The Catalan language is a Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra. It is also widely spoken in the Catalonia (Cat: Catalunya) and Valencia regions of Spain, the extreme southwest of France, and parts of the Italian island of Sardinia. Because of its prevalence in Valencia, it is also known as the Valencian language. It is closely related to the Occitan language.
The dictator Francisco Franco tried to suppress the Catalan language in Spain during the mid-twentieth century, but since his death and the restoration of democracy it has seen a resurgence, along with other regional languages such as Basque and Galician.