Catalan is a Romance language spoken by more than eleven million people in Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, Andorra, the Aragon Strip, the city of Alghero, Northern Catalonia, and El Carxe—a small territory in Murcia populated by Valencian immigrants—as well as in small communities around the world, most notably in Argentina, which has 195,000 speakers.
Like other Romance languages, Catalan originates from the Vulgar Latin spoken by the Romans who settled in Hispania during ancient times. It is a transitional language between Ibero-Romance and Gallo-Romance languages, although it was historically very close to Occitan, with which it shares an origin and group: Occitano-Romance.
Over the last few centuries, most Catalan dialects have been heavily influenced by Spanish in the Spanish State and Andorra, by French in Northern Catalonia and Andorra, and by Italian and Sardinian in Alghero, leaving an imprint in the form of new vocabulary and expressions.
