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A regional language is a language spoken in a part of a state, be it a small area, a federal state or province, or a wider area. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them Political federalism is a Political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together (Latin foedus, covenant) with a governing A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. A province is a territorial unit almost always an Administrative division.

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Definition in international law

For the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages:

"regional or minority languages" means languages that are:
  1. traditionally used within a given territory of a State by nationals of that State who form a group numerically smaller than the rest of the State's population; and
  2. different from the official language(s) of that State

Influence of number of speakers

There are many cases when a regional language can claim greater numbers of speakers than certain languages which happen to be official languages of sovereign states. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages ( ECRML) is a European Treaty (CETS 148 adopted in 1992 under the auspices of the Council of Europe An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory For example, Catalan (a regional language of Spain and France, albeit official in Andorra) has more speakers than Finnish or Danish. Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( Catalan: Principat d'Andorra) is a small Landlocked country in western Finnish ( or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% As of 2006) and by ethnic Finns outside Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the In China, Wu, spoken in southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang by more than 90 million speakers, can claim more native speakers than French, and Cantonese, a regional language of Guangdong and nearby areas in China with more than 60 million local and overseas speakers (North America, parts of Malaysia), outnumbers Italian in number of speakers. ( Postal map spelling: Kiangsu) is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country Zhejiang ( is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Guangdong ( EFEO: Kouangtong; Pinyin Guǎngdōng; Postal map spelling: Kwangtung) is a province on the China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Subgroups and dialects of the Min group have over 70 million speakers, mainly in Fujian and in nearby Taiwan, but also in the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia and Singapore. This article is about the People's Republic of China province Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and Singapore

Relationship with official languages

In some cases, a regional language may be closely related to the state's main language or official language. An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory For example:

In other cases, a regional language may be very different from the state’s main language or official language. Written Chinese comprises the written symbols used to represent Spoken Chinese and the rules about how they are arranged and punctuated Shanghai ( 上[[wikt 海|海]] is the largest city in China in terms of population and one of the largest urban areas in the world with over 20 million ( Postal map spelling: Kiangsu) is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country Zhejiang ( is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Guangdong ( EFEO: Kouangtong; Pinyin Guǎngdōng; Postal map spelling: Kwangtung) is a province on the China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Guangdong ( EFEO: Kouangtong; Pinyin Guǎngdōng; Postal map spelling: Kwangtung) is a province on the This article is about the People's Republic of China province Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National This article is about the People's Republic of China province Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National ( is a province of China, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting (hence the name Hunan, meaning China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National ( Postal map spelling: Kiangsi is a southern province of the People's Republic of China, spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River Aranese (aranés is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon variety of the Occitan language spoken in the Aran Valley, in northwestern Catalonia Astur-Leonese is a Dialect continuum included in the West Iberian branch of the Romance languages. Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. For example:

Sassisch (talk) 20:33, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Official languages as regional languages

An official language of a country may also be spoken as a regional language in a region of a neighbouring country. The Breton language ( Brezhoneg) formerly often called Armoric or Armorican, is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Basque ( native name: euskara) is the Language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all The Sorbian languages are classified under the Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) a group of closely related Languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. The Gagauz language ( Gagauz dili) is a Turkic language, spoken by the Gagauz people, and the official language of Gagauzia, Republic The Turkic languages constitute a Language family of some thirty languages spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Altaic, according to its proponents is a language family that includes 66 Languages ref> Altaic languages spoken by about 348 million people mostly in and around Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova ( Republica Moldova) is a Landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania History and politics The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all For example:

See also

A minority language is a Language spoken by a Minority of the Population of a country A national language is a Language (or language variant, ie Dialect) which has some connection - de facto or de jure - with There are a number of languages of France. The French language is by far the most widely spoken and the only Official language of France, but several The languages of the European Union are Languages used by people within the member states of the European Union. The British-Irish Council ( BIC) (Comhairle na Breataine-na hÉireann is a body created by the Belfast Agreement in 1998 and formally established on 2 December 1999 The United Kingdom does not have a constitutionally defined Official language. The official language of Italy is Standard Italian, a descendant of the Tuscan dialect and a direct descendant of Latin (some 75% of Italian words are of Latin origin
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