Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Official name	Barcelona
image shield	Escut de Barcelona.svg
nickname	Ciudad Condal, Ciutat Comtal (City of Counts), Barna, BCN
pushpin map	Spain
pushpin map caption	Location of Barcelona within Spain
pushpin map1	Spain Catalonia
pushpin map caption1	Location of Barcelona within Catalonia
coordinates type	type:city(1,582,738)_region:ES
coordinates display	inline, title
coordinates region	ES
subdivision type	Country
subdivision name	Spain
subdivision type1	Autonomous Community
subdivision name1	Catalonia
subdivision type2	Province
subdivision name2	Barcelona
subdivision type3	Comarca
subdivision name3	Barcelonès
parts type	Districts
parts style	para
p1	Ciutat Vella
p2	Eixample
p3	Gràcia
p4	Horta-Guinardó
p5	Les Corts
p6	Nou Barris
p7	Sant Andreu
p8	Sants–Montjuïc
p9	Sarrià-Sant Gervasi
p10	Sant Martí
government type	Mayor-council
governing body	Ajuntament de Barcelona
leader party	CiU
leader title	Mayor
leader name	Xavier Trias i Vidal de Llobatera
area total km2	101.9
Area urban km2	803
elevation footnotes	(AMSL)
elevation m	12
population total	16215373,218,071 (''Greater Barcelona'')
population urban	4210000
population blank1 title	Urban zone
population blank1	4,440,629
population blank2 title	Metropolitan
population blank2	5,083,000
population as of	2009
population density km2	15991
population demonym	Barcelonan''barceloní'', ''barcelonina''''barcelonés'', ''barcelonesa''
timezone1	CET
utc offset1	+1
timezone1 dst	CEST
utc offset1 dst	+2
postal code type	Postal code
postal code	08001–08080
area code type	Area code
area code	+34 (Spain) 93 (City)
website	www.bcn.cat
footnotes	}}

Barcelona (, ) is the capital and the most populous city of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, after Madrid, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Barcelona extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of between 4,200,000 and 4,500,000 on an area of , being the sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, Ruhr area, Madrid and Milan. About five million people live in the Barcelona metropolitan area. It is also Europe's largest metropolis on the Mediterranean coast. It is the main component of an administrative area of Greater Barcelona, with a population of 3,218,071 in an area of 636 km² (density 5,060 hab/km²). It is located on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs and is bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge ().

Barcelona is today one of the world's leading tourist, economic, trade fair/exhibitions and cultural-sports centres, and its influences in commerce, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. Indeed, it is a major economic centre and a growing financial centre (Diagonal Mar area and Gran Via); one of Europe's principal Mediterranean ports, can be found here as well as Barcelona international airport, which handles about 30 million passengers per year. It also boasts an extensive motorway network and is a hub of high-speed rail, particularly that which will link France with Spain. Barcelona is the 16th-most-visited city in the world and 4th most visited in Europe after Paris, London, and Rome, with several million tourists every year. Barcelona is the 16th most "livable city" in the world according to lifestyle magazine Monocle. Similarly, according to Innovation Analysts 2thinknow, Barcelona occupies 13th place in the world on ''Innovation Cities™ Global Index''. It is the 4th richest city by GDP in the European Union and 35th in the world with an output amounting to €177 billion, a figure nonetheless smaller than alternative estimates. Consequently, its GDP per capita output stands at €35,975 – some 44% higher than the European Union average. Similarly, the city of Barcelona stands in 29th place in a list of net personal earnings headed by Zurich. The city is Europe's 3rd and one of the world's most successful as a city brand, both in terms of reputation and assets. Barcelona is 7th most important fashion capital in the world. Also, the city is Europe's 4th best business city and fastest improving European city, with growing improved by 17% per year.

Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the Counts of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, it became one of the most important cities of the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination and has a rich cultural heritage. Particularly renowned are architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner that have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The city is well known in recent times for the 1992 Summer Olympics. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona.

As the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona houses the seat of the Catalan government, known as the Generalitat de Catalunya; of particular note are the executive branch, the parliament, and the Supreme Court of Catalonia. The city is also the capital of the Province of Barcelona and the Barcelonès comarca (shire).

Names

The name ''Barcelona'' comes from the ancient Iberian Phoenician ''Barkeno'', attested in an ancient coin inscription in Iberian script as 34px|Barkeno in Levantine Iberian script, in Ancient Greek sources as , ''Barkinṓn''; and in Latin as ''Barcino'', ''Barcilonum'' and ''Barceno''.

During the Middle Ages, the city was variously known as ''Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelona'', and ''Barchenona''.

Some sources say that the city could have been named after the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, who was supposed to have founded the city in the 3rd century BC.

History

The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends. The first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological Hercules 400 years before the building of Rome. The second legend attributes the foundation of the city directly to the historical Carthaginian Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, who named the city ''Barcino'' after his family in the 3rd century BC.

About 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a ''castrum'' (Roman military camp) centred on the "''Mons Taber''", a little hill near the contemporary city hall (Plaça de Sant Jaume). Under the Romans, it was a colony with the surname of ''Faventia'', or, in full, ''Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino'' or ''Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino''. Mela mentions it among the small towns of the district, probably as it was eclipsed by its neighbour ''Tarraco'' (modern Tarragona), but it may be gathered from later writers that it gradually grew in wealth and consequence, favoured as it was with a beautiful situation and an excellent harbour. It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens. The city minted its own coins; some from the era of Galba survive. Some important Roman ruins are exposed under the Plaça del Rei, entrance by the city museum (Museu d'Història de la Ciutat), and the typically Roman grid-planning is still visible today in the layout of the historical centre, the ''Barri Gòtic'' ("Gothic Quarter"). Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have been incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral, also known as basilica ''La Seu'', is said to have been founded in 343. The city was conquered by the Visigoths in the early 5th century, becoming for a few years the capital of the whole Hispania. After being conquered by the Arabs in the early 8th century, it was reconquered in 801 by Charlemagne's son Louis, who made Barcelona the seat of Carolingian "Spanish Marches" (''Marca Hispanica''), a buffer zone ruled by the Count of Barcelona.

The Counts of Barcelona became increasingly independent and expanded their territory to include all of Catalonia. In 1137, Aragon and the County of Barcelona merged by dynastic union by the marriage of Ramon Berenguer IV and Petronilla of Aragon, and their titles were finally borne by only one person when their son Alfonso II of Aragon ascended to the throne in 1162. His territories were later to be known as the Crown of Aragon, which conquered many overseas possessions, ruling the western Mediterranean Sea with outlying territories in Naples and Sicily and as far as Athens in the 13th century. The forging of a dynastic link between the Crowns of Aragon and Castile marked the beginning of Barcelona's decline.

The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile in 1469 united the two royal lines. The centre of political power became Madrid and the colonisation of the Americas reduced the financial importance (at least in relative terms) of Mediterranean trade. Barcelona was always the stronghold of Catalan separatism and was the center of the Catalan Revolt (1640–52) against Philip IV of Spain. The great plague of 1650–1654 halved the city's population. The Napoleonic wars left the province ravaged, but the postwar period saw the start of industrialization.

In the eighteenth century a fortress was built at Montjuïc that overlooked the harbour. In 1794, this fortress was used by the French astronomer Pierre François André Méchain for observations relating to a survey stretching to Dunkirk that provided the basis of the metre. The definitive metre bar, manufactured from platinum, was presented to the French legislative assembly on 22 June 1799.

The resistance of Barcelona to Franco's coup d'état was to have lasting effects after the defeat of the Republican government. The autonomous institutions of Catalonia were abolished, and the use of the Catalan language in public life was suppressed. Barcelona remained the second largest city in Spain, at the heart of a region which was relatively industrialised and prosperous, despite the devastation of the civil war. The result was a large-scale immigration from poorer regions of Spain (particularly Andalucia, Murcia and Galicia), which in turn led to rapid urbanisation. Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games in 1992, which helped revitalize the city.

Geography

Barcelona is located on the northeast coast of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Mediterranean Sea, on a plateau approximately wide limited by the mountain range of Collserola, the Llobregat river to the southwest and the Besòs river to the north. This plateau has , of which 101 km² (38.9 sq mi) are occupied by the city itself. It is 120 km (75 mi) south of the Pyrenees and the Catalonian border with France.

Tibidabo, high, offers striking views over the city and is topped by the Torre de Collserola, a telecommunications tower that is visible from most of the city. Barcelona is peppered with small hills, most of them urbanized and that gave their name to the neighbourhoods built upon them, such as Carmel (267 m), Putxet (181 m) and Rovira (261 m). The escarpment of Montjuïc (173 m), situated to the southeast, overlooks the harbour and is topped by Montjuïc castle, a fortress built in the 17–18th centuries to control the city as a replacement for the Ciutadella. Today, the fortress is a museum and Montjuïc is home to several sporting and cultural venues, as well as Barcelona's biggest park and gardens.

The city borders are the municipalities of Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Sant Adrià de Besòs to the north; the Mediterranean Sea to the east; El Prat de Llobregat and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat to the south; and Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Sant Just Desvern, Esplugues de Llobregat, Sant Cugat del Vallès, and Montcada i Reixac to the west.

Climate

Barcelona has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: ''Csa''), with mild, humid winters and warm, dry summers.

Its average annual temperature is during the day and at night. Average annual temperature of sea is about . In the coldest month – January, typically the temperature ranges from during the day, at night and the average sea temperature is . In the warmest month – August, the typically temperature ranges from during the day, about at night and the average sea temperature is . Generally – "summer's" / "holiday" season lasts about six months, from May to October. Two months – April and November – are transitional, sometimes temperature exceeds , with average temperature of during the day and at night. December, January and February are the coldest months, with average temperatures around during the day and at night. Large fluctuations in temperature are rare, particularly in summer months. Sunshine duration is 2,524 hours per year, from 138 (average 4.5 hours of sunshine at day) in December to 310 (average 10 hours of sunshine at day) in July.

Main sights

The ''Barri Gòtic'' ("Gothic Quarter" in Catalan) is the centre of the old city of Barcelona. Many of the buildings date from medieval times, some from as far back as the Roman settlement of Barcelona. Catalan ''modernisme'' architecture (often known as Art Nouveau in the rest of Europe), developed between 1885 and 1950 and left an important legacy in Barcelona. A great number of these buildings are World Heritage Sites. Especially remarkable is the work of architect Antoni Gaudí, which can be seen throughout the city. His best known work is the immense but still unfinished church of the Sagrada Família, which has been under construction since 1882, and is still financed by private donations. As of 2007, completion is planned for 2026.

Barcelona was also home to Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion. Designed in 1929 for the International Exposition for Germany, it is an iconic building that came to symbolize modern architecture as the embodiment of van der Rohe's aphorisms "less is more" and "God is in the details." The Barcelona pavilion was intended as a temporary structure, and was torn down in 1930 less than a year after it was constructed. A modern re-creation by Spanish architects now stands in Barcelona, however, constructed in 1986.

Barcelona won the 1999 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for its architecture, the first (and as of 2009, only) time that the winner has been a city, and not an individual architect.

Historic buildings and monuments

Sagrada Família, the international symbol of Barcelona

Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, included in the UNESCO Heritage List list in 1997.

