Catalan-language

Catalan
Catalan–Valencian–Balearic
català
Pronunciation	[kətəˈla] (Eastern) ⁓ [kataˈla] (Western)
Native to	Andorra, France, Italy, Spain
Native speakers	4.1 million  (2012) L2 speakers: 5.1 million in Spain (2012)
Language family	Indo-European Italic Romance Western Gallo-Romance Occitano-Romance Catalan
Early form	Old Catalan
Standard forms	Catalan (regulated by the IEC) Valencian (regulated by the AVL)
Writing system	Latin (Catalan alphabet) Catalan Braille
Signed forms	Signed Catalan
Official status
Official language in	1 country  Andorra 3 communities of Spain  Balearic Islands  Catalonia  Valencian Community 1 organisation Latin Union
Recognised minority language in	3 dependencies Alghero (Sardinia, Italy)  Aragon (Spain) Pyrénées-Orientales (France)
Regulated by	Institut d'Estudis Catalans Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ca
ISO 639-2	cat
ISO 639-3
Glottolog	stan1289
Linguasphere	51-AAA-e
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Catalan (/ˈkætəlæn/;autonym: català [kətəˈla] or [kataˈla]) is a Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin and named after the medieval Principality of Catalonia, in northeastern modern Spain. It is the national and only official language of Andorra, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, including the Balearic Islands and Valencia (where the language is known as Valencian). It also has semi-official status in the commune of Alghero These territories are often called Catalan Countries.

Catalan evolved from Vulgar Latin in the Middle Ages around the eastern Pyrenees. 19th-century Spain saw a Catalan literary revival, culminating in the early 1900s.

The word Catalan derives from the territory of Catalonia, itself of disputed etymology. The main theory suggests that Catalunya (Latin Gathia Launia) derives from the name Gothia or Gauthia ("Land of the Goths"), since the origins of the Catalan counts, lords and people were found in the March of Gothia, whence Gothland > Gothlandia > Gothalania > Catalonia theoretically derived.