Barcelona in data: geography, climate, population and economy

Barcelona is understood better with data than with adjectives: a city of 101 square kilometers wedged between the sea, two rivers and a mountain, with a Mediterranean climate softened by urban heat and a population that doubled its footprint without leaving the plain.

This guide gathers the numbers that matter to travelers and newcomers —real month-by-month climate, districts, languages, universities and economy— in our own words, with figures from official state and city sources.

• Geography: between the sea, the rivers and Collserola

  A five-kilometer plain wedged between the Mediterranean and the sierra.

• Climate: Mediterranean, softened by urban heat

  The month-by-month temperature and rainfall table, and when to come.

• Population: the century of growth and the return

  From half a million to nearly two and back: the city's demographic curve.

• Languages: Catalan and Spanish, and the city that joins them

  Two official languages, signage in Catalan and a spreading English.

• The city's ten districts

  Barcelona's administrative map in ten pieces, each with its own character.

• Economy: from factories to knowledge

  Services, congresses, technology and tourism: the engine of a €173 billion metropolis.

• Universities: a campus city

  From the 1450 university to Pompeu Fabra: students in the very center.

• Sport: from Barça to the neighborhood run

  A city that lives sport in the street: the club, popular athletics and motors at Montmeló.