Works by Antoni Gaudí, including Park Güell, Palau Güell, Casa Milà (La Pedrera), Casa Vicens, Sagrada Família (Nativity façade and crypt), Casa Batlló, Crypt in Colonia Güell. The first three works were inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1984. The other four were added as extensions to the site in 2005.

The Cathedral of St. Eulalia

Church of Santa Maria del Mar (Gothic)

Gothic church of Santa Maria del Pi

Church of Sant Pau del Camp

Palau Reial Major, medieval residence of the counts of Barcelona and the Kings of Aragon

The Columbus Monument

Forum Building, an example of contemporary architecture

The Arc de Triomf, a triumphal arch built in 1888

Medieval church of Sant Pau del Camp

Museums

Barcelona has a great number of museums, which cover different areas and eras. The National Museum of Art of Catalonia possesses a well-known collection of Romanesque art while the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art focuses on post-1945 Catalan and Spanish art. The Fundació Joan Miró, Picasso Museum and Fundació Antoni Tàpies hold important collections of these world-renowned artists.

Several museums cover the fields of history and archeology, like the City History Museum, the Museum of the History of Catalonia, the Archeology Museum of Catalonia, the Barcelona Maritime Museum and the private-owned Egyptian Museum. The Erotic museum of Barcelona is among the most peculiar ones, while Cosmocaixa is a science museum that received the European Museum of the Year Award in 2006.

Parks

Barcelona contains 68 municipal parks, divided into 12 historic parks, 5 thematic (botanical) parks, 45 urban parks and 6 forest parks. They range from vest-pocket parks to large recreation areas. The urban parks alone cover 10% of the city (). The total park surface grows about per year, with a proportion of of park area per inhabitant.

Of Barcelona's parks, Montjuïc is the largest, with 203 ha located on the mountain of the same name. It is followed by Parc de la Ciutadella (situated in the place of the old military citadel and which houses the Parliament building, the Barcelona Zoo and several museums; including the zoo), the Guinardó Park (), Park Güell (designed by Antoni Gaudí; ), Oreneta Castle Park (also ), Diagonal Mar Park (, inaugurated in 2002), Nou Barris Central Park (), Can Dragó Sports Park and Poblenou Park (both ) and the Labyrinth Park (), named after the garden maze it contains. A part of the Collserolla Park is also within the city limits.

Beaches

Beach in Barcelona gained status as the best urban beach in the World according to ''National Geographic'' and ''Discovery Channel'', with total third best beach in the World. Barcelona contains seven beaches, totalling 4.5 km (2.8 mi) of coastline. Sant Sebastià and Barceloneta beaches, both in length, are the largest, oldest and the most frequented beaches in Barcelona. The Olympic Port separates them from the other city beaches: Nova Icària, Bogatell, Mar Bella, Nova Mar Bella and Llevant. These beaches (ranging from 400 to 640 m/1,300 to 2,100 ft) were opened as a result of the city restructuring to host the 1992 Summer Olympics, when a great number of industrial buildings were demolished. At present, the beach sand is replenished from quarries given that storms regularly remove large quantities of material. The 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures left the city a large concrete bathing zone on the eastmost part of the city's coastline.

Other

The area around the Plaça Catalunya makes up the city's historical centre and, alongside the upper half of Avinguda Diagonal, is the main commercial area of the city. Barcelona has several commercial complexes, like L'Illa in the higher part of the Diagonal avenue and Diagonal Mar in the lowest, La Maquinista, Glòries in the place of the same name and the Maremagnum by the port.

Barcelona has several skyscrapers, the tallest being the Hotel Arts and its twin the Torre Mapfre, both high, followed by the, Torre Agbar and the newest W Barcelona Hotel. Barcelona is situated 125 km from the ski resorts of the Pyrenées. The skyline of the city is decorated in winter by the summit ( high) of the Montseny massif, normally covered by snow.

Demographics

According to Barcelona's City Council, Barcelona's population as of 1 June 2006 was 1,673,075 people, while the population of the urban area was 4,210,000. It is the central nucleus of the Barcelona metropolitan area, which relies on a population of 5,083,000.

The population density of Barcelona was , with Eixample being the most populated district. 62% of the inhabitants were born in Catalonia, with a 23.5% coming from the rest of Spain. Of the 13.9% from other countries, a proportion which has more than tripled since 2001 when it was 3.9%, the majority come from (in order) Ecuador, Peru, Morocco, Colombia, Argentina, Pakistan and China.

As the national language, Spanish is understood almost universally in Barcelona. 95% of the population understand Catalonia's native Catalan language, while 74.6% can speak it, 75% can read it, and 47.1% can write it, thanks to the linguistic immersion educational system. While most of the population state they are Roman Catholic (208 churches), there are also a number of other groups, including Evangelical (71 locations, mostly professed by Roma), Jehovah's Witnesses (21 Kingdom Halls) and Buddhists (13 locations), and a number of Muslims due to immigration. In 1900, Barcelona had a population of 533,000 people, which grew steadily but slowly until 1950, when it started absorbing a high number of people from other less-industrialized parts of Spain. Barcelona's population peaked in 1979 with 1,906,998 people, and fell throughout the 1980s and 1990s as more people sought a higher quality of life in outlying cities in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. After bottoming out in 2000 with 1,496,266 people, the city's population began to rise again as younger people started to return, causing a great increase in housing prices.

Population density

Note: ''This text is entirely based on the municipal statistical database provided by the city council.''

Barcelona is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe. For the year 2008 the city council calculated the population to 1,628,090 living in the 102.2 km² sized municipality, giving the city an average population density of 15,926 inhabitants per square kilometre.

In the case of Barcelona though, the land distribution is extremely uneven. Half of the municipality or 50.2 km², all of it located on the municipal edge is made up of the ten least densely populated neighbourhoods containing less than 10% of the city's population, the uninhabited Zona Franca industrial area and Montjuïc forest park. Leaving the remaining 90% or slightly below 1.5 million inhabitants living on the remaining 52 square kilometres at an average density close to 28,500 inhabitants per square kilometre.

Of the 73 neighbourhoods in the city, 45 had a population density above 20,000 inhabitants per square kilometre with a combined population of 1,313,424 inhabitants living on 38.6 km² at an average density of 33,987 inhabitants per square km. The 30 most densely populated neighbourhoods accounted for 57.5% of the city population occupying only 22,7% of the municipality, or in other words, 936,406 people living at an average density of 40,322 inhabitants per square kilometre. The city's highest density is found at and around the neighbourhood of la Sagrada Família where four of the city's most densely populated neighbourhoods are located side by side, all with a population density above 50,000 inhabitants per square kilometre.

Economy

The Barcelona metropolitan area comprises over 66% of the people in one of the richest regions in Southern Europe – Catalonia, with a GDP PPP per capita amounting to €30,700 European Union's GDP PPP per capita). Furthermore, the Barcelona metropolitan area has a GDP amounting €177 billion what is equivalent to €35,975 in per capita terms.

Barcelona has a long-standing mercantile tradition. Less well known is that the region was one of the earliest to begin industrialization in continental Europe, beginning with textile related works from the mid 1780s but really gathering momentum in the mid 19th century, when it became a major centre for the production of textiles and machinery. Since then, manufacturing has played a large role in its history. The traditional importance in textiles is reflected in Barcelona's repeated attempts to become a major fashion centre. In summer 2000, the city became a host for the prestigious Bread & Butter urban fashion fair until 2009 when it was announced that it would be held again on Berlin. This was a hard blow for the city as the fair brought €100 m to the city in just three days. There have been many attempts to launch Barcelona as a fashion capital, notably ''Gaudi Home''. ''The Brandery'', an urban fashion show, is held in Barcelona twice a year.

As in other modern cities, the manufacturing sector has long since been overtaken by the services sector, though it remains very important. The region's leading industries today are textiles, chemical, pharmaceutical, motor, electronic, printing, logistics, publishing, telecommunications and information technology services.

Drawing upon its tradition of creative art and craftsmanship, Barcelona is nowadays also known for its award-winning industrial design. It also has several congress halls, notably Fira de Barcelona (Trade Fair) - second largest trade fair and exhibition centres in Europe, that host a quickly growing number of national and international events each year, which had also meant the opening of new hotels each year. However, the economic crisis and deep cuts in business travel are affecting the Council's positioning of the city as a convention centre.

An important business centre in Barcelona, the World Trade Center Barcelona, is located in Barcelona's harbour Port Vell.

Government and administrative divisions

Barcelona is governed by a city council formed by 41 city councilors, elected for a four-year term by universal suffrage. As one of the two biggest cities in Spain, Barcelona is subject to a special law articulated through the ''Carta Municipal'' (Municipal Law). A first version of this law was passed in 1960 and amended later, but the current version was approved in March 2006. According to this law, Barcelona's city council is organized in two levels: a political one, with elected city councilors, and one executive, which administrates the programs and executes the decisions taken on the political level. This law also gives the local government a special relationship with the central government and it also gives the mayor wider prerogatives by the means of municipal executive commissions. It expands the powers of the city council in areas like telecommunications, city traffic, road safety and public safety. It also gives a special economic regime to the city's treasury and it gives the council a veto in matters that will be decided by the central government, but that will need a favourable report from the council. The plenary, formed by the 41 city councilors, has advisory, planning, regulatory, and fiscal executive functions. The six ''Commissions del Consell Municipal'' (City council commissions) have executive and controlling functions in the field of their jurisdiction. They are composed by a number of councilors proportional to thethumb|left|Gotic Gallery into the Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya. number of councilors each political party has in the plenary. The city council has jurisdiction in the fields of city planning, transportation, municipal taxes, public highways security through the ''Guàrdia Urbana'' (the municipal police), city maintenance, gardens, parks and environment, facilities (like schools, nurseries, sports centres, libraries, and so on.), culture, sports, youth and social welfare. Some of these competencies are not exclusive, but shared with the Generalitat de Catalunya or the central Spanish government.

The executive branch is led by a Chief Municipal Executive Officer which answers to the Mayor. It is made up of departments which are legally part of the city council and by separate legal entities of two tipes: autonomous public departments and public enterprises.

The seat of the city council is on the Plaça de Sant Jaume, opposite the seat of Generalitat de Catalunya. Since the coming of the Spanish democracy, Barcelona had been governed by the PSC, first with an absolute majority and later in coalition with ERC and ICV. After the May 2007 election, the ERC did not renew the coalition agreement and the PSC governed in a minority coalition with ICV as the junior partner.

After 32 years, on 22 May 2011, CiU gained a plurality of seats at the municipal election, gaining 15 seats to the PSC's 11. The PP hold 8 seats, ICV 5 and ERC 2.

Districts

Since 1987, the city has been divided into 10 administrative districts (''districtes'' in Catalan, ''distritos'' in Spanish), each one with its own council led by a city councillor. The composition of each district council depends on the number of votes each political party had in that district, so a district can be led by a councillor from a different party than the executive council.

The districts are based mostly on historical divisions. Several of the city's districts are former towns annexed by the city of Barcelona in the 18th and 19th centuries that still maintain their own distinct character. The official names of these districts are in the Catalan language.

