Val d'Aran

Aran
Unique territorial entity
Panorama of Aran, with Bossòst to the left
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Montanhes araneses (Occitan) "Aranese mountains"
Location of Aran (red) in Catalonia
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Catalonia
Region	N/A
Area	Alt Pirineu i Aran
Province	Lleida
Capital	Vielha e Mijaran
Municipalities	List Arres, Bausen, Bossòst, Es Bòrdes, Canejan, Les, Naut Aran, Vielha e Mijaran, Vilamòs
Government
• Body	Conselh Generau d'Aran
• Síndic d'Aran	Maria Vergés Pérez (UA-PSC)
Area
• Total	633.5 km2 (244.6 sq mi)
Population  (2014)
• Total	9,993
• Density	15.77/km2 (40.86/sq mi)
Demonyms	English: Aranese Occitan: aranés (m), aranesa (f)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Largest municipality	Vielha e Mijaran
Official languages	Occitan (Aranese) Catalan Spanish
Website	Conselh Generau d'Aran

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Aran (Occitan: [aˈɾan]; Catalan: [əˈɾan]; Spanish: [aˈɾan]; often known as the Aran Valley, or Val d'Aran in Aranese Occitan; in other forms of Occitan: Vath d'Aran or Vau d'Aran; Catalan: Vall d'Aran; Spanish: Valle de Arán) is an autonomous administrative entity (formerly considered a comarca) in northwest Catalonia, Spain, consisting of 620.47 square kilometres (239.56 mi²) in area, located in the Pyrenees mountains, in the 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 mountain) which passes underground at the Forau d'Aigualluts. 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 Catalan 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 (34.19%), then Catalan (19.45%) with 7.56% having a different native language. 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.