called ''Eudes'' or ''Eudo'') (died 735–740), was the Duke of Aquitaine by 700. His territory included Vasconia in the south-west of Gaul and the Duchy of Aquitaine (at that point located north-east of the river Garonne), ...

in the

Battle of Toulouse (721) The Battle of Toulouse (721) was a victory of an Aquitanian Christian army led by Odo the Great, Duke of Aquitaine over an Umayyad Muslim army besieging the city of Toulouse, led by al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani, the Umayyad '' wāli'' (g ...

, the Berber commander Uthman ibn Naissa established a small realm in Cerdanya and allied with Odo, so that the Aquitanian leader could secure his south-eastern borders. However, Uthman ibn Naissa came next under Umayyad attack and the Berber lord was defeated, opening the way to Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi's expedition into Aquitaine. During

Abd al-Rahman I Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiya ibn Hisham (; 7 March 731 – 30 September 788), commonly known as Abd al-Rahman I, was the founder and first emir of the Emirate of Córdoba, ruling from 756 to 788. He established the Umayyad dynasty in al-Andalus, ...

's military campaign across the Ebro region (781), the Cordovan commander received the submission of Ibn Belaskut, or Galindo Belascotenes, in Cerdanya. Under Carolingian pressure, Cerdanya became a Frankish vassal about 785. ;County of Cerdanya The

county of Cerdanya The County of Cerdanya (, ; ; , ) was one of the Catalan counties formed in the last decades of the 8th century by the Franks in the '' Marca Hispanica''. The original Cerdanya consisted of the valley of the upper Segre. Today Cerdanya is a Cata ...

has its origin in the Spanish Marches established by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

. In the 9th century, Cerdanya was one of the lordships united in the person of the

counts of Barcelona The count of Barcelona (, , , ) was the ruler of the County of Barcelona and also, by extension and according with the Usages of Barcelona, Usages and Catalan constitutions, of the Principality of Catalonia as Prince#Prince as generic for ruler, p ...

, who were also counts of

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

, and

Urgell Urgell (), also known as ''Baix Urgell'' (''baix'' meaning "lower", by contrast with Alt Urgell "Upper Urgell"), is a ''comarca'' (county) in Ponent, Catalonia (Spain), forming only a borderland portion of the region historically known as Urgel ...

Wilfred the Hairy {{Infobox noble, type , name = Wilfred , title = Count of Barcelona , image = , image_size = , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more = no , su ...

(count 870–897) had three sons and established the youngest, Miron (died 927), as Count of Cerdanya, a sovereign state. The sovereign county of Cerdanya bordered the

county of Urgell The County of Urgell (, ; ) is one of the historical Catalan counties, bordering on the counties of County of Pallars, Pallars and Cerdanya. History The county of Urgell was carved by the Franks out of a former section of the Mark of Toulouse w ...

, the

county of Barcelona The County of Barcelona (, ) was a polity in northeastern Iberian Peninsula, originally located in the southern frontier region of the Carolingian Empire. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona progressively achieved independence from F ...

, the

county of Besalú The County of Besalú (, ; ) was one of the landlocked medieval Catalan counties near the Mediterranean coastline. It was roughly coterminous with the modern ''comarca'' of Garrotxa and at various times extended as far north as Corbières, Aud ...

, the

county of Roussillon The County of Roussillon (, , ) was one of the Catalan counties in the Marca Hispanica during the Middle Ages. The rulers of the county were the counts of Roussillon, whose interests lay both north and south of the Pyrenees. The historic cou ...

, and the county of Razès. The county of Cerdanya was made up of Cerdanya proper with the addition of other areas which it managed to acquire over time through inheritance, such as Capcir and Conflent. Thus, the county of Cerdanya was actually quite an important county. The counts of Cerdanya were great patrons of abbeys, most famously Saint-Michel de Cuxa (Catalan: ''Sant Miquel de Cuixà''), dating back to the 10th century and located in Conflent, and Saint-Martin-du-Canigou (Catalan: ''Sant Martí del Canigó''), dedicated by Count Guifred of Cerdanya in 1009. However, the line of the counts died out in 1117 and the county was inherited by the counts of Barcelona, later to become

kings of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...

Modern times

Cerdanya proper was split between Spain and France by the

Treaty of the Pyrenees The Treaty of the Pyrenees(; ; ) was signed on 7 November 1659 and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were conducted and the treaty was signed on Pheasant Island, situated in the middle of the Bidasoa River on ...

of 1659, with the north of Cerdanya becoming French, while the south of Cerdanya remained Spanish. The counties of Rosselló, Capcir, and Conflent also became French at that time. Today, the Spanish side of Cerdanya is a Catalan ''comarca'' known as Baixa Cerdanya (i.e. "Lower Cerdanya"), and whose capital is

. Puigcerdà was already the capital of Cerdanya before the division of 1659, having replaced Hix in 1178 as capital of Cerdanya. Hix, the place where the counts of Cerdanya resided, is now a village inside the commune of

on the French side of the border. Hix had itself replaced

, which was the ancient capital of Cerdanya in Antiquity. At the Treaty of the Pyrenees it was decided that Llívia would remain Spanish (allegedly because the treaty stipulated that only villages were to be ceded to France, and Llívia was considered a city and not a village, due to its status as the ancient capital of Cerdanya), so Llívia is now an