Education

Barcelona has a well-developed higher education system of public universities. Most prominent among these is the University of Barcelona, a world-renowned research and teaching institution with campuses around the city. Barcelona is also home to the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, and the newer Pompeu Fabra University,and, in the private sector the IESE Business School, as well as the largest private educational institution, the Ramon Llull University, which encompasses internationally-prestigious schools and institutes such as the ESADE Business School. The Autonomous University of Barcelona, another public university, is located in Bellaterra, a town in the Metropolitan Area. The Open University of Catalonia, a private Internet-centered open university, is also based in Barcelona.

The city has a network of public schools, from nurseries to high schools, under the responsibility of a consortium led by city council (though the curriculum is the responsibility of the Generalitat de Catalunya). There are also many private schools, some of them Roman Catholic. Most such schools receive a public subsidy on a per-student basis, are subject to inspection by the public authorities, and are required to follow the same curricular guidelines as public schools, though they charge tuition. Known as ''escoles concertades'', they are distinct from schools whose funding is entirely private (''escoles privades'').

The language of instruction at public schools and ''escoles concertades'' is Catalan, as stipulated by the 2009 Catalan Education Act. Spanish may be used as a language of instruction by teachers of Spanish literature or language, and foreign languages by teachers of those languages. An experimental partial immersion programme adopted by some schools allows for the teaching of a foreign language (English, generally) across the curriculum, though this is limited to a maximum of 30% of the school day. No public school or ''escola concertada'' in Barcelona may offer 50% or full immersion programmes in a foreign language, nor does any public school or ''escola concertada'' offer International Baccalaureate programmes.

Culture

Barcelona's cultural roots go back 2000 years. To a greater extent than the rest of Catalonia, where Catalonia's native Catalan is more dominant, Barcelona is a bilingual city: Catalan and Spanish are both official languages and widely spoken. The Catalan spoken in Barcelona, Central Catalan, is the one closest to standard Catalan. Since the arrival of democracy, the Catalan culture (very much repressed during the dictatorship of Franco) has been promoted, both by recovering works from the past and by stimulating the creation of new works. Barcelona is designated as a world-class city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network.

Entertainment and performing arts

Barcelona has many venues for live music and theatre, including the world-renowned Gran Teatre del Liceu opera theatre, the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, the Teatre Lliure and the Palau de la Música Catalana concert hall. Barcelona also is home to the Barcelona and Catalonia National Symphonic Orchestra (Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, usually known as OBC), the largest symphonic orchestra in Catalonia. In 1999, the OBC inaugurated its new venue in the brand-new Auditorium (''l'Auditori''). It performs around 75 concerts per season and its current director is Eiji Oue. Yearly two major pop music festivals take place in the city, the Sónar Festival and the Primavera Sound Festival. The city also has a thriving alternative music scene, with groups such as The Pinker Tones receiving international attention.

Media

''El Periódico de Catalunya'' and ''La Vanguardia'' are Barcelona's two major daily newspapers (both with Catalan and Spanish editions) while ''Sport'' and ''El Mundo Deportivo'' (both in Spanish) are the city's two major sports daily newspapers, published by the same companies. The city is also served by a number of smaller publications such as ''Ara'', ''Avui'' and ''El Punt'' (in Catalan), by nation-wide newspapers with special Barcelona editions like ''El Pais'' and ''El Mundo'' (both in Spanish), and by several free newspapers like ''20 minutos'', ''ADN'' and ''Què'' (all bilingual).

Several major FM stations include Catalunya Ràdio, RAC 1, RAC 105 and Cadena SER. Barcelona also has several local TV stations, among them BTV (owned by city council) and 8TV (owned by the Godó group, that also owns ''La Vanguardia''). The headquarters of Televisió de Catalunya, Catalonia's public network, are located in Sant Joan Despí, in Barcelona's metropolitan area.

Sports

Barcelona has a long sporting tradition and hosted the highly successful 1992 Summer Olympics as well as several matches during the 1982 FIFA World Cup (on the two stadiums). It has also hosted, among others, the final of European Champions League (1989, 1999), Eurobasket (1973, 1997), Euroleague (1969, 1998, 2003, 2011), 2003 EuroHockey Nations Championship and the 1951, 1954, 1957, 1979 European Roller Hockey Championship, 1958 European Judo Championships, 1970 European Water Polo Championship, 1970 European Aquatics Championships, 1976 European Taekwondo Championships, 1980 European Karate Championships, 1987 European Wushu Championships, 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 2002 Euro Beach Soccer Cup, 2003 World Aquatics Championships, 2007 European Baseball Championship, 2010 European Athletics Championships and some other. Also, the city aspires to organize the 2022 Winter Olympics. The opening, closing, medal ceremonies and indoor sports would be held in Barcelona, while outdoor sports would be held in ski resorts in the Pyrenees, maintly La Molina. FC Barcelona is a sports club best known worldwide for its football team, one of the largest in Europe, four-time winner (last one in 2011) of the UEFA Champions League and the only men's club in the world to accomplish a sextuple. FC Barcelona also has teams in the Spanish basketball ACB league (Regal FC Barcelona), the handball ASOBAL league (FC Barcelona Handbol), and the roller hockey league (FC Barcelona Hoquei), all of them winners of the highest European competitions. The club's museum is the second most visited in Catalonia. Twice a season, FC Barcelona and cross-town rivals RCD Espanyol contest in the local derby in La Liga, while its basketball section has its own local derby in Liga ACB with nearby Joventut Badalona. Barcelona also has other clubs in lower categories, like CE Europa and UE Sant Andreu.

Barcelona has two UEFA elite stadiums (12px12px12px12px12px): FC Barcelona's Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe with a capacity of 100,000 and the publicly owned Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, with a capacity of 55,000; used for the 1992 Olympics. Also, the city has several smaller stadiums such as Mini Estadi, Estadio Narcís Sala with a capacity of 15,000 and Nou Sardenya with a capacity of 7,000. In the suburbs of Barcelona there is a third UEFA elite stadium (12px12px12px12px) - Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, with a capacity of 40,000.

Several major road running competitions are organized year-round in Barcelona: the Barcelona Marathon every March with a participants of over 10,000 in 2010, the Cursa de Bombers in April, the Cursa de El Corte Inglés in May (with about 60,000 participants each year), the Cursa de la Mercè, the Cursa Jean Bouin, the Milla Sagrada Família and the San Silvestre.

The Open Seat Godó, a 50-year-old ATP World Tour 500 Series tennis tournament, is held annually in the facilities of the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona (Barcelona Royal Tennis Club). Also, each Christmas, a swimming race across the port is organized. Near Barcelona, in Montmeló, the 131,000 capacity Circuit de Catalunya / Circuit de Barcelona racetrack hosts the Formula One World Championship, Formula One Spanish Grand Prix, Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, Spanish GT Championship and GP2 Series. In Barcelona very popular is skateboarding and bicycling. In the city and the metropolitan area is tens of kilometers of bicycle paths.

Top sport clubs in Barcelona:

Club	Primary league	Sport	Venue	Established	Capacity
FC Barcelona	La Liga		Camp Nou	1899	100,000
RCD Espanyol	La Liga		Estadi Cornellà-El Prat	1900	40,500
FC Barcelona Bàsquet		Basketball	Palau Blaugrana	1926	7,585
FC Barcelona Handbol		Handball	Palau Blaugrana	1942	7,585
FC Barcelona Ice Hockey		Ice hockey	Palau de Gel	1972	1,256
FC Barcelona Hoquei	OK Liga	Roller hockey	Palau Blaugrana	1942	7,585
FC Barcelona Futsal	Primera División de Futsal	Futsal	Palau Blaugrana	1986	7,585
FC Barcelona Rugby	División de Honor de Rugby	Rugby union	! scope="row" style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;"	1924	no data
Barcelona Dragons		American football	Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys	1991 (withheld)	56,000
Barcelona Búfals	LNFA	American football	Estadio Narcís Sala	1987	15,000

Transport

Airports

Barcelona is served by Barcelona El Prat Airport, about from the centre of Barcelona. It is the second-largest airport in Spain, and the largest on the Mediterranean coast. It is a main hub for Vueling Airlines, and also a focus for Iberia, Spanair and Air Europa. The airport mainly serves domestic and European destinations, but some airlines offer destinations in Latin America, Asia and the United States. The airport is connected to the city by highway, commuter train (Barcelona Airport railway station) and scheduled bus service. A new terminal (T1) has been built, and entered service on 17 June 2009.

Sabadell Airport is a smaller airport in the nearby town of Sabadell, devoted to pilot training, aerotaxi and private flights. Some low-cost airlines, such as Transavia.com and Ryanair, prefer to use Girona-Costa Brava Airport, situated about to the north of Barcelona and the Reus Airport, situated to the south, though they offer some flights from Barcelona El Prat Airport

Seaport

The Port of Barcelona has a 2000-year old history and a great contemporary commercial importance. It is Europe's ninth largest container port, with a trade volume of 2.57 million TEU's in 2008. The port is managed by the Port Authority of Barcelona. Its are divided into three zones: Port Vell (the Old Port), the commercial port and the logistics port (Barcelona Free Port). The port is undergoing an enlargement that will double its size thanks to diverting the mouth of the Llobregat river 2 km (1¼ mi) to the south.

The Port Vell area also houses the Maremagnum (a commercial mall), a multiplex cinema, the IMAX Port Vell and Europe's largest aquarium - Aquarium Barcelona, containing 8,000 fish and 11 sharks contained in 22 basins filled with 6 million litres of sea water. The Maremagnum, due to being situated a designated tourist zone, is the only commercial mall in the city that can open on Sundays and public holidays.

Public transport

Barcelona is served by a comprehensive local public transport network that includes a metro, a bus network, two separate modern tram networks, a separate historic tram line, and several funiculars and aerial cable cars. The Barcelona Metro network comprises eleven lines, identified by an "L" followed by the line number as well as by individual colours. Most of the network (nine lines) is operated by the Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), but three lines are FGC commuter lines that run through the city. When finished, the L9 will be the second longest underground metro line in Europe with 42.6 km; only shorter than London's 76 km Central Line.

The Estació del Nord (Northern Station), a former railway station that was renovated for the 1992 Olympic Games, now serves as the terminus for long-distance and regional bus services. Another company, TRAMMET, operates the city's two modern tram networks, known as Trambaix and Trambesòs. The historic tram line, the Tramvia Blau, connects the metro to the Funicular del Tibidabo (both operated by TMB). The Funicular de Tibidabo climbs the Tibidabo hill, as does the Funicular de Vallvidrera (FGC). The Funicular de Montjuïc (TMB) climbs the Montjuïc hill. The city has two aerial cable cars: one to the Montjuïc castle and Port Vell Aerial Tramway that runs via Torre Jaume I and Torre Sant Sebastià over the port.

Barcelona has a metered taxi fleet governed by the Institut Metropolità del Taxi (Metropolitan Taxi Institute), composed of more than 10,000 cars. Most of the licences are in the hands of self-employed drivers. With their black and yellow livery, Barcelona's taxis are easily spotted.

On 22 March 2007, Barcelona's City Council started the Bicing service, a bicycle service understood as a public transport. Once the user has their user card, they can take a bicycle from any of the 100 stations spread around the city and use it anywhere the urban area of the city, and then leave it at another station. The service has been a success, with 50,000 subscribed users in three months.

