Starting Population     2,040                   % of Worldwide          6.6%                    

                                                Population                                      

Starting Income         64,318                  % of Worldwide          10.0%                   

                                                Income                                          

Starting GDP            247,453                 % of Worldwide GDP      4.0%                    

Starting Surplus        1,278                   % of Worldwide          3.9%
                    

                                                Surplus                                         

Comments: Catalonia is an important kingdom in the northeastern part of Spain, with a distinctive culture and language. Brought into the Roman orbit during the Second Punic War, by early Christian times the area was thoroughly Romanized. Despite the Visigothic invasion in the 5th century, the fall of the Roman Empire had little affect on the area. The 7th century saw the Islamic conquest of Spain, and the area soon fell under Muslim rule.

Charlemagne established the 'Marca Hispanica' (Spanish March) in the early 9th century, which, centered at Barcelona, and became the nucleus of the Catalan state. United with Aragon , another Christian kingdom clinging to the Pyrennes, in 1137, Catalonia, although technically the junior partner (Aragon ranks as a kingdom , and Catalonia only as a county), became the dominant partner. The united kingdom expanded not only south into Moorish Spain (Valencia, for example, was recaptured in 1238), but also overseas. Catalan influence is felt throughout the Mediterranean, with large areas of southern France, portions of Greece, Sicily and Sardinia all more or less subject to the crown of Aragon (i.e., Catalonia). The Ecclesiastical authority in the kingdom is divided between the Archbishops of Saragossa, in Aragon, and Tarragona, in the County of Barcelona . There is a university at Lerida, west of Barcelona, which was founded in 1300.

There is occasionally military activity against the Moors in Granada along the kingdom's southern frontier, and against the Barbary pirates, who harass the coast and those of Sardinia and Sicily, which are also under Catalonian control. Especially in its eastern regions, the kingdom is quite rich, with dense forests, fertile plains, and a number of important ports. There is a great deal of industry, and agriculture is well developed, producing olives and wines for export, as well as grains for domestic consumption.