Editing Cerdanya (section)

===Antiquity===
The first inhabitants of Cerdanya probably spoke a language related to the old [[Basque language]] and to [[Aquitanian language|Aquitanian]].<ref name="Gerona"/>  Many place names testify to this.{{fact|date=June 2015}}

In the first millennium BC came the [[Iberians]] from the south. In Cerdanya they probably mixed with the native inhabitants, and the resulting people were known as the Kerretes, from the native word ''ker'' or ''kar'', meaning ''rock'', related to old Basque ''karri'' (modern Basque ''harri''), ''stone''.

The Kerretes were probably essentially of Basque and Aquitanian-related stock, as the Iberian clans who mixed with the native inhabitants can have comprised only small numbers of people.<ref name="Gerona"/> The Kerretes retained a language related to old Basque and Aquitanian, although some Iberian words may have entered the language, and Iberians probably occupied positions at the top of the Kerrete society.{{fact|date=June 2015}}

The main [[oppidum]] of the Kerretes, commanding the whole country, was called ''Kere'' and was built on the hill above the modern-day village of [[Llívia]] (a Spanish [[exclave]] in French territory). Later the Kerretes came under Roman rule, and the Romans renamed the oppidum ''Julia Lybica'',<ref name="Gerona"/> with a significant number of Roman citizens settling there.  During the [[Roman Empire]], the area of Cerdanya was a ''pagus'' known as ''pagus Liviensis'' (a name derived from its capital Julia Lybica), part of the province of [[Hispania Tarraconensis]]. The ''pagus Liviensis'' was itself divided in two: the eastern part around Julia Lybica was known as ''Cerretania Julia'', while the western part was known as ''Cerretania Augusta''. The name Cerdanya comes from ''Cerretania'', itself coming from the old name of the inhabitants, the Kerretes. As for Julia Lybica, the name evolved into ''Julia Livia'' and then ''Llívia''.<ref name="Gerona"/>

The Kerretes seem to have kept their old language until very late, probably as late as the 8th or 9th century.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}} Romanization in the area was extremely slow, even though eventually the native language gave way, and the people in Cerdanya ended up speaking [[Catalan language|Catalan]], a language derived from Latin.  At the end of the Roman Empire, Julia Lybica entered a period of decadence, and lost much of its importance. It is around this time that the town of [[La Seu d'Urgell]] (in [[Catalonia]], but outside of Cerdanya) started to replace Julia Lybica as the main center of population in that area of northern Catalonia, and in the 6th century when the [[diocese]] (bishopric) of Urgell was founded, Cerdanya was inside its limits.