Railway

Barcelona is a major hub for RENFE, the Spanish state railway network, and its main intercity train station is Barcelona-Sants station. The AVE high-speed rail system – designed for speeds of 300 km/h (186 mph) – was extended from Madrid to Barcelona (Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line) in 2008. Generally, Barcelona has high-speed rail links with major cities of Spain. A high-speed rail connecting Barcelona and France – LGV Perpignan–Figueres will be launched in 2012. Rodalies and the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) run Barcelona's widespread commuter train service.

Roads and highways

City cuts three international routes, including European route E15 (north-south), European route E90 (west-east) and European route E09. Also, Barcelona has a comprehensive network of motorways and highways throughout the city and metropolitan area, including A-2, A-7/AP-7, C-16, C-17, C-31, C-32, C-33, C-60. City is circled by three half ring roads or bypasses, Ronda de Dalt (on the mountain side), Ronda del Litoral (along the coast) and Ronda del Mig (separated into two parts: Travessera de Dalt in the north and the Gran Via de Carles III), two partially covered fast highways with several exits that bypass the city.

The city's main arteries include Diagonal Avenue, which crosses the city diagonally, Meridiana Avenue which leads to Glòries and connects with Diagonal Avenue and Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, which crosses the city from east to west, passing through the centre of the city.

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Barcelona is twinned with the following cities:^{(in chronological order)}

* Montpellier, France, 1963

* Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1972

* Monterrey, Mexico, 1977

* Boston, United States, 1983

* Busan, South Korea, 1983

* Cologne, Germany, 1984

* São Paulo, Brazil, 1985

* Montevideo, Uruguay, 1985

* Seville, Spain

* San Francisco, United States, 2010

Gdańsk, Poland, 1990

* Havana, Cuba, 1993

* Guayaquil, Ecuador

* Kobe, Japan, 1993

* Antwerp, Belgium, 1997

* Istanbul, Turkey, 1997

* Tel Aviv, Israel, 1998

* Gaza, Palestinian National Authority, 1998

* Dublin, Ireland, 1998

* Athens, Greece, 1999

* Isfahan, Iran, 2000

* Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2000

* Valparaíso, Chile, 2001

* Shanghai, People's Republic of China, 2001

* Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2006

* Cebu City, Philippines, 2009

* Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2009-05-29.

Other forms of cooperation and city friendship similar to the twin city programmes exist to many cities worldwide.

Other sights

See also

Catalan people

Catalan cuisine

List of markets in Barcelona

List of tallest buildings and structures in Barcelona

1929 Barcelona International Exposition

Exposición Universal de Barcelona

Mossos d'Esquadra

Urban Region of Barcelona

References

Bibliography

Busquets, Joan. ''Barcelona: The Urban Evolution of a Compact City'' (Harvard UP, 2006) 468 pp.

McDonogh, Gary W. "Review Essay: Barcelona: Forms, Images, and Conflicts," ''Journal of Urban History'' (Jan. 2011) v37#1 pp 117–123 doi: 10.1177/0096144210384250

Marshall, Tim, ed. ''Transforming Barcelona'' (Routledge, 2004), 267 pp.

Ramon Resina, Joan. ''Barcelona's Vocation of Modernity: Rise and Decline of an Urban Image'' (Stanford UP, 2008). 272 pp.

Notes

External links

Official Website of Barcelona

Official Website Of Barcelona's Metropolitan Transports

Guide with Photos, Videos and Maps of Barcelona on BCN.travel

Category:10s BC establishments Category:Ancient mints Category:Host cities of the Summer Olympic Games Category:Municipalities in Barcelona Category:Phoenician colonies in Spain Category:Roman sites in Spain Category:Mediterranean port cities and towns in Spain Category:Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Category:Populated places in Barcelona

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
playername	Cesc Fàbregas
fullname	Francesc Fàbregas i Soler
dateofbirth	May 04, 1987
cityofbirth	Vilassar de Mar
countryofbirth	Spain
height
position	Midfielder
currentclub	Barcelona
clubnumber	4
youthyears1	1995–1997
youthyears2	1997–2003
youthyears3	2003
youthclubs1	Mataró
youthclubs2	Barcelona
youthclubs3	Arsenal
years1	2003–2011
years2	2011-present
clubs1	Arsenal
clubs2	Barcelona
caps1	212
goals1	35
years2	2011–
clubs2	Barcelona
caps2	1
goals2	1
nationalyears1	2002–2003
nationalyears2	2003–2004
nationalyears3	2005
nationalyears4	2004–2005
nationalyears5	2006–
nationalyears6	2004
nationalteam1	Spain U16
nationalteam2	Spain U17
nationalteam3	Spain U20
nationalteam4	Spain U21
nationalteam5	Spain
nationalteam6	Catalonia
nationalcaps1	8
nationalgoals1	0
nationalcaps2	14
nationalgoals2	7
nationalcaps3	5
nationalgoals3	0
nationalcaps4	11
nationalgoals4	2
nationalcaps5	58
nationalgoals5	6
nationalcaps6	1
nationalgoals6	1
pcupdate	21:50, 29 August, 2011 (UTC)
ntupdate	03:13, 14 August 2011 (UTC) }}

Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas i Soler (; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club FC Barcelona.

Fàbregas started his career as a trainee with Barcelona but was signed by Premier League side Arsenal in September 2003 at the age of 16. Following injuries to key midfielders in the 2004–05 season, he went on to establish himself as Arsenal's starting central midfielder, playmaker, and captain. He broke several of the club's records in the process, earning a reputation as one of the best young players for his position. In 2011, he returned to Barcelona for an initial fee of £29m (€34m) with a further £4m (€5m) in variables.

In international football, the Spaniard's national career began when he represented the Under-17 side at the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland. As a result of his club performances, he was called up to the senior squad in 2006. He has played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup, helping Spain to become eventual winners in the two most recent tournaments.

Early years

Fàbregas was born in Vilassar de Mar, Barcelona, Catalonia to Francesc Fàbregas, Sr., who runs a property company, and Núria Soler, the owner of a pastry company. Fàbregas has supported FC Barcelona since childhood and went to his first match when he was nine months old with his grandfather. He began his club football career with CE Mataró, before being signed for Barcelona's La Masia youth academy aged 10 in 1997. His first coach, Señor Blai, reportedly did not select Fabregas for matches against Barcelona in an attempt to hide him from their scouts. This tactic, however, was unable to withstand Barcelona for long, and Mataró gave in and allowed Fàbregas to train with Barcelona one day per week. Eventually Fàbregas joined Barcelona's academy full time. His initial training was as a defensive midfielder playing alongside notable names such as Gerard Piqué and Lionel Messi. Although he was a prolific scorer, sometimes scoring even more than 30 goals in a season for the club's youth teams, he did not manage to play a first team game at the Camp Nou. During his time at Barcelona's youth academy, Fàbregas idolised Barcelona's then-captain and number four Josep Guardiola, who would later give Fàbregas his shirt as consolation when Fàbregas' parents divorced.

Club career

Arsenal

Adapting to England

Sensing that he would have limited opportunities at Barcelona, he joined Arsenal in their Academy, signing for the London club on 11 September 2003. Initially, he found life difficult in England's capital but soon struck a friendship with Spanish-speaking team-mate Philippe Senderos, who helped him settle down. As a 16-year-old, Fàbregas did not contemplate breaking into the first team immediately but looked up to senior players like Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva, while concentrating on training and learning the English language. He nevertheless made his debut for Arsenal not long after, on 23 October 2003, in a League Cup tie at home to Rotherham United. In doing so he became Arsenal's youngest ever first team player, aged 16 years and 177 days. He then became the youngest goalscorer in Arsenal's history in a later round of the League Cup, scoring in a 5–1 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Although Arsenal went on to win the league unbeaten in the 2003–04 season, Fàbregas was not awarded a winner's medal because he did not play a single league game.

It was not until the start of the 2004–05 season that the Spaniard started making first team appearances in matches outside the League Cup. His first match of the season was against Manchester United in the FA Community Shield. Following an injury to Vieira, Fàbregas stepped in and made four consecutive Premier League starts. He was praised for his performances in those games, even claiming a goal against Blackburn Rovers in a 3–0 victory, and becoming Arsenal's youngest ever goalscorer in a league game. With further injuries to Edu and Gilberto Silva, he received more playing time in all competitions. He signed his first professional contract with Arsenal in September 2004, which committed his long-term future to the club. In the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, he became the second-youngest goalscorer in the competition's history after scoring the third goal against Rosenborg in a 5–1 win. He concluded his season by winning his first honours with Arsenal when he was in the starting eleven that defeated Manchester United on penalties in the 2005 FA Cup Final.

Making the starting eleven

After the departure of Vieira to Juventus, Fàbregas was given the Frenchman's number 4 shirt and featured regularly in the Arsenal central midfield alongside Gilberto Silva. He made 49 appearances in all competitions during the 2005–06 season. Despite his young age, his performances came under greater scrutiny due to his increased involvement in the first team. Further, as Fàbregas possessed a smaller frame and played with less aggression than Vieira, there were initially doubts over his ability to fill in the void left by the Frenchman. Nevertheless, Fàbregas asserted his own style of play and impressed pundits in the Champions League against Real Madrid and Juventus. In the latter, he scored Arsenal's first goal and set up Thierry Henry for the second, at the same time proving that he could compete against tough, hard-tackling midfielders like Vieira. He then played in the Final against his former club Barcelona, but Arsenal were defeated 2–1, completing a trophyless 2005–06 campaign for Arsenal.

Fàbregas' increase in exposure drew transfer speculation during the summer; Real Madrid expressed a desire to sign the Spaniard despite his long-term contract with Arsenal, but Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger stated that Arsenal would not listen to any offers. In September 2006, with six years left on his deal, Arsenal offered a new five-year deal (with an option to extend by a further three years) to the midfielder, which he signed on 19 October 2006. While the contract was unusually long, Fàbregas cited Arsenal's playing style and Wenger as reasons for his long-term commitment to the club.

The 2006–07 season was a learning experience for the young Arsenal squad and Fàbregas. The club again failed to secure any major honours and were defeated by city rivals Chelsea in the League Cup Final. However, Fàbregas emerged as one of the key creative players for the team, playing in every single league game. He kickstarted Arsenal's 2006–07 UEFA Champions League campaign when he scored a brace in a 3–0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in a qualifier match. In the Premier League, he notched up 13 assists, which was the second-highest total in the league. He ended the season with several individual honours, including the Golden Boy award, presented by the Italian paper ''TuttoSport'', based on a poll of leading writers across Europe. He was also named in the 2006 UEFA Team of the Year, and named FA Premier League Player of the Month for January 2007. Additionally, he was nominated for both PFA Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year, although both awards went to Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo. In June 2007, he was named Arsenal's Player of the Season, taking in 60% of the votes.

