View source for Val d'Aran

{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->
 | name                   = Aran
 | native_name            = 
 | native_name_lang       = oc
 | settlement_type        = [[Comarques of Catalonia|Unique territorial entity]]
 | image_skyline          = pano of Bossòst in Aran Valley in Spain-cropped.jpg
 | image_alt              =
 | imagesize              = 280
 | image_caption          = Panorama of Aran, with [[Bossòst]] to the left
 | image_flag             = Flag-Val d'Aran.svg
 | flag_alt               =
 | image_shield           = Escut_de_la_Vall_d'Aran.svg
 | nickname               =
 | motto                  =
 | anthem                 = {{native name|oc|[[Se Canta|Montanhes araneses]]}}<br />{{small|"Aranese mountains"}}<br> {{center|[[File:Montanhes Araneses - Se Canta.ogg]]}}
 | image_map              = Vegueria of Aran in Catalonia.png
 | map_alt                =
 | map_caption            = Location of Aran (red) in Catalonia
 | latd                   =
 | latm                   =
 | lats                   =
 | latNS                  =
 | longd                  =
 | longm                  =
 | longs                  =
 | longEW                 =
 | coordinates             = <!-- {{Coord}} -->
 | coor_pinpoint           = 
 | coordinates_footnotes   =
 | subdivision_type  = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
 | subdivision_name  = {{flag|Spain}}
 | subdivision_type1 = [[Autonomous communities of Spain|Autonomous community]]
 | subdivision_name1 = {{flag|Catalonia}}
 | subdivision_type2 = [[Vegueria|Region]]
 | subdivision_name2 = N/A
 | subdivision_type3 = [[Subdivisions of Catalonia#Area|Area]]
 | subdivision_name3 = ''Alt Pirineu i Aran''
 | subdivision_type4 = [[Provinces of Spain|Province]]
 | subdivision_name4 = [[Lleida (province)|Lleida]]
 | seat_type              = [[Capital (political)|Capital]]
 | seat                   = [[Vielha e Mijaran]]
 | parts_type             = Municipalities
 | parts_style            = list
 | p1 = [[Arres]], [[Bausen]], [[Bossòst]], [[Es Bòrdes]], [[Canejan]], [[Les, Catalonia|Les]], [[Naut Aran]], [[Vielha e Mijaran]], [[Vilamòs]]
 | government_type        =
 | governing_body         = ''[[Conselh Generau d'Aran]]''
 | government_footnotes   =
 | leader_title           = ''[[Síndic d'Aran]]''
 | leader_name            = [[Maria Vergés Pérez]]
 | leader_party           = [[Unity of Aran|UA]]-[[Socialists' Party of Catalonia|PSC]]
 | area_footnotes         =
 | area_total_km2         = 633.5
 | elevation_footnotes    =
 | elevation_m            =
 | population_footnotes   =
 | population_total       = 9,993
 | population_as_of       = 2014
 | population_density_km2 = auto
 | population_demonym = {{Plainlist|
* [[English language|English]]: Aranese
* [[Occitan language|Occitan]]: aranés (m), aranesa (f) }}
 | population_note        =
 | blank_name_sec1 = [[List of municipalities of Spain|Largest municipality]]
 | blank_info_sec1 = [[Vielha e Mijaran]]
 | timezone1       = [[Central European Time|CET]]
 | utc_offset1     = +1
 | timezone1_DST   = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
 | utc_offset1_DST = +2
 | blank_name_sec2 = [[Official language]]s
 | blank_info_sec2 = {{Plainlist|
* [[Occitan language|Occitan]] ([[Aranese dialect|Aranese]])
* [[Catalan language|Catalan]]
* [[Spanish language|Spanish]] }}
 | postal_code_type       = [[List of postal codes in Spain|Postal code]]
 | postal_code            =
 | area_code_type         = [[Telephone numbers in Spain|Dialing code]]
 | area_code              =
 | website                = {{nowrap|[http://www.conselharan.org// Conselh Generau d'Aran]}}
 | footnotes              =
}}

