Barcelona is a city and metropolis on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital par excellence and official of Catalonia, & nbsp; it is also the province of Barcelona and the region of Barcelonés, and the second city in population and economic weight of the Iberian Peninsula. & Nbsp; The municipality grows on a plain embedded between the Litoral mountain range, the Mediterranean sea, the Besòs river and the Montjuïc mountain. The city hosts the headquarters of the most important self-government institutions in Catalonia: the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Parliament of Catalonia. Because it has been the capital of the County of Barcelona, ​​it often receives the nickname of Ciudad Condal. Also, for having been the most important city of the Principality of Catalonia since medieval times, it often receives the nickname or title of head and house.

With a population of 1,602,386 inhabitants (2014), & nbsp; Barcelona is the most populated city of the Principality and the eleventh of the European Union, second city not state capital after Hamburg. It is the main urban center of the metropolitan region of Barcelona, ​​which brings together 4,774,561 inhabitants, & nbsp; and the Metropolitan Area of ​​Barcelona, ​​composed of 36 municipalities, which has a population of 3,225,058 inhabitants & nbsp; of 633 km². A study by the Department of Social and Economic Affairs of the UN of 2005 places Barcelona in the 51st position in the ranking of the populations with the greatest number of inhabitants in the world.