The 2007–08 season began with much uncertainty for Arsenal. First, David Dein, the club's vice-chairman, left amidst allegations of internal strife, followed by the departure of the club's all-time top goalscorer and captain, Thierry Henry, who signed for Barcelona. There was also speculation over Wenger's future with the club. Fàbregas knew that he would become the most important player for Arsenal, but stated he was ready for the challenge. He started the season well, chalking up goals and assists, and website soccernet attributed the early success of Arsenal to the young Spaniard. His start to the season also earned him the O₂ Player of the Month award from Arsenal fans for August, September and October, as well as the Premier League Player of the Month for September. With Arsenal leading the league table until March, Fàbregas was equally instrumental in the club's 2007–08 Champions League campaign; in the return leg against Milan, the midfielder scored late in the game to send Arsenal into the quarter-finals. Though Arsenal ended the season trophyless, Fàbregas amassed several personal awards. On 11 April 2008, Fàbregas was nominated for the PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards for the second year running; he was later crowned the winner of the latter, and named in the PFA Team of the Year. He was also named the 2007–08 Arsenal.com Player of the Season.

Captaincy

On 24 November 2008, 14 league games into the 2008–09 season, Fàbregas was named as the successor to William Gallas as club captain. However, just as Arsenal were getting back into the title race after a poor start to the season, the Spaniard was ruled out for four months after sustaining a knee injury against Liverpool. The Gunners eventually finished the season without any silverware, coming in fourth in the league and being knocked out at the semi-finals of the 2008–09 Champions League campaign. In tandem with Arsenal's policy to groom its young players, the team that Fàbregas led into the new season consisted mostly of the same young nucleus as before, with the likes of Nicklas Bendtner, Gaël Clichy, Abou Diaby, Denílson, Samir Nasri, Alexandre Song, and Theo Walcott in tow.

In the opening league game of 2009–10 season, Fàbregas scored a brace and managed two assists in Arsenal's 6–1 away win against Everton. Arsenal went on to secure qualification for the 2009–10 Champions League campaign by beating Celtic over two legs, but their early momentum to the season was disrupted by consecutive league game losses to Manchester United and Manchester City. The team bounced back strongly after this setback, and with Fàbregas being prolific in scoring and setting up his teammates, it went unbeaten in the next 13 games. Despite suffering four league losses even before mid-season approached, Arsenal managed to lead the league standings after 22 games. On 31 March 2010, in the Champions League first leg of the quarter-final against Barcelona, Fàbregas suffered a leg fracture before scoring the equalising goal in the game which ended 2–2. Arsenal, who were four points behind league leaders Manchester United, were deprived of their captain for the remaining six league games of the season; they were subsequently eliminated by Barcelona in the Champions League, and fell out of the league title race. Fàbregas was later named to the PFA Team of the Year.

Before the start of the 2010–11 season, there was once again intense media speculation about the Spaniard's future, and in June 2010, a €35 million bid from Barcelona was rejected. The 2010–11 season turned out to be an extremely competitive one in the Premier League; even though Arsenal had lost five games before mid-season, they were jostling for pole position with Manchester United and Manchester City. Going into late February, Arsenal were still in contention for the quadruple, but within a span of two weeks they lost in the League Cup final, were eliminated by Barcelona in the Round of 16 of the Champions League, and defeated in the FA Cup quarter-final. Although Fàbregas did not play in the League Cup Final, it was his misplaced backheel pass during the second leg of the Champions League game against Barcelona that allowed them to level the aggregate score. Arsenal remained in contention for the league title until a series of draws in the final third of the season caused them to fall too far behind league leaders Manchester United; they ended the season fourth. The following season was once again marked by uncertainty. Barcelona made several bids for Fàbregas, while Nasri, Arsenal's star performer the previous campaign, was courted by Manchester City.

Barcelona

On 15 August 2011, Barcelona signed Fàbregas for for an initial fee of £29 million (€34 million) with a further £4 million (€5 million) in variables, ending one of the most protracted transfer sagas in recent times. Fàbregas made his debut in the second leg of the Supercopa de España, coming on as a substitute against Real Madrid. Barcelona won the tie 3–2 and 5–4 on aggregate. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 win against Porto as Barcelona won the 2011 UEFA Super Cup, and his first league goal on his league debut against Villarreal.

International career

Youth team

Although he features regularly for the Spain national football team, Fàbregas' international career began at youth level. At the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Finland, he finished as top scorer of the tournament despite playing in midfield, and was voted Player of the Tournament. Spain finished runners-up in the tournament to Brazil. Fàbregas was next involved in the 2004 UEFA U-17 European Championship, where Spain also finished runners-up. He was named the Golden Player of the tournament.

Senior team

After emerging as one of Arsenal's key players in only his second season at the club, it did not take long for Fàbregas to be called up to the senior squad. Noting his impressive performances in Arsenal's 2006 Champions League campaign, Spain coach Luis Aragonés named the teenager in the team for a friendly against Ivory Coast. In that game, Fàbregas became the youngest player capped for Spain in 70 years, beating Sergio Ramos' record. He received favourable reviews for his début, and was involved in the build-up to Spain's first goal in the 3–2 victory over the Ivorians.

2006 World Cup

On 15 May 2006, Fàbregas was selected for the Spanish 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. During the tournament, he came on as a second-half substitute in Spain's first two group matches, contributing an assist to striker Fernando Torres in their 3–1 victory against Tunisia. He then started alongside Spain's reserve players (including then-Arsenal teammate José Antonio Reyes) in Spain's third group match against Saudi Arabia. He earned a starting role in Spain's first knockout-stage match against France, in place of Marcos Senna, but Spain lost 3–1. Fàbregas also became the youngest player in Spanish football history to participate in a World Cup when he came on as a substitute for Luis García after 77 minutes in the 4–0 victory against Ukraine on 13 June 2006; he was then 19 years and 41 days old. He was later nominated for the Gillette Young Player of the World Cup, but Germany's Lukas Podolski won the award.

UEFA Euro 2008

In UEFA Euro 2008, Fàbregas was issued with squad number 10, rather than 18 which he had previously held. Despite featuring mostly as a substitute, the midfielder made a considerable impact in Spain's campaign. He scored his first international goal in that competition in Spain's 4–1 win over Russia and also had an assist in that game. Spain won all three of their group games and met Italy in the quarter-finals. In that match, Fàbregas scored the winning penalty in the penalty shoot-out after the teams remained deadlocked 0–0 after extra time. In the semi-finals, Spain defeated Russia 3–0 with Fàbregas providing two assists. The midfielder made the starting eleven in the Final against Germany where Spain prevailed 1–0; this was Spain's first major title since 1964. For his efforts, Fàbregas was named in the Team of the Tournament, a 23-man squad selected by the UEFA Technical Team.

Confederations Cup 2009

After missing out for several months due to his injury, Fàbregas regained his place as a regular in Vicente del Bosque's squad. In June, he was named in the team for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. He scored his second international goal in a 5–0 win against New Zealand in the competition's group stage. In the semi-finals against the United States (which Fàbregas started), Spain suffered a shock 2–0 loss, and its 15-game winning streak came to an end.

2010 World Cup

Fàbregas was selected as a part of del Bosque's 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. With del Bosque preferring a starting midfield of Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, Fàbregas did not start in any of Spain's games in the competition. He featured as a substitute in four of their seven matches, in which Spain lost their opening game before winning the next six en route to the final. In the Final itself, Fàbregas set up the extra-time winner for Iniesta to win Spain the World Cup for the first time in their history.

International goals

:''Scores and results list. Spain's goal tally first.'' Tivoli Neu, Innsbruck, Austria 14 June 2009 9 September 2009 10 October 2009 18 November 2009 8 June 2010

# !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition
1.	10 June 2008	|		4–1	4–1	UEFA Euro 2008 Group D>UEFA Euro 2008
2.	|	Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg, South Africa		4–0	5–0	2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
3.	|	Estadio Romano, Mérida, Spain>Mérida, Spain		1–0	3–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.	|	Hanrapetakan Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia		1–0	2–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.	|	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria		1–1	5–1	Friendly
6.	|	Nueva Condomina, Murcia, Spain		4–0	6–0	Friendly

Style of play

Originally brought to Arsenal as a youth to slowly develop via the League Cup, Fàbregas was unexpectedly deployed as Arsenal's starting central midfielder following injuries to fellow midfielders Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva and Edu during the 2004–05 season. While Vieira served as his role model and mentor, he styled his game after his childhood hero and compatriot Josep Guardiola. Because he was of a different mould from his Arsenal predecessors who played in the same position, this led to criticisms of his lightweight frame and less aggressive style of play, with former teammate Ashley Cole criticising the Spaniard as "an unproven featherweight" in his autobiography.

However, it did not take long for Fàbregas to become one of the most coveted and celebrated young talents in the game. Functioning mostly as a playmaker and renowned for his passing range, he was described as the kernel of Arsenal's first team, bringing vision, creativity, and an innate understanding of timing and space to Arsenal's intricate passing game, displaying maturity that belied his age. He was the main creative force when he was at Arsenal, as exemplified by his 16 assists in all competitions in the 2006–07 season. Between 2006–07 and 2010–11, Fàbregas created the most chances in the top-division leagues of England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

At Arsenal, Fàbregas also often assumed responsibility for set pieces, taking corners, free kicks and penalties. By his own admission, scoring was a weaker part of his game in his first few seasons at Arsenal; wasteful finishing also being symptomatic of the larger problem surrounding Arsenal in the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. This changed initially in the 2007–08 season when he scored 11 goals in his first 16 games, and Arsenal manager Wenger claimed that the Spaniard's previous inability to score was down to a mental state, and even compared the Spaniard to Michel Platini, a French midfielder renowned for scoring. There were also concerns raised over the large number of games Fàbregas was playing for club and country at such a young age, but while he initially avoided long spells on the sidelines, he played significantly less games due to injury in his last three seasons with Arsenal.

Statistics

''Statistics accurate as of 29 August 2011''

0 2 3 2 7 3 15 3 1

Club	Season	League	Cup	!colspan="3"	Total
!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists	!Apps	!Goals	!Assists
rowspan="8" valign="center"	Arsenal		0	|	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	3	1	0
2004–05 Arsenal F.C. season	2004–05	33	|	4	8	0	0	5	1	0	46	3	4
2005–06 Arsenal F.C. season	2005–06	35	|	5	2	1	0	13	1	2	50	5	7
2006–07 Arsenal F.C. season	2006–07	38	|	13	6	0	2	10	2	1	54	4	16
2007–08 Arsenal F.C. season	2007–08	32	|	19	3	0	1	10	6	2	45	13	22
2008–09 Arsenal F.C. season	2008–09	22	|	10	1	0	0	10	0	5	33	3	15
2009–10 Arsenal F.C. season	2009–10	27	|	15	1	0	1	8	4	3	36	19	19
2010–11 Arsenal F.C. season	2010–11	25	|	14	6	3	1	5	3	2	35	9	17
Total	!212!!35!!80!!30!!5!!5!!61!!17!!15!!303!!57!!100
rowspan="1" valign="center"	Barcelona		1	|	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	3	2	0
Total	!1!!1!!0!!1!!0!!0!!1!!1!!0!!3!!2!!0
Career total		! 213 !! 36 !! 80 !! 31 !! 5 !! 5 !! 62 !! 18 !! 15 !! 306 !! 59 !! 100

|- |2006||14||0 |- |2007||8||0 |- |2008||15||1 |- |2009||10||4 |- |2010||11||1 |- !Total||58||6 |}

Career highlights

Arsenal

Winner

FA Cup: 2004–05

FA Community Shield: 2004

Runner-up

UEFA Champions League: 2005–06

Football League Cup: 2006–07, 2010–11

FA Community Shield: 2005

Barcelona

Winner

Supercopa de España: 2011

UEFA Super Cup: 2011

International

Winner

FIFA World Cup: 2010

UEFA European Championship: 2008

Runner-up

FIFA U-17 World Championship: 2003

UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship: 2004

Individual

FIFA U-17 World Championship Golden Shoe: 2003

FIFA U-17 World Championship Golden Ball: 2003

UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship Golden Player: 2004

Bravo Award: 2006

UEFA Team of the Year: 2006, 2008

Premier League Player of the Month: January 2007, September 2007

ESM Team of the Year: 2007–08, 2009–10

PFA Young Player of the Year: 2007–08

PFA Team of the Year: 2007–08, 2009–10

UEFA Team of the Tournament: 2008

Golden Boy: 2006

Prince of Asturias Awards: 2010

Other projects

Fàbregas starred in his own one-time only television programme, called ''"The Cesc Fàbregas Show: Nike Live"'', that aired on 19 May 2008. The programme was sponsored by Nike and was shown on Sky Sports. The show featured Fàbregas in several sketches with Arsenal teammates like Philippe Senderos and Nicklas Bendtner, as well as coach Arsène Wenger, Fàbregas' parents and ''Little Britain'' star Matt Lucas.

