Lleida (province)

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Lerida is a province of eastern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered by the provinces of Gerona, Barcelona, Tarragona, Zaragoza and Huesca, it is also bordered by and France and Andorra.

Of the population of 385,092 (2004), about 30% live in the capital, Lleida. Some other towns in Lleida province are La Seu d'Urgell (site of the archbishop who is the coprince to Andorra), Mollerussa, Cervera, Tàrrega. There are 231 municipalities in Lleida. See List of municipalities in Lleida.

In this province there is the Val d'Aran, a special comarca with more autonomy and Aranese, a variety of Gascon as its official language.

The Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park is located in Lleida.

The province enjoys a thriving fruit-growing industry, including pears and peaches.

Lleida is the local Catalan name, and also the official Spanish name according to the Spanish Government. However only the form Lérida is acceptable in Spanish.

It is a bilingual, predominantly Catalan-speaking province, with a characteristic dialect with lo, los as the masculine definite article. The local dialects are part of Western Catalan, and as such shares some features with Valencian (whose dialects are also part of Western Catalan).

Image:Lleida-15-1 seu vella.jpg Image:Lleida-12-2 claustre.jpg Image:Lleida-13-2 seu vella capitel.jpg

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