Catalan is the native language of Catalonia. It is a Romance language derived from the Latin spoken in this area, which was occupied by the Romans in the 3rd century BC. The first texts to be written in Catalan date back to the 12th century AD.

Catalan has survived some difficult historical periods, particularly the 40 years of the Franco dictatorship, under which the language was officially banned and restricted to private use.

The Linguistic Normalization Law, passed in 1983, made it possible to speed up the process of recuperating the Catalan language. Since then, the Generalitat of Catalonia (Catalan government) has ensured the use of Catalan in all public fields.

Today 93.8% of the population of Catalonia speak Catalan, 68.3% can speak it and 67.6% can write it. Catalan is also spoken in a large part of the region of València, the Balearic Islands, in the country of Andorra, the part of Catalonia under French administration and the town of L'Alguer (on the island of Sardinia).