Fàbregas is also an Honorary Patron of the campaign against Racism in football and society; Show Racism the Red Card.

References

External links

FC Barcelona profile

BDFutbol profile

Transfermarkt profile

National team data

2010 FIFA World Cup profile

Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:People from Barcelona Category:Spanish footballers Category:Catalan footballers Category:Association football midfielders Category:Premier League players Category:Arsenal F.C. players Category:La Liga footballers Category:FC Barcelona footballers Category:Spain youth international footballers Category:Spain under-21 international footballers Category:Spain international footballers Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players Category:2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:UEFA European Football Championship-winning players Category:FIFA World Cup-winning players Category:Spanish expatriate footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in England

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Playername	Thierry Henry
Fullname	Thierry Daniel Henry
Dateofbirth	August 17, 1977
Cityofbirth	Les Ulis, Essonne
Countryofbirth	France
Height
Position	Striker
Currentclub	New York Red Bulls
Clubnumber	14
Youthyears1	1983–1989
Youthclubs1	CO Les Ulis
Youthyears2	1989–1990
Youthclubs2	US Palaiseau
Youthyears3	1990–1992
Youthclubs3	Viry-Châtillon
Youthyears4	1992
Youthclubs4	Clairefontaine
Youthyears5	1992–1994
Youthclubs5	Monaco
Years1	1994–1999
Clubs1	Monaco
Caps1	105
Goals1	20
Years2	1999
Clubs2	Juventus
Caps2	16
Goals2	3
Years3	1999–2007
Clubs3	Arsenal
Caps3	254
Goals3	174
Years4	2007–2010
Clubs4	Barcelona
Caps4	80
Goals4	35
Years5	2010–
Clubs5	New York Red Bulls
Caps5	31
Goals5	14
Nationalyears1	1997
Nationalteam1	France U20
Nationalyears2	1997–2010
Nationalcaps1	4
Nationalgoals1	0
Nationalteam2	France
Nationalcaps2	123
Nationalgoals2	51
Pcupdate	13 August 2011
Ntupdate	13 September 2010 }}

Thierry Daniel Henry (; born 17 August 1977) is a French professional footballer who plays for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.

Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne (a suburb of Paris) where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and signed instantly, making his professional debut in 1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which he signed for the Serie A defending champions Juventus. He had a disappointing season playing on the wing, before joining Arsenal for £11 million in 1999.

It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer. Despite initially struggling in the Premier League, he emerged as Arsenal's top goal-scorer for almost every season of his tenure there. Under long-time mentor and coach Arsène Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenal's all-time leading scorer with 226 goals in all competitions. The Frenchman won two league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners; he was nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year twice, was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year twice, and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year three times. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain, leading them to the UEFA Champions League final in 2006. In June 2007, after eight years with Arsenal, he transferred to Barcelona for a fee of €24 million. His first honours with the Catalan club came in 2009 when they won the league, cup and Champions League treble. He went on to achieve an unprecedented sextuple by also winning the Spanish Supercup, the UEFA Supercup and the Club World Cup. In total, Henry has been named in the UEFA Team of the Year five times. In 2010, he joined the New York Red Bulls, and won the Eastern Conference title with them in 2011.

Henry enjoyed similar success with the French national team, having won the 1998 World Cup, Euro 2000 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. In October 2007, he surpassed Michel Platini's record to become France's top goal-scorer of all time. Henry retired from international football after the 2010 World Cup. Off the pitch, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football, partially due to his own experiences. He married English model Nicole Merry in 2003 and had a daughter with her, but they divorced in 2007. Henry was also one of the top commercially marketed footballers; he was ranked ninth in the world in 2006.

Early years

Henry is of Antillean heritage: his father, Antoine, is from Guadeloupe (La Désirade island), and his mother, Maryse, is from Martinique. He was born and raised in Les Ulis suburb of Paris which, despite sometimes being seen as a tough neighbourhood, provided good footballing facilities. As a seven-year-old, Henry showed great potential, prompting Claude Chezelle to recruit him to the local club CO Les Ulis. His father pressured him to attend training, although the youngster was not particularly drawn to football. He joined US Palaiseau in 1989, but after a year his father fell out with the club, so Henry moved to ES Viry-Châtillon and played there for two years. US Palaiseau coach Jean-Marie Panza, Henry's future mentor, followed him there.

Club career

Monaco (1992–1999) and Juventus (1999)

In 1990, Monaco sent scout Arnold Catalano to watch Henry in a match. Henry scored all six goals as his side won 6–0. Catalano asked him to join Monaco without even attending a trial first. Catalano requested that Henry complete a course at the elite Clairefontaine academy, and despite the director's reluctance to admit Henry due to his poor school results, he was allowed to complete the course and joined Arsène Wenger's Monaco as a youth player. Subsequently, Henry signed professional forms with Monaco and made his professional debut in 1994. Wenger put Henry on the left wing because he believed that his pace, natural ball control and skill would be more effective against full-backs than centre-backs. In his first season with Monaco, Henry scored three goals in 18 appearances.

Wenger continued to search for the perfect playing position for Henry, and suspected that he should be deployed as a striker instead, but he was unsure. Under the tutelage of his manager, Henry was named the French Young Footballer of the Year in 1996, and in the 1996–97 season, his solid performances helped the club win the Ligue 1 title. During the 1997–98 season, he was instrumental in leading his club to the UEFA Champions League semi-final, setting a French record by scoring seven goals in the competition. By his third season, he had received his first cap for the national team, and was part of the winning team in the 1998 World Cup. He continued to impress at his tenure with Monaco, and in his five seasons with the French club, the young winger scored 20 league goals in 105 appearances.

Henry left Monaco in January 1999, one year before his friend and teammate David Trézéguet, and moved to Italian Serie A club Juventus for £10.5 million. He played on the wing, but he was ineffective against the Serie A defensive discipline in a position uncharacteristic for him, and scored just three goals in 16 appearances.

Arsenal (1999–2007)

Unsettled in Italy, Henry transferred from Juventus in August 1999 to Arsenal for an estimated fee of £11 million, reuniting with his former manager Arsène Wenger. It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer, and although his transfer was not without controversy, Wenger was convinced he was worth the transfer fee. Brought in as a replacement for fellow French forward Nicolas Anelka, Henry was immediately moulded into a striker by Wenger, a move that would pay rich dividends in years to come. However, doubts were raised about his ability to adapt to the quick and physical English game when he failed to score in his first eight games. After several difficult months in England, Henry even conceded that he had to "be re-taught everything about the art of striking." These doubts were dispelled when he ended his first season at Arsenal with an impressive goal tally of 26. Arsenal finished second in the league behind Manchester United, and lost in the UEFA Cup final against Turkish side Galatasaray.

Coming off the back of a victorious Euro 2000 campaign with the national team, Henry was ready to make an impact in the 2000–01 season. Despite recording fewer goals and assists than his first season, Henry's second season with Arsenal proved to be a breakthrough, as he became the club's top goal-scorer. Armed with one of the league's best attacks, Arsenal closed in quickly on perennial rivals Manchester United for the league title. Henry remained frustrated however by the fact that he had yet to help the club win honours, and frequently expressed his desire to establish Arsenal as a powerhouse.

Success finally arrived during the 2001–02 season. Arsenal finished seven points above Liverpool to win the league title, and defeated Chelsea 2–0 in the FA Cup Final. Henry became the league's top goal-scorer and netted 42 goals in all competitions as he led Arsenal to a double and his first silverware with the club. There was much expectation that Henry would replicate his club form for France during the 2002 World Cup, but the defending champions suffered a shock exit at the group stage.

2002–03 proved to be another productive season for Henry, as he scored 32 goals in all competitions while contributing 23 assists—remarkable returns for a striker. In doing so, he led Arsenal to another FA Cup triumph (where he was man-of-the-match in the final), although Arsenal failed to retain their Premier League crown. Throughout the season, he competed with Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy for the league scoring title, but the latter edged Henry to the title by a goal. Nonetheless, Henry was named both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year. His rising status as one of the world's best footballers was affirmed when he emerged runner-up for the 2003 FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Entering the 2003–04 season, Arsenal were determined to reclaim the Premier League crown. Henry was again instrumental in Arsenal's exceptionally successful campaign; together with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pirès, Henry ensured that ''the Gunners'' became the first team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten, claiming the league title in the process. Apart from being named for the second year running as the PFA Players' Player of the Year and Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, Henry emerged once again as the runner-up for 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award. With 39 goals scored in all competitions, the Frenchman led the league in goals scored and won the European Golden Boot. However, as was the case in 2002, Henry was unable to lead the national side to honours during Euro 2004.

This dip in success was compounded when Arsenal failed again to secure back-to-back league titles when they lost out to Chelsea in the 2004–05 season, although Arsenal did win the FA Cup (the final of which Henry missed through injury). Henry maintained his reputation as one of Europe's most feared strikers as he led the league in scoring, and with 31 goals in all competitions, he was the co-recipient (with Diego Forlán) of the European Golden Boot, and is currently the only player to have officially won the award twice in a row (Ally McCoist also had two Golden Boots in a row, but both were deemed unofficial). The unexpected departure of compatriot Vieira in mid-2005 led to Henry being awarded club captaincy, a role which many felt was not naturally suited for him; the captaincy is more commonly given to defenders or midfielders, who are better-placed on the pitch to read the game. Along with being chief goal-scorer, he was responsible for leading a very young team which had yet to jell fully.

The 2005–06 season proved to be one of remarkable personal achievements for Henry. On 17 October 2005, Henry became the club's top goal-scorer of all time; two goals against Sparta Prague in the Champions League meant he broke Ian Wright's record of 185 goals. On 1 February 2006, he scored a goal against West Ham, bringing his league goal tally up to 151, breaking Arsenal legend Cliff Bastin's league goals record. Henry scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the history of the club, and a unique achievement in the Premier League. He completed the season as the league's top goal-scorer, and for the third time in his career, he was voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year.