'''Aran''' ({{IPA|oc|aˈɾan|lang}}; {{IPA|ca|əˈɾan|lang}}; {{IPA|es|aˈɾan|lang}}) (often known as the '''Aran Valley''', or '''Val d'Aran''' in [[Aranese dialect|Aranese Occitan]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=Patrimoni culturau dera Val d’Aran {{!}} Conselh Generau d’Aran |url=https://www.conselharan.org/cultura/patrimoni-culturau-dera-val-daran/ |language=oc|access-date=2023-05-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ua lengua oficiau {{!}} Conselh Generau d’Aran |url=https://www.conselharan.org/ua-lengua-oficiau/ |language=oc |access-date=2023-05-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ua lengua romanica {{!}} Conselh Generau d’Aran |url=https://www.conselharan.org/ua-lengua-romanica/ |language=oc |access-date=2023-05-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Visit Val d'Aran |url=https://www.visitvaldaran.com/ca/ |access-date=2023-05-30 |website= Visit Val d'Aran - Val d'Aran. Era esséncia des Pirinèus, official tourist website of Val d'Aran |language=ca}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Val d'Aran {{!}} Visit Pirineus (part of the official tourist website of the Generalitat de Catalunya) |url=https://www.visitpirineus.com/ca/destinations/val-daran |access-date=2023-05-30 |website=www.visitpirineus.com}}</ref> in other forms of Occitan: ''Vath d'Aran'' or ''Vau d'Aran'', in Catalan: ''Vall d'Aran'', in Spanish: ''Valle de Arán'') is an autonomous administrative entity (formerly considered a [[Comarques of Catalonia|comarca]]) in northwest [[Catalonia]], [[Spain]], consisting of {{convert|620.47|km2|mi2}} in area, located in the [[Pyrenees]] mountains, in the [[Alt Pirineu|Alt Pirineu i Aran]] region and in the [[province of Lleida]]. The capital is [[Vielha e Mijaran]].

This valley constitutes the only contiguous part of Catalonia located on the northern side of the Pyrenees. Hence, this valley holds the only Catalan rivers to flow into the [[Atlantic Ocean]] (for the same reason, the region is characterized by an Atlantic climate, instead of a Mediterranean one). The [[Garonne]] river flows through Aran from its source on the Pla de Beret (Beret Flat) near the [[Port de la Bonaigua]]. It is joined by the Joèu river (from the slopes of [[Aneto|Aneto mountain]]) which passes underground at the ''[[Aigualluts|Forau d'Aigualluts]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Forau de Aigualluts ✅ |url=https://www.benasque.com/es/todo-valle-de-benasque/excursion-forau-aigualluts |access-date=2023-05-30 |website=Portal Benasque |language=es}}</ref> It then reappears in the Val dera Artiga de Lin before reaching the Aran valley, then through France and eventually to the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. The [[Noguera Pallaresa]] river, whose source is only a hundred meters from that of the Garonne, flows the opposite way towards the [[Mediterranean]].

Aran borders [[France]] on the north, the Autonomous Community of [[Aragon]] to the west and the [[Catalonia|Catalan]] [[Comarques of Catalonia|comarques]] of [[Alta Ribagorça]] to the south and [[Pallars Sobirà]] to the east. Its capital, Vielha e Mijaran, has 5,474 inhabitants (2014). The entire population of the valley is about 9,991 (2014). As of 2001, a plurality of people in Aran spoke Spanish (38.78%) as their native language, followed by [[Aranese dialect|Aranese]] (34.19%), then Catalan (19.45%) with 7.56% having a different native language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www20.gencat.cat/docs/Llengcat/Documents/Altres/Arxius/aran_cens.pdf |title=Cens lingüístic de l'aranès de 2001 |access-date=2012-08-06}}</ref> While Aranese is the mother tongue of 62.87% of people born in the region, it is less frequent among residents born outside the valley.<ref>[http://www20.gencat.cat/docs/Llengcat/Documents/Altres/Arxius/aran_cens.pdf Cens lingüístic de l'aranès de 2001 (section 10: Llengua materna de la població de la Val d'Aran. Distribució per lloc de naixement. 2001)] (in Catalan)</ref>

==History==
{{expand language|langcode=ca|topic=geography|otherarticle=Història d'Aran|date=June 2020}}
In 1313, [[James II of Aragon]] granted administrative and political autonomy to the Aran Valley, the legal details of which are described in a [[Latin language|Latin]] manuscript called the [[Querimonia]]. The devolution of power was a reward for the Aranese pledging allegiance to James II in a dispute with the kingdoms of France and Mallorca over control of the valley.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Turell|editor-first1=M. Teresa|title=Multilingualism in Spain : sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic aspects of linguistic minority groups|date=2001|publisher=Multilingual Matters|location=Clevedon [u.a.]|isbn=9781853594915|page=142|edition=[Online-Ausg.].|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=li0Fmtfxd6kC&q=querimonia+aran&pg=PA142|access-date=19 August 2015}}</ref> This status was suppressed in 1834, when the Valley was integrated into the new Province of Lleida, in the context of the establishment of the Spanish provinces at the beginning of the liberal state.

