Northern Catalonia

Northern Catalonia (Catalan: Catalunya Nord [kətəˈɫuɲə ˈnɔrt], French: Catalogne Nord) refers to the territory ceded to France by Spain through the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. The area corresponds approximately to the modern French département of the Pyrénées-Orientales.

The equivalent term in French, Catalogne Nord, is used nowadays, although less often than the more politically neutral Roussillon (in reference to the pre-Revolutionary province). Sometimes French Catalonia can also be used.

Geography

Northern Catalonia forms a triangle between the Pyrenees to the south, the Corbières to the north-west and the Mediterranean Sea to the east. The Roussillon plain in the east, by far the most populated area, is formed by the flood plains of the Tech, Têt and Agly rivers (Catalan: Tec, Tet, Aglí). The districts of Vallespir and Conflent cover the upper valleys of the Tech and the Têt respectively. The massif of the Canigou (Catalan: Canigó), 2785 m, dominates much of the territory.

Catalonia

Catalonia (Catalan: Catalunya, Occitan: Catalonha, Spanish: Cataluña) is an autonomous community of Spain politically designated as a nationality. Catalonia consists of four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. The capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second-largest city in Spain and the centre of one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe and the Mediterranean basin.

Catalonia comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia, with the remainder now part of France's Pyrénées-Orientales. It is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, and the Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon to the west and Valencia to the south. The official languages are Catalan, Spanish, and the Aranese dialect of Occitan.

HSC Express

Express is a 91-metre (299 ft) wave piercing catamaran built by International Catamarans (Incat), and operated by Nordic HSC between mainland Sweden and Gotland. During her delivery voyage on 9 June 1998, she set the record for the fastest Atlantic Eastbound Record, previously held by another Incat craft Hoverspeed Great Britain, making the 3,125 mi (5,029 km) run from Manhattan to Tarifa, Spain in 3 days 7 hours 54 minutes, traveling at an average speed of 38.877 knots (72.000 km/h; 44.739 mph).

During that same voyage, the ship became the first passenger ship to cover or more in one 24-hour period. In covering 1,018 nautical miles (1,885 km) in one day, beating the 868 mi (1,397 km). record set by SS United States in 1952. Six weeks later, sister craft HSC

As of January 2016 P&O announced that they will scrap the Larne-Troon service provided by HSC Express, this will end 25 years of a fastcraft Service between Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Mediterranean service

Following her record breaking Atlantic Ocean crossing the vessel changed name to Catalonia L and entered service with Buquebus between Barcelona and Palma, Majorca and later between Ceuta, Malaga and Algeciras.

Principality of Catalonia

The Principality of Catalonia (Catalan: Principat de Catalunya, Latin: Principatus Cathaloniæ, Occitan: Principautat de Catalonha), is a historic territory and a medieval and early modern political entity in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula, mostly in Spain, with an adjoining portion in southern France. Between the 13th and the 18th centuries it was bordered by the Kingdom of Aragon to the west, the Kingdom of Valencia to the south, the Kingdom of France and the feudal lordship of Andorra to the north and by the Mediterranean sea to the east.

The first reference to Catalonia and the Catalans appears in the Liber maiolichinus de gestis Pisanorum illustribus, a Pisan chronicle (written between 1117 and 1125) of the conquest of Minorca by a joint force of Italians, Catalans, and Occitans. At the time, Catalonia did not yet exist as a political entity, though the use of this term seems to acknowledge Catalonia as a cultural or geographical entity.

The counties that would eventually make up the Principality of Catalonia were gradually unified under the rule of the Count of Barcelona. In 1137, both the County of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon were unified dynastically, creating the Crown of Aragon, but Aragon and Catalonia retained their own political structure and legal traditions. Because of these legal differences and their use of different language —Aragonese and Catalan— an official recognition of the Catalan Counties as a distinct political entity with its own institutions, laws and political community became necessary.