Alto Aragón (literally, ''Upper Aragon'' or ''Highlands of Aragon'' in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

; compare Upper Navarre, Upper Rioja) is the northernmost territories or highlands of

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, ...

, flanking the

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. ...

and includes the

Aneto Aneto is the highest mountain in the Pyrenees and in Aragon, Spain's third-highest mountain, reaching a height of . It is in the Spanish province of Huesca, the northernmost of three Aragonese provinces, south of the France–Spain border. I ...

Mountain, the highest peak in the entire Pyrenean chain. The term Alto Aragón, or highlands, is used to contrast with the

Bajo Aragón Bajo Aragón (; ; ), or Lower Aragon, is an administrative comarca in eastern central Aragon, Spain. It was first established in 1999. It has a population of 29,358 (2007) and an area of 1.304,2 km2. The seat of the comarca is in Alcañiz. I ...

, referring to the lowlands or flat plains of Aragon which roughly begins around the

Somontano Somontano is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) for wines, created in 1984, and located in the county of the same name, in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. It borders the regions of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza in the north, H ...

county of Huesca stretching south to the Ebro river basin. The term Alto Aragon is also used interchangeably to refer to the

Province of Huesca Huesca (; ), officially Huesca/Uesca, is a province of northeastern Spain, in northern Aragon. The capital is Huesca. Positioned just south of the central Pyrenees, Huesca borders France and the French departments of Haute-Garonne, Pyrénées- ...

when speaking of northern Aragon. The Alto Aragón or Highlands of Aragon are, historically and geographically, made up of the original independent counties of the Frankish

Marca Hispanica The Spanish March or Hispanic March was a march or military buffer zone established c. 795 by Charlemagne in the eastern Pyrenees and nearby areas, to protect the new territories of the Christian Carolingian Empire—the Duchy of Gascony, the D ...

, that would later expand to form the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Kingdom of Aragon The Kingdom of Aragon (; ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Monarchy, kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain. It became a part of the larger ...

. Usually used in a cultural context, the term Alto Aragón, when referring to "the Highlands", conveys a sense of cultural character - of noble, fiercely independent, Pyrenean

mountain people Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains. This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation. The climate is generally harsh, with s ...

: of mythic heroes, legends,

Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the most important military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded in 11 ...

s and

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

s. This strength of character is reflected in its architecture, mountain top villages, its robust cuisine, distinctive traditional clothing (now worn only in festivals, such as in

Ansó Ansó is a town and municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating populati ...

), folk music and dancing, and most especially, in its language. The

Aragonese language Aragonese ( ; in Aragonese) is a Romance languages, Romance language spoken in several dialects by about 12,000 people as of 2011, in the Pyrenees valleys of Aragon, Spain, primarily in the Comarca#Spain, comarcas of Somontano de Barbastro, Ja ...

was born in the Alto Aragón, the highlands, and today this is where it continues to be spoken most actively, by over 10,000 people.

External links

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Portal about Alto Aragon
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Website of the Diario del Alto Aragón (journal)
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Website about the villages of the Aragon valley
Pyrenees Geography of Aragon {{Aragon-geo-stub

See also

External links