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Geographical distribution of the Orobitg in Catalonia

According to the Catalan Statistics Institute (IDESCAT, 31st December 2000) (www.idescat.net), there are in Catalonia 317 people that hold ‘Orobitg’ as either first or second surname (*), which represents 0,005% of the total population of Catalonia.

(*) As explained before, in our country a person holds two surnames. The first one is the surname of the father, whereas the second one is the mother’s surname. Lately, the government changed the law so that the first surname can be switched by the second one.

 

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It can be confirmed that the concentration of ‘Orobitg’ in Lleida (Segarra 6,94% + Urgell 17,3% = 23,97%) is still important nowadays, specially considering that in this area the density of population as well as the degree of its industrialisation are quite low. Moreover, one can observe the fact that over the years some Orobitg moved towards the main cities (usually the most industrialised) so as to find new opportunities to live on.

 
Geographical distribution of the Orobitg in the world

Though we have not been able to develop this section by using official statistics data, in 2002 we made a research analysing the European, North – American and South – American telephone guides available in Internet. Considering that the before mentioned information sources present some limits (ie some people avoid their surname appears on phone guides, phone guides only record the name of one person – not the whole family members, ...), the below detailed graphics should be considered as an orientation only:

  

Gathered data certifies that the ‘Orobitg’ live mostly in Catalonia. Up to 28,16% of the ‘Orobitg’ live outside Catalonia, particularly in:
  • 11,17% in different Spanish provinces.
  • 4,85% in Andorra (a small country located in the Pyrenees – between France and Spain).
  • 9.71% in America (Puerto Rico, Argentina and the USA). The Orobitg from Puerto Rico and the USA come probably from the same branch. However, until now it is to us unknown the origin of the ‘Orobitg’ from Argentina.

CONCLUSION: It is clear that since the XIII century onwards there is a non – interrupted concentration of Orobitg in Catalonia, particularly in the area of Lleida. The origin of the branches from Barcelona and the Spanish provinces should be studied (in fact, they are being studied) to verify if their origins come from Lleida as well. If so, we should concentrate in investigating the hypothesis of a foreign origin in Catalonia towards the XIII century.