The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Catalonia:
Catalonia – nationality and autonomous community of Spain, located on the northeastern corner of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. With 7,7 million inhabitants, it is the second most populous Spanish autonomous community, as well a major industrial and touristic powerhouse.
Once a polity within the Crown of Aragon known as the Principality of Catalonia, it was integrated in to the Monarchy of Spain at the beginning of the 16th century. It lost its laws and institutions in 1714, after Bourbon victory on the War of the Spanish Succession. Throughout the nineteenth century, it became an industrial center while workers' movements and Catalan nationalism appeared. The Second Spanish Republic (1931-1939) granted it self-government, defending the Republican cause during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). The dictatorship of Francisco Franco abolished autonomy and repressed liberties and Catalan culture and language. After his death and the subsequent transition to democracy (1975-1981), self-government was restored.