Catalan - The Official Language of Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community and regionin mass media and in cultural settings during this
in Spain, the capital of which is the historic city oftime, the number of speakers of the language
Barcelona. Though majority of the population ofincreased to up to 97% of the Catalonian
Spain speak the Spanish language, Catalan, orpopulation. At present, Catalan is integrated into
Valencian, is known as the official language ofthe education system of the region, beginning
Catalonia, as well as in other regions such as infrom primary schooling and well into higher
some parts of France, the city of L 'Alguer, Italy,education.
and the country Andorra. Catalan is considered asCurrently, the Catalan language standards are
a Romance language, with roots in Indo-Europeanregulated by the Institute d Estudis Catalans.
languages. As of 2001, there was an estimatedBecause the region of Valencia, in Spain, also holds
9.1 million speakers of Catalan all over the world,Catalan as its official language, there have been
with about six to seven million of that numberissues of using the language difference as a
from Catalonia, Spain.reason for disunity of Spain. The current
In 1979, Article 3 of the Statute of Autonomyreference used for the teaching of the Catalan
recognized Catalan as the official language oflanguage was a grammar book and manual
Catalonia, with Spanish and Castilian as acceptedwritten by Pompeu Fabra in the year 1918. A
co-languages. In 1983, the Law of Linguisticmore recent grammar manual was published in
Normalization of Catalonia paved the way for the1995 by Antoni Badia Margarit. Up to the present,
standardization, development, and application ofthe language of Catalonia continues to thrive,
the Catalan language in the autonomous region.along with the development of its region.
Because of the more widespread use of Catalan