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Language
The linguistic domain of the
Catalan language
Origins, territory and population
Catalan, part of the Romance group of languages, was formed between the 8th and 10th centuries in the heart of the Pyrenees in the territories of the Carolingian Empire that made up the counties of the
Marca Hispanica. During the 12th and 13th centuries, it spread southwards and eastwards following the territorial conquests of the Catalan- Aragonese crown, and the linguistic frontier being established at the end of the reign of Jaume I.
The linguistic domain of the Catalan language is spread over 68,000 Km2 inhabited by 13.254.100 people (see table 1). At present, it is divided into seven territories distributed over four states: Andorra, Spain (where the majority of the population and land surface is located), France and Italy.
The level of knowledge of Catalan
The level of knowledge of Catalan in the territories where it is used as a mother tongue is uneven because of the different historical and political circumstances. The total number of people capable of speaking Catalan is 9.118.000 and the number of people who, without speaking it can understand it, is over 11.000.000.
[The
Institut Ramon Llull is a consortium made up by the Government
of Catalonia and the Government
of the Balearic Islands dedicated to the international promotion of the Catalan
language and the culture of the areas in which Catalan is spoken. The IRL forms
part of the Fundació Ramon Llull, which
was established by the governments
of Andorra, the Ramon Llull Institute, General
Council of the Eastern Pyrenees, the city of Alghero,
and the Network of Valencian Cities, and has its central offices in Andorra]