On 19 October 1944, [[Spanish Communist Party]] [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]]s [[Invasion of Val d'Aran|invaded the valley]] in an attempt to bring about the fall of the Spanish [[Francisco Franco|dictatorship]]. They took control of several villages until October 27, 1944, but were forced to retreat back into France after Franco sent reinforcements to defend Vielha.<ref name=elpais>{{cite web|last1=Rodríguez Marcos|first1=Javier|title=El valle de la libertad|url=http://elpais.com/diario/2010/08/15/eps/1281853616_850215.html|website=elpais.com|publisher=El Pais|access-date=18 August 2015|language=es}}</ref>

Before the construction of the [[Vielha tunnel]], opened in 1948, the Aran valley had no direct communication with the south side of the mountains during winter.

In 1987 it became an administrative comarca. In 1990 the special status of Aran within Catalonia was restored by the [[Parliament of Catalonia]], reestablishing the Conselh Generau, granting it a degree of home rule and declaring Occitan as official language. In 2015 the Catalan Parliament passed a new law which increased the powers of the Conselh Generau and recognized Aran as an "Occitan national reality".<ref name=RB>{{Cite book |last=Brandtjen |first=Roland |title=The valley and the rock: europeanized separatism and Iberian micro-nations: secession to gain full EU-Membership?: an analysis of Gibraltar and the Val d'Aran |date=2021 |publisher=Verlag Dr. Kovač |isbn=978-3-339-12272-8 |series=Schriftenreihe Schriften zur Europapolitik |location=Hamburg}}</ref>

The population of Val d'Aran has generally been opposed to the [[Catalan independence movement]] due to lack of a strong Catalan identity.<ref name=RB />

==Name and local language==
[[File:Occitan-Dialects.PNG|thumb|Map of southern France with the Occitan dialects, showcasing Aranese]]
[[Aranese dialect|Aranese]] is the standardized form of the local [[Gascon language|Gascon]] variety of the [[Occitan language]]. Aranese has been regularly taught at school since 1984. Like several other [[minority language]]s in Europe that recently faced decline, Aranese is experiencing a renaissance.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Collett|first=Richard|title=Aranese: Spain's little-known language|url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220117-aranese-spains-little-known-language|access-date=2022-01-18|website=[[BBC]]|language=en}}</ref>

The name Aran comes from [[Basque language|Basque]] ''haran'', meaning valley. Maps and road signs in Spain use the name "era Val d'Aran" to refer to the valley, where ''era'' is the Aranese singular feminine article. The same practice goes for all towns and other locations in Aran, for example, the Aranese spelling ''Vielha'' is used instead of Catalan and Spanish ''Viella'' to refer to the capital of Aran.

Basque toponyms reveal that Basque was spoken further east along the Pyrenees than today. The growing influence of [[Latin language|Latin]] began to drive Basque out after the turn of the first millennium.

==Government and economy==
Administratively, Aran is a "unique territorial entity" roughly equivalent to a [[Comarques of Catalonia|''comarca'']] with additional powers, and informally referred to as a comarca. This status was most recently formalised in February 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.conselharan.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Llei-1_2015-Regim-Especiau-dAran2.pdf|title=LLEI 1/2015, del 5 de febrer, del règim especial d'Aran|publisher=[[Generalitat of Catalonia]]|language=ca|date=2015-02-13|access-date=2015-11-19}}</ref> The area is divided into six administrative divisions called ''[[Terçon|terçons]]'' (meaning "thirds", as there were formerly three divisions). The current arrangement of the divisions dates from the 15th century. Since 1991, Aran has an autonomous government called the ''[[Conselh Generau d'Aran]]'' ({{langx|oc|General Council of Aran}}), headed by the [[Síndic d'Aran]].

The major political parties are the [[Unity of Aran|Unity of Aran - Aranese Nationalist Party]] (the local chapter of the [[Socialists' Party of Catalonia]]), the [[Aranese Democratic Convergence]] (the local chapter of the ([[Democratic Convergence of Catalonia]]). The [[Occitan Republican Left]] party was founded in 2008.

