Occitan language

Occitan, known also as Lenga d'òc by its native speakers, is a Romance language spoken in southern France, Italy's Occitan Valleys, Monaco, and Catalonia's Val d'Aran: the regions sometimes known unofficially as Occitania. It is also spoken in the linguistic enclave of Guardia Piemontese (Calabria, Italy). Occitan is a descendant of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire, as are languages such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian. It is an official language in Catalonia (known as Aranese in Val d'Aran). Occitan's closest relative is Catalan. Since September 2010, the Parliament of Catalonia has considered Aranese Occitan to be the officially preferred language for use in the Val d'Aran.