Catalan (language)

Catalan
Catalan–Valencian–Balearic
català
Pronunciation	[kətəˈla] (Eastern) ⁓ [kataˈla] (Western)
Native to	Andorra, France, Italy, Spain
Region	Spain: Catalonia Valencian Community (except many inland areas and southernmost tip) Balearic Islands also spoken in areas of: Aragon (La Franja) Murcia (Carxe) France: Roussillon Italy: Alghero (Sardinia)
Native speakers	4.0 million (2012) L2 speakers: 5.1 million in Spain (2012)
Language family	Indo-European Italic Romance Western Gallo-Romance Occitano-Romance Catalan
Early forms	Old Catalan 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	Andorra and the following regions of Spain Catalonia Balearic Islands Valencian Community
Recognised minority language in	Pyrénées-Orientales (in France) Alghero (in Sardinia in Italy) Aragon (in Spain)
Regulated by	Institut d'Estudis Catalans Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ca
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3
Glottolog	stan1289
Linguasphere	51-AAA-e
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Andorra and the following regions of Spain

Alghero (in Sardinia in Italy)

Aragon (in Spain)

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 and adjoining parts of France. It is the national and only official language of Andorra, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and Valencia (where the language is known as Valencian, and there exist regional standards). It also has semi-official status in the commune of Alghero, situated on the northwestern coast of the island of Sardinia (Italy), where a variant of it is spoken. It is also spoken with no official recognition in parts of the Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon (La Franja) and Murcia (Carche), and in the historic region of Roussillon/Northern Catalonia, roughly equivalent to the department of Pyrénées-Orientales in modern France. All these territories are often called Catalan Countries.