Romance language spoken in eastern and northeastern Spain, chiefly Catalonia and Valencia, and in Andorra, the Balearic Isles, and the Roussillon region of France.
Its literary tradition dates from the 12th century, when it was the official language of the kingdom of Aragon. As Catalonia achieved greater autonomy in the late 20th century, Catalan revived as the language of politics and education there. Its dialects, divided into an Occidental and an Oriental group, remain mutually intelligible. Catalan is related to the Occitan language of southern France and to Spanish .