Catalan language

Catalan (in its own language: català) is a Romance language spoken approximately in eastern Spain (Catalonia, Valencian Country, Balearic Islands, far eastern Aragon), in Andorra, in part of France (Pyrénées-Orientales) and in the city of Alghero (Sardinia, Italy). The territory of this language may be called the Catalan Countries.

It is the only official language of Andorra. It is official beside Spanish in the Spanish autonomous regions of Catalonia, Valencian Country—where Catalan is usually called Valencian (valencià)—and Balearic Islands. It is a protected language in Alghero (Italy). It has no official recognition in France.

In his attempt to unify Spain, Francisco Franco prohibited the use of Catalan in public, and tried to suppress Catalan culture. However, there was strong reaction in the form of an underground movement to teach the language and culture to younger generations. With Franco's death, the suppression ended.

The vitality of Catalan is quite strong in Andorra and Spain, especially in the autonomous region of Catalonia thanks to the local language policy, but Spanish remains in all cases a dominant language in those areas. Catalan is also dominated by Italian in Alghero. It has become very weak in front of the domination of French in France.

Literature, music and all types of arts have been very creative and uninterrupted in Catalan since the Middle Ages.

The main Catalan dialects are classified in a western group (Valencian, Northwestern) and an eastern group (Central, Rossellonès, Balearic, Alguerès).

Occitan is extremely close to Catalan.