Table of Contents
Do Catalans understand French?
These days, just over 35\% of the population of Northern Catalonia speak Catalan, although 61\% understand the language. French is the only official language of the state, and France is still to ratify the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.
Are Catalans French or Spanish?
The current official category of “Catalans” is that of the citizens of Catalonia, an autonomous community in Spain and the inhabitants of the Roussillon historical region in southern France, today the Pyrénées Orientales department, also called Northern Catalonia and Pays Catalan in French.
Is Catalan a mix of Spanish and French?
Just as English isn’t a mix of Dutch or German or French, neither is Catalan a mix of French and Spanish. It is a Spanish language (una lengua española)—a language spoken in the Kingdom of Spain—but it’s no dialect, that’s for sure.
Is Galicia considered Basque?
The Basque Country is one of Spain’s autonomous regions and sits to the east of Asturias. Like Galicia, many Basques left Spain to live in South America and Argentina is a particular hot spot.
How many Catalans live in the Pays Catalan?
At least 100,000 Catalan speakers live in the Pays Catalan in France. An indeterminate number of Catalans emigrated to the Americas during the Spanish colonial period and to France in the years following the Spanish Civil War.
What is the difference between Catalan and French identity?
Given the stronger centralist tendencies in France, however, French Catalans display a much less dynamic sense of uniqueness, having been integrated more consistently into the unitary French national identity. The vast majority of Catalans reside in the autonomous community of Catalonia, in the northeast part of Spain.
What is the origin of the Catalans?
The Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: catalans; Spanish: catalanes, Italian: catalani) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia of mediterranean and Pyrenean descent, having its roots in the Pyrenees mountains. The current official category of “Catalans” is that of the citizens of Catalonia,…
What happened to the Catalans in Spain and France?
In France, strong assimilationist policies integrated many Catalans into French society, while in Spain a Catalan identity was increasingly suppressed in favor of a Spanish national identity. The Catalans regained autonomy during the Spanish Second Republic from 1932 until Francisco Franco ‘s nationalist forces retook Catalonia by 1939.