Province of Barcelona

This article is about the Spanish province. For the similarly-named province in Venezuela, see Barcelona Province (Venezuela). For other uses, see Barcelona (disambiguation).

Barcelona (Catalan: [bəɾsəˈlonə] ^ⓘ; Spanish: [baɾθeˈlona]) is a province in northeastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. The area of the province is 7,726.37 km² (2,983.17 sq mi),^[1] and the population is 5,877,672, of which 28.7% is in the city of Barcelona itself,^[3] which itself is contained in the Barcelona metropolitan area. It is both the 2nd most populous and 2nd most densely populated province in the country.

Province of Barcelona Província de Barcelona (Catalan) Provincia de Barcelona (Spanish)
Province
Aerial view of the City of Barcelona
Flag Coat of arms
The province of Barcelona in Spain
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Catalonia
Capital	Barcelona
Government
• Body	Provincial Deputation of Barcelona
• President	Lluïsa Moret (PSC)
Area [1]
• Total	7,726.37 km2 (2,983.17 sq mi)
• Rank	33rd in Spain
Population  (2024)[2]
• Total	5,877,672
• Rank	2nd in Spain
• Density	760.729/km2 (1,970.28/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code	ES-B
Official language(s)	Catalan • Spanish
Parliament	Cortes Generales Parliament of Catalonia
Website	www.diba.cat

Geography

The Catalan Pre-Coastal Range and Catalan Coastal Range mountains run through the Province of Barcelona. There are several notable smaller mountain ranges that are located in the province, including Montseny Massif, Serra de Collserola, and Tibidabo. Pedraforca is the tallest mountain in the province, located on the north side as part of the Pre-Pyrenees. Tibidabo is the mountain that overlooks the city of Barcelona.

The majority of the Province of Barcelona has a Mediterranean climate on the coast and an oceanic climate inland.

Administration

See also: Local government in Spain and List of municipalities in Barcelona

The capital of the province is the city of Barcelona, and the provincial council is based in the Casa Serra on the Rambla de Catalunya in that city. Some other cities and towns in Barcelona province include L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Martorell, Mataró, Granollers, Sabadell, Terrassa, Sitges, Igualada, Vic, Manresa, and Berga.

Since the division by provinces in Spain and the division by comarques in Catalonia do not completely agree, the term comarques of the province of Barcelona would not be entirely correct. However, a list of the comarques that are included—totally or partially—in the province of Barcelona can be made:

• Fully included:
  • Alt Penedès
  • Anoia
  • Bages
  • Baix Llobregat
  • Barcelonès
  • Garraf
  • Maresme
  • Moianès
  • Vallès Occidental
  • Vallès Oriental
• Partially included:
  • Berguedà (all municipalities except Gósol)
  • Osona (all municipalities except Espinelves, Vidrà and Viladrau)
  • Selva (only the municipality of Fogars de la Selva)

Presidency

Demographics

Province of Barcelona population pyramid in 2022

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% 1842 455,874 —     1857 713,734 +56.6% 1877 827,629 +16.0% 1887 879,771 +6.3% 1900 1,052,977 +19.7% 1910 1,136,068 +7.9% 1920 1,340,906 +18.0% 1930 1,728,683 +28.9% 1940 1,935,707 +12.0%	Year Pop. ±% 1950 2,215,901 +14.5% 1960 2,838,801 +28.1% 1970 3,915,010 +37.9% 1981 4,623,204 +18.1% 1991 4,654,407 +0.7% 2001 4,805,927 +3.3% 2011 5,522,565 +14.9% 2021 5,702,262 +3.3%
Source: INE[4]

Foreign population by country of birth (2024)^[2]

Country	Population
Morocco	168,681
Colombia	102,436
Argentina	86,496
Ecuador	81,639
Peru	80,538
Venezuela	67,319
Pakistan	59,496
Honduras	52,324
China	47,849
Bolivia	45,042
Dominican Republic	40,353
Italy	33,521
France	33,506
Brazil	30,857
Romania	28,143

As of 2024, the foreign-born population is 1,391,802, equal to 23.7% of the total population. The 5 largest foreign nationalities are Moroccans (168,681), Colombians (102,436), Argentinians (86,496), Ecuadorians (81,639) and Peruvians (80,538).^[2]