Ponent, also known as the Lleida region following the vegueries law, is the westernmost of the eight regions ( ''vegueries'') defined by the Regional Plan of

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 ...

. It has an area of 5,586 km², and 365,289 inhabitants as of 2022. The region includes the ''

comarques The comarques of Catalonia (singular ''comarca'', , ), often referred to in English as counties, are an administrative division of Catalonia. Each comarca comprises a number of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the United States. ...

'' of

Segrià Segrià () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia (Spain). It is located in the western region of Ponent, bordering Aragon. , over two thirds of its population live in the capital city of Lleida, which is also Catalonia's sixth largest municipality ...

, Garrigues, Noguera,

Pla d'Urgell Pla d'Urgell () is a comarca (county) in the Ponent region of Catalonia, Spain. The capital is the city of Mollerussa Mollerussa () is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Pla d'Urgell, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia Catalonia is a ...

Segarra Segarra () is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca (county) in Ponent, Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Catalonia (Spain), situated on a high plain. Historically, the name referred to a larger area than the current comarca. It has a continental cl ...

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 ...

. Within Catalonia, it borders to the north with Alt Pirineu, to the east with Central Catalonia,

Penedès Penedès () is a natural region, natural and historical region of Catalonia. It is located in the south of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain between the pre-coastal mountain range (''Serralada Pre-litoral'') and the Mediterranean Sea. ...

and

Camp de Tarragona Camp de Tarragona () is a Natural region, natural and historical region, as well as one of the nine Vegueries of Catalonia, regions (''vegueries'') of Catalonia. It is the third most populated region, with 536,453 inhabitants as of 2022. The re ...

, and to the south with

Terres de l'Ebre Terres de l'Ebre (, in English 'Ebro, Ebre Lands') is the south-westernmost of the eight regions (Vegueria, ''vegueries'') defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia. It has a population of 182,231 as of 2022, placing it second to last in terms of ...

. Outside of administrative terms, the name is sometimes used including the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

ese ''comarques'' of Baix Cinca and La Llitera, which are part of the Catalan-speaking territory in Aragon known as Franja de Ponent. Its capital is the city 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 ...

Name

The region's name, inherited from Latin '' ponentem'' (putting, setting), refers to the west (of Catalonia). Other traditional names include ''Terres de Ponent'' (''Lands of Ponent'') and ''Terra Ferma''. Some political sectors have spoken out in favour of and against the name of the vegueria including the capital's name, those in favour proposing names such as ''Terres de Lleida'', ''Comarques de Lleida'', or ''Terres Lleidatanes'', with the final name being simply the ''Lleida region''. The region's demonym is ''ponentí'' () ( pl. ''ponentins'').

Demography

The economy is focused on agriculture, although major populations have a large concentration of services and food processing industries. The most important city is Lleida, followed by Balaguer,

Tàrrega Tàrrega (, ) is a town and municipality located in the Urgell (comarca), Urgell Comarques of Catalonia, comarca, Province of Lleida, Catalonia. According to the 2020 census (Statistical Institute of Catalonia), the town has a population of It ha ...

and

Mollerussa Mollerussa () is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Pla d'Urgell, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Au ...

. Other important towns are

Cervera Cervera () is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Segarra, in the province of Lleida, Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Spain. The title Comte de Cervera is a courtesy title, formerly part of the Crown of Aragon, that has been revived for Leonor ...

Les Borges Blanques Les Borges Blanques () is the capital of the comarca of Les Garrigues, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. According to the 2014 census, the municipality has a population of . Geography It lies in the southern sector of the central Cata ...

Agramunt Agramunt () is a municipality (''municipi'') in the ''comarca'' of the Urgell in Catalonia. It is situated in the north of the ''comarca'', near the border with the Noguera. It has a population of . The town centre is protected as a historic-art ...

Artesa de Segre Artesa de Segre () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Noguera in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the valley of the Segre river, between Ponts and Balaguer. The municipal territory extends as far as the confluence of the Segre wit ...

, Ponts and, while administratively part of Aragon, the city of

Fraga Fraga (; ) is the major town of the ''comarca'' of Bajo Cinca () in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. It is located by the river Cinca. According to the 2014 census, the municipality has a population of 14,926 inhabitants. King Alfonso I ...

References

{{coord, 41, 41, 47, N, 0, 54, 51, E, region:ES-CT_type:adm2nd_source:kolossus-cawiki, display=title Geography of Catalonia Functional territorial sections of Catalonia