Nevertheless, Arsenal failed to win the league title again, but hopes of a trophy were revived when Arsenal reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final. The Gunners eventually lost 2–1 to Barcelona, and Arsenal's inability to win the Premier League for two consecutive seasons combined with the relative inexperience of the Arsenal squad caused much speculation that Henry would leave for another club. However, he declared his love for the club and accepted a four-year contract, and said he would stay at Arsenal for life. Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein later claimed the club had turned down two bids of £50 million from Spanish clubs for Henry before the signing of the new contract. Had the transfer materialized, it would have surpassed the then world record £47 million paid for Zinédine Zidane.

Henry's 2006–07 season was marred by injuries. Although he scored 10 goals in 17 domestic appearances for Arsenal, Henry's season was cut short in February. Having missed games due to hamstring, foot, and back problems, he was deemed fit enough to come on as a late substitute against PSV in a Champions League match, but began limping shortly after coming on. Scans the next day revealed that he would need at least three months to heal from new groin and stomach injuries, missing the rest of the 2006–07 season. Wenger attributed Henry's injuries to a protracted 2005–06 campaign, and reiterated that Henry was keen on staying with the Gunners to rebuild for the 2007–08 season.

Barcelona (2007–2010)

On 25 June 2007, in an unexpected turn of events, Henry was transferred to Barcelona for €24 million. He signed a four-year deal for a reported €6.8 (£4.6) million per season. It was revealed that the contract included a release clause of €125 (£84.9) million. Henry cited the departure of Dein and continued uncertainty over Wenger's future as reasons for leaving, and maintained that "I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." Despite their captain's departure, Arsenal got off to an impressive start for the 2007–08 campaign, and Henry admitted that his presence in the team might have been more of a hindrance than a help. He stated: "Because of my seniority, the fact that I was captain and my habit of screaming for the ball, they would sometimes give it to me even when I was not in the best position. So in that sense it was good for the team that I moved on." Henry left Arsenal as the club's leading all-time league goal-scorer with 174 goals and leading all-time goal-scorer in Europe with 42 goals; in July 2008, Arsenal fans voted him as Arsenal's greatest player ever in Arsenal.com's Gunners' Greatest 50 Players poll.

At Barcelona, Henry was given the number 14 jersey, the same as he had worn at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for his new club on 19 September 2007 in a 3–0 Champions League group stage win over Lyon, and he recorded his first hat-trick for Barça in a league match against Levante ten days later. But with Henry mostly deployed on the wing throughout the season, he was unable to reproduce the goal-scoring form he achieved with Arsenal. He expressed dissatisfaction with the move to Barcelona in the initial year, amidst widespread speculation of a return to the Premier League. In an interview with Garth Crooks on BBC Football Focus, Henry described missing life "back home" and even "the English press". However, Henry concluded his debut season as the club's top scorer with 19 goals in addition to nine league assists, second behind Lionel Messi's ten.

Henry went on to surpass this tally in a more integrated 2008–09 campaign, winning the first trophy of his Barcelona career on 13 May 2009 when Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona won the league and Champions League soon after, completing a treble for the Frenchman, who had combined with Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto'o to score 100 goals between them that season. The trio was also the most prolific trio in Spanish league history, scoring 72 goals and surpassing the 66 goals of Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskás, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Luis del Sol of the 1960–61 season. Later in 2009, Henry helped Barcelona win an unprecedented sextuple, consisting of the aforementioned treble, the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.

The following season, the emergence of Pedro Rodríguez meant that Henry only started 15 league games. Before the La Liga season ended, and with a year still left on his contract, club president Joan Laporta stated on 5 May 2010 that Henry "may go away in the summer transfer window if that's what he wants". After Henry returned from the World Cup, Barcelona confirmed that they had agreed to the sale of Henry to an unnamed club, with the player still to agree terms with the new club.

New York Red Bulls (2010–present)

In July 2010, Henry signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York Red Bulls, as its second designated player. He made his full MLS debut on 31 July in a 2–2 draw against Houston, assisting both goals to Juan Pablo Angel. His first MLS goal came on 28 August in a 2–0 victory against San Jose. Henry was fined $2,000 by MLS after being found guilty of reckless play after injuring Kevin Hartman while celebrating a goal during a game against FC Dallas on 16 September 2010. In January 2011 it was announced that Henry returned to Arsenal's training ground at London Colney to maintain his fitness during the MLS close-season.

International career

Henry has had a successful career with the France national team. His international career began in June 1997, when his good form for Monaco was rewarded with a call-up to the Under-20 French national team, where he played in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside future teammates William Gallas and David Trézéguet. Within four months, France head coach Aimé Jacquet called Henry up to the senior team. The 20-year-old made his senior international debut on 11 October 1997 in a 2–1 win against South Africa. Jacquet was so impressed with Henry that he took him to the 1998 World Cup. Although Henry was a largely unknown quantity at international level, he ended the tournament as France's top scorer with three goals. He was scheduled to appear as a substitute in the final, where France beat Brazil 3–0, but Marcel Desailly's sending off forced a defensive change instead. In 1998, he was made ''Chevalier'' (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur, France's highest decoration.

Henry was a member of France's Euro 2000 championship squad, again scoring three goals in the tournament, including the equalizer against Portugal in the semi-final, and finishing as the country's top scorer. France later won the game in extra time following a converted penalty kick by Zinédine Zidane. France went on to defeat Italy in extra time in the final, earning Henry his second major international medal. During the tournament, Henry was voted man-of-the-match in three games, including the final against Italy.

The 2002 FIFA World Cup featured a stunning early exit for both Henry and France as the defending champions were eliminated in the group stage after failing to score a goal in all three games. France lost their first match in group play and Henry was red carded for a dangerous sliding challenge in their next match against Uruguay. In that game, France played to a 0–0 draw, but Henry was forced to miss the final match due to suspension; France lost 2–0 to Denmark.

Henry returned to form for his country at the 2003 Confederations Cup. Despite playing without team stalwarts Zidane and Patrick Vieira, France won, in large part owing to Henry's outstanding play, for which he was named Man of the Match by FIFA's Technical Study Group in three of France's five matches. In the final, he scored the golden goal in extra time to lift the title for the host country after a 1–0 victory over Cameroon. Henry was awarded both the adidas Golden Ball as the outstanding player of the competition and the adidas Golden Shoe as the tournament's top goal-scorer with four goals.

In Euro 2004, Henry played in all of France's matches and scored two goals. France beat England in the group stages but lost to the eventual winners Greece 1–0 in the quarter-finals. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Henry remained as one of the automatic starters in the squad. He played as a lone striker, but despite an indifferent start to the tournament, became one of the top players of the World Cup. He scored three goals, including the winning goal from Zidane's free kick against defending champions Brazil. However, France subsequently lost to Italy on penalties (5–3) in the final. Henry did not take part in the penalty shootout, having been substituted in extra time after his legs had cramped. Henry was one of 10 nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane and was named a starting striker on the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.

On 13 October 2007, Henry scored his 41st goal against the Faroe Islands, joining Michel Platini as the country's top goal-scorer of all time. Four days later at the Stade de la Beaujoire, he scored a late double against Lithuania, thereby setting a new record as France's top goal-scorer. On 3 June 2008, Henry made his 100th appearance for national team in match against Colombia, becoming the sixth French player ever to reach that milestone.

Henry missed the opening game of France's short-lived Euro 2008 campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stages after being grouped together with Italy, the Netherlands and Romania. He scored France's only goal in the competition in a 4–1 loss to the Netherlands.

The French team struggled during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers and finished second in their group behind Serbia. During the playoffs against Ireland, Henry was involved in a controversy in the second leg of the game at the Stade de France on 18 November 2009. With the aggregate score tied at 1–1 and the game in extra time, he used his hand twice to control the ball before delivering a cross to William Gallas who scored the winner. This sparked a barrage of criticism against the Frenchman, while national team coach Raymond Domenech and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger defended him. The Football Association of Ireland lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, seeking a replay of the game, which FIFA declined. Henry said that he contemplated retiring from international football after the reactions to the incident, but maintained that he was not a "cheat"; hours after FIFA had ruled out a replay, he stated that "the fairest solution would be to replay the game". FIFA President Sepp Blatter described the incident as "blatant unfair play" and announced an inquiry into how such incidents could be avoided in future, and added that the incident would be investigated by the Disciplinary Committee. Blatter also said Henry told him that his family had been threatened in the aftermath of the incident. In January 2010, FIFA announced that there was no legal basis to sanction Henry.

Henry did not feature in the starting line-up for France at the 2010 World Cup. France drew in their first game against Uruguay, and lost 2–0 in their second against Mexico. The team was thrown into disarray when Nicolas Anelka was expelled from the team, and captain Patrice Evra led a team protest by refusing to train. In the final group game against host-nation South Africa in which Henry came on as a second-half substitute, France lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the tournament. He then announced his retirement from international football, having won 123 caps and scored 51 goals for ''Les Bleus''.

Style of play

Although Henry played up front as a striker during his youth, he spent his time at Monaco and Juventus playing on the wing. When Henry joined Arsenal in 1999, Wenger immediately changed this, switching Henry to his childhood position, often pairing him with Dutch veteran Dennis Bergkamp. During the 2004–05 season, Wenger switched Arsenal's formation to 4-5-1. This change forced Henry to adapt again to fit into the Arsenal team, and he played many games as a lone striker. Still, Henry remained Arsenal's main offensive threat, on many occasions conjuring spectacular goals. Wenger once said of his fellow Frenchman: "Thierry Henry could take ball in the middle of park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score".

One of the reasons cited for Henry's impressive play up front is his ability to calmly score from one-on-ones. This, combined with his exceptional pace, means that he can get in behind defenders regularly enough to score. When up front, Henry is occasionally known to move out wide to the left wing position, something which enables him to contribute heavily in assists: between 2002–03 and 2004–05, the striker managed almost 50 assists in total and this was attributed to his unselfish play and creativity. Henry would also drift offside to fool the defence then run back onside before the ball is played and beat the offside trap, although he never provided Arsenal a distinct aerial threat. Given his versatility in being able to operate as both a winger and a striker, the Frenchman is not a prototypical "out-and-out striker", but he has emerged consistently as one of Europe's most prolific strikers. In set pieces, Henry was the first-choice penalty and free kick taker for Arsenal, having scored regularly from those positions.

Awards and honours

Henry has received many plaudits and awards in his football career. He was runner-up for the 2003 and 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year award; in those two seasons, he also won back-to-back PFA Players' Player of the Year titles. Henry is the only player ever to have won the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006), and the French Player of the Year on a record four occasions. Henry was voted into the Premier League Overseas Team of the Decade in the 10 Seasons Awards poll in 2003, and in 2004 he was named by football legend Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers.