The main economic activity in the valley is tourism; from the [[ski]] resorts in the winter and from other tourist activity in the summer. Other primary sectors of the economy include forest products, cattle ranching and agriculture, all of which have become progressively less important since the opening of ski resorts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brandtjen |first=Roland |title=The valley and the rock: europeanized separatism and Iberian micro-nations: secession to gain full EU-Membership?: an analysis of Gibraltar and the Val d'Aran |date=2021 |publisher=Verlag Dr. Kovač |isbn=978-3-339-12272-8 |series=Schriftenreihe Schriften zur Europapolitik |location=Hamburg}}</ref>

===Municipalities===
[[File:La Garonne dans la Vallée d'Aran - Fonds Ancely - B315556101 A MALBOS 1 006.jpg|thumb|''[[Garonne]] in Val d'Aran'' near 1840 by [[Eugène de Malbos]].]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Municipality
! Population{{br}}(2014)<ref name=idescat>{{cite web|url=http://www.idescat.cat/emex/|title=El municipi en xifres|publisher=Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya|access-date=2015-05-25}}</ref>
! Area{{br}}km{{sup|2}}<ref name=idescat/>
|-
| [[Arres]] || align=right | 73 || align=right | 11.6
|-
| [[Bausen]] || align=right | 49 || align=right | 17.7
|-
| [[Es Bòrdes]] || align=right | 234 || align=right | 21.4
|-
| [[Bossòst]] || align=right | 1,140 || align=right | 28.2
|-
| [[Canejan]] || align=right | 102 || align=right | 48.3
|-
| [[Les, Catalonia|Les]] || align=right | 968 || align=right | 23.4
|-
| [[Naut Aran]] || align=right | 1,782 || align=right | 255.8
|-
| [[Vielha e Mijaran]] || align=right | 5,474 || align=right | 211.7
|-
| [[Vilamòs]] || align=right | 171 || align=right | 15.4
|-
| • Total: 9 || align=right | 9,993 || align=right | 633.5
|}

==Fauna==
Many native animals of Aran are [[endangered species|in danger of extinction]]. There are programs to reintroduce and/or protect:  
* [[Aran rock lizard]] (''Lacerta aranica'')
* [[Bearded vulture]] (''Gypaetus barbatus'')
* [[Brown bear]] (''Ursus arctos'')
* [[Rock ptarmigan]] (''Lagopus mutus'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links ==
* [http://www.aran.org Page of the Conselh Generau d'Aran] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607183720/http://www.aran.org/ |date=2007-06-07 }} {{in lang|oc}}
* [http://www.municat.net:8000/omunicat/owa/mun_p01.dad_ens?via=6&cod=8103980001 Information from the Generalitat de Catalunya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051112072156/http://www.municat.net:8000/omunicat/owa/mun_p01.dad_ens?via=6&cod=8103980001 |date=2005-11-12 }} {{in lang|ca}}
* [http://www.valdaran.com Touristic information about the Val d'Aran] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119060648/https://www.valdaran.com/ |date=2021-01-19 }} {{in lang|oc}}
* Smith, Dominic. [http://www.domsmith.co.uk/aranes/aranes.pdf "Language planning in the Val d'Aran: The recent work of the Conselh Generau d'Aran's 'Oficina de Foment e Ensenhament der Aranés' and its effects on the Aranés-speaking population."] ([[PDF]]). 2003.

{{br}}
{{Geographic location
 | Centre = Aran
 | N  = 
 | NE = [[Arrondissement of Saint-Girons|Saint-Girons]] (France)
 | E  = [[Pallars Sobirà]]
 | SE = 
 | S  = [[Alta Ribagorça]]
 | SW = [[Province of Huesca|Huesca]] (Aragon)
 | W  = 
 | NW = [[Arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens|Saint-Gaudens]] (France)
}}
{{Comarques of Catalonia}}
{{Val d'Aran}}
{{coord|42|43|21|N|0|50|14|E|region:ES-CT_type:adm2nd_source:cawiki|display=title}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Val d'Aran| ]]
[[Category:Valleys of Catalonia]]
[[Category:Pyrenees]]
[[Category:Comarques of the Province of Lleida]]
[[Category: Autonomous administrative divisions]]