If there is one way of estimating the feasibility of how living in a new city, it is through analyzing numbers. So when it comes to visiting Barcelona, what do the numbers tell us? Keep reading to find out!

History

The name Barcelona stems from the name of the Carthaginian troops’ commander Hamilcar Barca who occupied the city right at the beginning of the Second Punic War in 218 BC.

People in Barcelona

The city is home to more than 1,621,537 people while the population of greater Barcelona is 3,218,071.

Language – Catalan is the language that is local to the residents of Barcelona. It is spoken to by around 74% of the residents in Barcelona and is the second most popular language in Spain after Spanish which is the official and national language of Spain. Also, Catalan is read by 75% people and can be written by 47% people.

Religion – When it comes to religion, there are more than 200 churches in the city and most of the Christians are Roman Catholics. Other religious groups in Barcelona include Evangelical, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Buddists and Muslims with 71, 21, 13 and an unknown figure of religious centers respectively.

Water Consumption – Water is one of our most basic necessities and there are many cities whose residents suffer because of potable water shortage. Fortunately, Barcelona has sufficient fresh water reservoirs and the annual consumption of water by its residents is more than 71 million cubic meters. Also, the Mediterranean Sea located next to the city allows it to use distilled water in case fresh water reservoirs are strained.

Barcelona’s Geography

Catalonia is an autonomous region within Spain and is divided into four provinces Lleida, Girona, Tarragona and Barcelona. The capital of Barcelona, is the city of Barcelona the chief municipality area of which covers just a little more than a hundred sq. kilometers. However, the greater Barcelona area is spread to around 800 sq. kilometers. the seven districts that Barcelona is divided into include Ciutat Vella, Horta-Guinardo, Nou Barris, Les Corts, Sant Andreu, Eixample Gracia,Sarra-Sant Gervasi and Sant Marti. In addition to the seven districts, Barcelona also has a very long coast at which the seaports thrive and so does the beach resort industry.

Furthermore, the highest point in Barcelona is at 12 meters (or 39 feet).

Economic Situation

Barcelona has the fourth highest GDP among all European cities. In 2006, its GDP was 139.84 billion Euros. This is due to the input from its flourishing industries. The most successful one is that of tourism with more than 7 million tourists visiting the city every year and more than 80% of the people present in the city being tourists at one given point in time. Also, given Barcelona’s geographical location (which next to the Mediterranean Sea), its food industry highly thrives. In 2005 the number of banks in the city was 2027 and that of other retail outlets was 35,000.

To find out more about Barcelona, visit the city’s official website which is www.barcelona.cat.