In terms of goal-scoring awards, Henry was the European Golden Boot winner in 2004 and 2005 (sharing it with Villarreal's Diego Forlán in 2005) and is the first ever player to retain the award. Henry was also the top goal-scorer in the Premier League for a record four seasons (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006). In 2006, he became the first player to score more than 20 goals in the league for five consecutive seasons (2002 to 2006). Henry is currently third in the list of all-time Premier League goal-scorers, behind Alan Shearer and Andy Cole. Given his accomplishments, France's all-time goal-scorer was in his prime regarded by many coaches, footballers and pundits as one of the best footballers in the world. In November 2007, he was ranked 33rd on the Association of Football Statisticians' compendium for "Greatest Ever Footballers". Arsenal fans honoured their former player in 2008, declaring Henry the greatest Arsenal player. In another 2008 survey, Henry emerged as the favourite Premier League player of all time among 32,000 people surveyed in the Barclays 2008 Global Fan Report.

Monaco

Ligue 1: 1 :: 1996–97 French Super Cup: 1 :: 1997

Arsenal

FA Premier League: 2 :: 2001–02, 2003–04 FA Cup: 3 :: 2002, 2003, 2005 FA Community Shield: 2 :: 2001–02, 2003–04

Barcelona

La Liga: 2 :: 2008–09, 2009–10 Copa del Rey: 1 :: 2008–09 Supercopa de España: 1 :: 2009 UEFA Champions League: 1 :: 2008–09 UEFA Super Cup: 1 :: 2009 FIFA Club World Cup: 1 :: 2009

New York Red Bulls

MLS Eastern Conference: 1 :: Winners (Regular Season): 2010

International

FIFA World Cup: 1 :: 1998; Runner-up: 2006 UEFA European Football Championship: 1 :: 2000 FIFA Confederations Cup: 1 :: 2003

Individual

UEFA Football Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000

Confederations Cup top goalscorer: 2003

Confederations Cup Golden Ball: 2003

FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 2006

Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year: 1996–97

PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2002–03, 2003–04

European Golden Boot: 2004, 2005

Premier League Golden Boot: 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06.

Onze d'Or: 2003, 2006

PFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

FWA Footballer Of The Year: 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06

World XI Striker: 2006

UEFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006

French Player of the Year: 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

English Football Hall of Fame: 2008

Goal of the Season (UK): 2003

Barclays Player of the Month: April 2000, September 2002, January 2004, April 2004

FIFA 100

Time 100: 2007

Overseas Team of the Decade: Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–93 to 2001–02)

Orders

Légion d'Honneur: 1998

Career statistics

Club

:''(Correct as of 25 July 2011)''

3 3 9 4 1 3 17 17 24 24 30 25 27 10 9 19 4 2 11

Club	Season	League	Cup	Continental	Total
!Apps!!Goals!!Assists!!Apps!!Goals!!Assists!!Apps!!Goals!!Assists!!Apps!!Goals!!Assists
rowspan=6 valign="center"	Monaco		8	|	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	3	1
Division 1 season 1995–96	1995–96	18	|	5	3	0	1	1	0	0	22	3	6
Division 1 season 1996–97	1996–97	36	|	8	3	0	1	9	1	4	48	10	13
Division 1 season 1997–98	1997–98	30	|	9	5	0	2	9	7	1	44	11	12
Division 1 season 1998–99	1998–99	13	|	3	1	0	0	5	0	2	19	1	5
!Total	!105!!20!!26!!12!!0!!4!!24!!8!!7!!141!!28!!37
rowspan=2 valign="center"	Juventus		18	|	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	20	3	2
!Total	!18!!3!!2!!1!!0!!0!!1!!0!!0!!20!!3!!2
rowspan=9 valign="center"	Arsenal		31	|	9	5	1	0	11	8	2	47	26	11
2000–01 Arsenal F.C. season	2000–01	35	|	3	4	1	0	14	4	0	53	22	3
2001–02 Arsenal F.C. season	2001–02	33	|	5	5	1	2	11	7	0	49	32	7
2002–03 Arsenal F.C. season	2002–03	37	|	23	6	1	0	12	7	1	55	32	24
2003–04 Arsenal F.C. season	2003–04	37	|	9	4	4	2	10	5	3	51	39	14
2004–05 Arsenal F.C. season	2004–05	32	|	15	2	0	1	8	5	1	42	30	17
2005–06 Arsenal F.C. season	2005–06	32	|	7	2	1	0	11	5	2	45	33	9
2006–07 Arsenal F.C. season	2006–07	17	|	6	3	1	1	7	1	0	27	12	7
	Total	! 254!!174!!77!!31!!10!!6!!84!!42!!9!!369!!226!!92
rowspan=4 valign="center"	Barcelona		30	12	|	7	4	0	10	3	2	47	19	11
2008–09 FC Barcelona season	2008–09	29	|	8	1	1	0	12	6	4	42	26	12
2009–10 FC Barcelona season	2009–10	21	|	2	3	0	0	8	0	1	32	4	3
!Total	!80!!35!!19!!11!!5!!0!!30!!9!!7!!121!!49!!26
rowspan=3 valign="center"	New York		11	|	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	12	2	3
2011 New York Red Bulls season	2011	18	|	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	11	4
!Total	!29!!13!!7!!1!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!30!!13!!7
Career total		! 485!!243!!130!!56!!15!!10!!139!!59!!23!!680!!317!!165

International

:''(Correct as of 19 November 2009)'' 1 11 8 9 13 12 7 15 6 10 9 12

National team!!Season!!Apps!!Goals !! Assists
rowspan=13 valign="center"	France	1997–98	10	3
1998–99	|	0	0
1999–00	|	5	2
2000–01	|	2	1
2001–02	|	2	1
2002–03	|	10	7
2003–04	|	5	6
2004–05	|	2	1
2005–06	|	7	3
2006–07	|	3	3
2007–08	|	6	1
2008–09	|	3	1
2009–10	|	3	2
colspan=2	Total!!123!!51	29

Outside football

Personal and family life

Henry married English model Nicole Merry, real name Claire, on 5 July 2003. The ceremony was held at Highclere Castle, and on 27 May 2005 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Téa. Henry dedicated his first goal since Téa's birth to her by holding his fingers in a "T" shape and kissing them after scoring in a match against Newcastle United. When Henry was still at Arsenal, he also purchased a home in Hampstead, North London. However, shortly after his transfer to Barcelona, it was announced that Henry and his wife would divorce; the decree nisi was granted in September 2007. Their separation concluded in December 2008 when Henry paid Merry a divorce settlement close to her requested sum of £10 million. Henry is now dating Bosnian model Andrea Rajačić.

As a fan of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Henry is often seen with his friend Tony Parker at games when not playing football. Henry stated in an interview that he admires basketball, as it is similar to football in pace and excitement. Having made regular trips to the NBA Finals in the past, he went to watch Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals; and in the 2001 NBA Finals, he went to Philadelphia to help with French television coverage of the Finals as well as to watch Allen Iverson, whom he named as one of his favourite players.

Social causes

UNICEF

Henry is a member of the UNICEF-FIFA squad, where together with other professional footballers he appeared in a series of TV spots seen by hundreds of millions of fans around the world during the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. In these spots, the players promote football as a game that must be played on behalf of children.

Stand Up Speak Up

Having been subjected to racism in the past, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football. The most prominent incident of racism against Henry was during a training session with the Spanish national team in 2004, when a Spanish TV crew caught coach Luis Aragonés referring to Henry as "black shit". The incident caused an uproar in the British media, and there were calls for Aragonés to be sacked. Henry and Nike started the Stand Up Speak Up campaign against racism in football as a result of the incident. Subsequently, in 2007, ''Time'' featured him as one of the "Heroes & Pioneers" on "The Time 100" list.

Other work

Along with 45 other football players, Henry took part in FIFA's "Live for Love United" in 2002. The single was released in tandem with the 2002 World Cup and its proceeds went towards AIDS research. Henry also supports the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Endorsements

In 2006, Henry was valued as the ninth most commercially marketable footballer in the world, as well as being the eighth richest Premier League player, with £21 million.

Renault

Henry featured in the Renault Clio advertisements in which he popularised the term ''va-va-voom'', meaning "life" or "passion". His romantic interest in the commercial was his then-girlfriend, later his wife (now divorced), Claire Merry. ''"Va-va-voom"'' was subsequently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

Nike

In 2004, Henry signed with sportswear giant Nike. In one of the advertisements, Henry pits his wits against football stars such as Claude Makélélé, Edgar Davids and Freddie Ljungberg in locations such as his bedroom and living room. The advertisement was partly inspired by Henry himself, who revealed that he always has a football nearby, even at home. Henry was also featured in Nike's "Secret Tournament" advertisement along with 24 superstar football players including Ljungberg, Ronaldinho, and Francesco Totti. In tandem with the 2006 World Cup, Henry also featured in Nike's Joga Bonito campaign, Portuguese for "beautiful game".

Reebok

Henry's deal with Nike ended after the 2006 World Cup, when he signed a deal with Reebok to appear in their "I Am What I Am" campaign. As part of Reebok Entertainment's "Framed" series, Henry was the star of a half-hour episode that detailed the making of a commercial about Henry directed by Spanish actress Paz Vega.

Puma

In 2011 Henry switched to Puma boots, first wearing the brand in the 2011 MLS All Star game against Manchester United, before announcing a multi-year partnership for Puma to be his performance and lifestyle footwear and apparel sponsor. His first official game with Puma was in the Emirates Cup against former club Arsenal.

Gillette

In February 2007, Henry was named as one of the three ambassadors of Gillette's "Champions Program," which purported to feature three of the "best-known, most widely respected and successful athletes competing today" and also showcased Roger Federer and Tiger Woods in a series of television commercials. For reasons of recognition, Derek Jeter appears in Henry's place in the advertisements broadcast in North America. In reaction to the handball controversy following the France-Ireland 2010 World Cup qualifier, Gillette faced a boycott and accusations of doctoring French versions of their Champions poster, but subsequently released a statement backing Henry.

Pepsi

Henry was part of Pepsi's "Dare For More" campaign in 2005, alongside the likes of David Beckham and Ronaldinho. In the 2008 version, Henry appeared in the Pepsi Universe advertisement along with Ljungberg, Beckham, Cesc Fàbregas, Steven Gerrard and Lionel Messi.

Notes and references

External links

MLS player profile

Thierry Henry profile at fcbarcelona.cat

Thiery Henry biography at jockbio.com

Thierry Henry career stats at Soccerbase

Thierry Henry at Internet Movie Database

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Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:People from Les Ulis Category:1998 FIFA World Cup players Category:2002 FIFA World Cup players Category:2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:2010 FIFA World Cup players Category:Arsenal F.C. players Category:AS Monaco FC players Category:Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Category:FC Barcelona footballers Category:FIFA 100 Category:FIFA Century Club Category:FIFA World Cup-winning players Category:FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players Category:Association football forwards Category:France international footballers Category:France under-21 international footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in England Category:Expatriate footballers in Italy Category:INF Clairefontaine players Category:Expatriate footballers in Spain Category:French footballers Category:Juventus F.C. players Category:La Liga footballers Category:Ligue 1 players Category:Premier League players Category:First Division/Premier League topscorers Category:English Football Hall of Fame inductees Category:Serie A footballers Category:UEFA Euro 2000 players Category:New York Red Bulls players Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players Category:UEFA European Football Championship-winning players Category:UNICEF people Category:French people of Guadeloupean descent Category:Expatriate soccer players in the United States Category:French expatriates in the United States Category:People of Martiniquais descent Category:Major League Soccer players

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