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

of Spain inside French territory. The French side of Cerdanya is part of the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' of

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ; ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spain, Spanish ...

and has no particular status. People in France refer to it as ''Cerdagne française'' (that is, "French Cerdanya"), or just ''Cerdagne'', while people on the Spanish side refer to it as '' Alta Cerdanya'' ("Upper Cerdanya"). Its main towns are Bourg-Madame and the ski resort of Font-Romeu. Despite the split between France and Spain, ties remain between families on both sides of the border, with frequent travel from one country to the other. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Cerdanya has been the place of an important smuggling trade in which horses and mules went from French to Spanish Cerdanya, before being sold to the French army and going back to France through

Le Perthus Le Perthus (, , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France. Natives of Le Perthus are called ''Perthusiens'' and, in 2021, there were 560 inhabitants. Le Perthus is also on ...

Municipalities

French side

Known as

French Cerdagne French Cerdagne (, ) 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 a ...

(Catalan: ''Alta Cerdanya''), it is part of the

French department In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

, this one itself part of the Occitanie region. It has no special administrative self-government status apart from that of the department, thus solely being a

physiographic region Physiographic regions are a means of defining Earth's landforms into independently distinct, mutually exclusive areas, independent of political boundaries. It is based upon the classic three-tiered approach by Nevin M. Fenneman in 1916, that separ ...

within the department. *

Angoustrine-Villeneuve-des-Escaldes Angoustrine-Villeneuve-des-Escaldes (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localisation Angoustrine-Villeneuve-des-Escaldes is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arr ...

(Catalan: ''Angostrina'') * Bolquère (Catalan: ''Bolquera'') *

(Catalan: ''La Guingueta d’Ix'') *

Dorres Dorres (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France. Geography Localisation Dorres is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Pr ...

* Égat (Catalan ''Èguet'') *

Enveitg Enveitg (; , ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localization Enveitg is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. Transport Latour-de-Car ...

(Catalan ''Enveig'') * Err (Catalan ''Er'') * Estavar * Eyne (Catalan ''Eina'') *

(Catalan ''Font-Romeu'' or ''Odelló i Vià'') *

La Cabanasse La Cabanasse (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales Departments of France, department in southern France. Geography Localisation La Cabanasse is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondis ...

(Catalan ''La Cabanassa'') *

Latour-de-Carol Latour-de-Carol (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localization Latour-de-Carol is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. Transport Th ...

(Catalan ''La Tor de Querol'') * Llo * Mont-Louis (Catalan ''Montlluís'') * Nahuja (Catalan ''Naüja'') * Osséja (Catalan ''Osseja'') * Palau-de-Cerdagne (Catalan ''Palau de Cerdanya'') *

Planès Planès () is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Planès is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. Planès station has rail connections to Villef ...

(Catalan ''Planès'') * Porta *

Porté-Puymorens Porté-Puymorens (; ; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Porté-Puymorens is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. Porté-Puymorens station ha ...

(Catalan ''Portè'') * Saillagouse (Catalan ''Sallagosa'') * Saint-Pierre-dels-Forcats (Catalan ''Sant Pere dels Forcats'') * Sainte-Léocadie (Catalan ''Santa Llocaia'') * Targassonne (Catalan ''Targasona'') * Ur *

Valcebollère Valcebollère (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Valcebollère is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prades. Population See also *Commune ...

(Catalan: ''Vallsabollera'')

Spanish side

Known as Baixa Cerdanya. Unlike its French counterpart, it does constitute its own administrative division inside the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

as a comarca or county, with its own self-ruling institutions known as the Comarcal Council of Cerdanya, inside the already self-ruling autonomous Catalonia. All municipalities of Baixa Cerdanya are part of the Catalan region of Alt Pirineu, this one itself divided between the Spanish provinces of

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

and

Economy

Like neighboring areas of the Pyrenees, Cerdanya relies on tourism to provide strong support for the economy. Spas, skiing, and hiking are long-established attractions. In addition the

Yellow Train The ''Ligne de Cerdagne'' (), usually referred to as ''Le Petit Train Jaune'' (, ), is a track gauge, gauge Narrow gauge railway, railway that runs from Villefranche-de-Conflent to Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg in the France, French Pyrenees. Histor ...

is a major tourist attraction. La Cerdanya is best known amongst Barcelona locals and tourists for its skiing. "Masella" ski resort, located close to Urus and Alp, opened on January 3 and, due to the mountain's orientation to the North, offers one the longest skiing season in the Pyrenees. The ski station today boasts of 62 slopes with 15 ski lifts, and since 2013, has nocturnal skiing. Physically adjacent to Masella, though requiring a different ski pass, is "La Molina" with 68 ski slopes. Due to La Cerdanya's close proximity to Andorra and France, its residents also enjoy skiing in "Font Romeu," "Formigueres," "Les Angles," and "Grandvalira."

Notable people

* Dr. José Baselga, oncologist

History

Antiquity

Middle Ages

Modern times

Municipalities

French side

Spanish side

Economy

Notable people

References

External links