Pyrénées-Orientales, also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. It also surrounds the tiny Spanish exclave of Llívia, and thus has two distinct borders with Spain. In 2019, it had a population of 481,691. Some parts of the Pyrénées-Orientales (like the Cerdagne) are part of the Iberian Peninsula. It is named after the Pyrenees mountain range.

Pyrénées-Orientales consists of three river valleys in the Pyrenees mountain range - from north to south, those of the Agly, Têt and Tech - and the eastern Plain of Roussillon into which they converge. Most of the population and agricultural production are concentrated in the plain, with only 30% of the area. There is one water reservoir at Lac de Matemale. There is also a lake, Casteilla.

The upper Têt valley comprises the departments westernmost third, with just over a tenth of the total population. To the south-east, the Tech valley and the Côte Vermeille contain nearly 100,000 inhabitants. The Agly basin in the north-east has much in common with neighboring areas of Aude. Llívia is a town of Cerdanya, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain, that forms a Spanish exclave surrounded by French territory.

Places of interest include:

• Banyuls-sur-Mer, famous for its Grenache-based Banyuls wine, birthplace of Aristide Maillol.
• Céret, considered to be one of the birthplaces of cubism, hosts several museums among which the Musée d'Art Moderne.
• Collioure, considered to be one of the famous places of fauvism.
• Força Réal, ruined mountaintop fortress.
• Prades, site of the Catalan Summer University (Universitat Catalana d'Estiu).
• Prats de Mollo, important defensive castle of the 17th century facing south to the Pyrenees.
• Salses, important defensive castle of the 16th century, on the ancient frontier with Spain.
• Pyrénées-Orientales has two notable sports teams: USA Perpignan (rugby union) and Catalans Dragons (rugby league).

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