Languages in Spain

To the language used in it is called to appoint Dutch Spanish , one can use two words: "español" (Spanish) or "castellano" (Castilian, from Castile). Both terms are used interchangeably in Spain, depending on the region (in Andalusia is said to be especially "español", in Catalonia virtually never), but mean the same thing. The most pure Spanish is according to many Spaniards spoken in and around Valladolid.

The various languages that are spoken in Spain have regularly for great confusion in foreign countries, where it often has about dialects.However, it comes to a total of five official languages (Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Galician and Aranees) and two non-official languages (Asturian and Aragonese). Spanish is the only official national language of Spain. The remaining four are official regional languages, which are also the dominant language in some areas.

Article III of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 reads:


 * El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado. (…) Las demás lenguas españolas serán también las respectivas officials and Comunidades Autónomas...
 * Castilian is the official language of the Spanish State. (…) The other Spanish languages are also official in their respective autonomous communities...

The four official regional languages of Spain are:

Spanish, Catalan, Galician and Aranees are all Romance languagesdescend from the Latin, and, within each of these languages are also different dialects. The Basque is a case apart, there are no agreements with any other language to designate the world. The two non-official regional languages are:
 * Catalan (ES: Catalán CA: Català): is spoken by just over 18% of the total population, or 7.5 million inhabitants in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valenciaregion. Strictly linguistically speaking, Catalan is spoken in Valencia that no Catalan but Valencian (SP: Valenciano CA: Valencià). Nowadays there are in practice, however, virtually no differences to distinguish more and is the language as Catalan recognized.
 * Basque (ES: Vasco BA: Euskara): is spoken by just over 1 million people in the Basque country and Navarra, 2.3% of the total Spanish population. The Basque language shows no single agreement with any other language.
 * Galician (ES: Gallego GA: Galego): is spoken by just over 2.5 million people, 5.7% of the total Spanish population in Galicia, and parts of León and Asturias. The language looks more Portuguese than Spanish.
 * Aranees: is spoken by only 4000 people in the Valley of Aran in Catalonia. Linguistically speaking, Aranees a dialect of Occitan French.

History of the languages in Spain*Aragonese (ES: Aragonés AR: Aragonès): is spoken by only 10,000 people in the province of Huesca in Aragón. About 40,000 people know the language or have the learned ("neo-fabláns"), usually in Zaragoza and Huesca. In the rest of Aragón, Navarra and some areas in southern Valencia and Castile-La Mancha, it is often mixed with the Spanish . The Aragonese derives from the Latin. The four official regional languages of Spain play a relatively important role, at both regional and national level. For comparison; in Spain 24% of the population speaks one of the four official regional languages, that works out to almost 11 million inhabitants. In the Netherlands is the only official regional language, Frisian by 400.000 inhabitants, or spoken only 2.4% of the population.
 * Asturian (ES: Asturiano AS: Asturianu) is spoken by about 100,000 people and is legally protected in Asturias . It is not a dialect of Spanish, but a separate language, and is spoken in different regions: Asturias,León, Zamora, Salamanca (there called the language "llionés), Extremadura (there called the language" extremeñu) and Cantabria (there called the language "montañés").

Spain to the listed languages also knows many dialects and regional languages. The best example of this is the Spanish that is spoken in Andalusia by about 7 million people, with large differences in vocabulary and pronunciation. The so-called "Andaluz" (Andalusian) is difficult to understand for many other Spaniards.