Editing Occitan language (section)

==Geographic distribution==
===Number of speakers===
The area where Occitan was historically dominant has approximately 16&nbsp;million inhabitants. Recent research has shown it may be spoken as a first language by approximately 789,000 people<ref name="bernissan" /><ref name="martel" /> in [[France]], [[Italy]], [[Spain]] and [[Monaco]]. In Monaco, Occitan coexists with [[monégasque language|Monégasque]] [[Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]], which is the other native language.<ref>Pierre, Bec. (1995) ''La langue occitane, coll. Que sais-je?'' n° 1059, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.</ref><ref>Arveiller, Raymond. (1967) ''Étude sur le parler de Monaco'', Monaco: Comité National des Traditions Monégasques, p. ix.</ref> Up to seven million people in France understand the language,<ref>Klinkenberg, Jean-Marie. ''Des langues romanes'', Duculot, 1994, 1999, p. 228: "The amount of speakers is an estimated 10 to 12 millions... in any case never less than 6 millions."</ref><ref>Baker, Colin; and Sylvia Prys Jones. ''Encyclopedia of bilingualism and bilingual education'', 1997, p. 402: "Of the 13 million inhabitants of the area where Occitan is spoken (comprising 31 ''départements'') it is estimated that about half have a knowledge of one of the Occitan varieties."</ref><ref>Barbour, Stephen and Cathie Carmichael. ''Language and nationalism in Europe'', 2000, p. 62: "Occitan is spoken in 31 ''départements'', but even the [[European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages|EBLUL]] (1993: 15–16) is wary of statistics: 'There are no official data on the number of speakers. Of some 12 to 13 million inhabitants in the area, it is estimated 48 per cent understand Occitan, 28 per cent can speak it, about 9 per cent of the population use it on a daily basis, 13 per cent can read and 6 per cent can write the language.{{'"}}</ref> whereas twelve to fourteen million fully spoke it in 1921.<ref>{{harvnb|Anglade|1921}}: ''La Langue d'Oc est parlée actuellement par douze ou quatorze millions de Français'' ("Occitan is now spoken by twelve or fourteen million French citizens").</ref> In [[Demographics of France#Historical population of metropolitan France|1860]], Occitan speakers represented more than 39%<ref>{{harvnb|Backer|1860|pp=[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5846989r.f61 52, 54]}}: ''parlée dans le Midi de la France par quatorze millions d'habitants'' ("spoken in the South of France by fourteen million inhabitants").</ref> of the whole French population (52% for [[francophone]]s proper); they were still 26% to 36% in the 1920s,<ref>{{harvnb|Gaussen |1927|p=[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k57104841.image.langEN.f6.pagination 4]}}: ''...défendre une langue, qui est aujourd'hui la mère de la nôtre, parlée encore par plus de dix millions d'individus...'' ("protect a language, which is today the mother of ours, still spoken by more than ten million individuals")</ref> but less than 7% in 1993.

===Usage in France===
[[File:Place Mage (Toulouse) - plaques.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|right|This bilingual street sign in [[Toulouse]], like many such signs found in Toulouse's historical districts, is maintained primarily for its antique charm, and is typical of what little remains of the {{Lang|oc|lenga d'òc}} in southern French cities.]]

Though it was still an everyday language for most of the rural population of southern France well into the 20th century, the language is now declining in every region where it was spoken.

A 2020 study<ref>{{Cite web |title=LANGUE OCCITANE: ÉTAT DES LIEUX 2020 |url=https://www.ofici-occitan.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/OPLO_Enquete-sociolingusitique-occitan-2020_Resultats.pdf |website=ofici-occitan.eu}}</ref> conducted by the Office Public de la Langue Occitane on the territories of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie regions estimated around 540,000 speakers in these two regions. It is worth noting that the survey was conducted in the Occitan language for respondents who declared they were proficient in it. However, the regions including Auvergne and Provence were effectively excluded from this census, as the Office in question does not currently have a partnership with these territories.

According to the 1999 census, there were 610,000 native speakers (almost all of whom were also native French speakers) and perhaps another million people with some exposure to the language. Following the pattern of [[language shift]], most of this remainder is to be found among the eldest populations. Occitan activists (called ''Occitanists'') have attempted, in particular with the advent of Occitan-language preschools (the ''[[Calandreta]]s''), to reintroduce the language to the young.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bahrami |title=The language the French forbade |agency=BBC |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

Nonetheless, the number of proficient speakers of Occitan is thought to be dropping precipitously. A tourist in the cities in southern France is unlikely to hear a single Occitan word spoken on the street (or, for that matter, in a home), and is likely to only find the occasional vestige, such as street signs (and, of those, most will have French equivalents more prominently displayed), to remind them of the traditional language of the area.<ref>{{Cite web |last=@NatGeoUK |date=2013-01-15 |title=Toulouse: Occitan |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2013/01/toulouse-occitan |access-date=2022-07-02 |website=National Geographic |language=en-gb |archive-date=2 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702060342/https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2013/01/toulouse-occitan |url-status=live }}</ref>

Occitan speakers, as a result of generations of systematic suppression and humiliation (see [[Vergonha]]), seldom use the language in the presence of strangers, whether they are from abroad or from outside Occitania (in this case, often merely and abusively referred to as ''Parisiens'' or ''Nordistes'', which means ''northerners''). Occitan is still spoken by many elderly people in rural areas, but they generally switch to French when dealing with outsiders.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Field |first=Thomas T. |date=1980 |title=The Sociolinguistic Situation of Modern Occitan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/391694 |journal=The French Review |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=37–46 |jstor=391694 |issn=0016-111X |access-date=4 May 2022 |archive-date=4 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504101147/https://www.jstor.org/stable/391694 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Occitan's decline is somewhat less pronounced in [[Béarn]] because of the province's history (a late addition to the Kingdom of France), though even there the language is little spoken outside the homes of the rural elderly. The village of [[Artix, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Artix]] is notable for having elected to post street signs in the local language.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Klingebiel |first1=Kathryn |title=LANGUAGE |journal=The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies |date=2001 |volume=63 |pages=208–220 |jstor=25833682 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25833682 |issn=0084-4152 |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=15 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215005058/https://www.jstor.org/stable/25833682 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Usage outside France===
[[File:Europe2005 bossost-aranes1.jpg|thumb|Aranese signage in [[Bossòst]], [[Val d'Aran]], Spain]]
* In the Val d'Aran, in the northwest corner of [[Catalonia]], [[Spain]], Aranese (a variety of Gascon) is spoken. It is an official language of [[Catalonia]] together with Catalan and Spanish.
* In [[Italy]], Occitan is also spoken in the [[Occitan Valleys]] ([[Alps]]) in [[Piedmont]]. Gardiol also has existed at [[Guardia Piemontese]] ([[Calabria]]) since the 14th century. Italy adopted in 1999 a ''Linguistic Minorities Protection Law'', or "Law 482", which includes Occitan; however, [[Italian language|Italian]] is the dominant language. The [[Piedmontese language]] is extremely close to Occitan.
* In [[Monaco]], some Occitan speakers coexist with remaining native speakers of [[Monégasque dialect|Monégasque]] ([[Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]]). French is the dominant language.
* Scattered Occitan-speaking communities have existed in different countries:
** There were Occitan-speaking colonies in [[Württemberg]] (Germany) since the 18th century, as a consequence of the [[Camisard]] war. The last Occitan speakers were heard in the 1930s.
** In the Spanish [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque country]], Gascon was spoken in [[San Sebastián]], perhaps as late as the early 20th century.<ref>[http://www.osoa.net/Articles/Desaparicion_del_Euskara_por_el_este_y_norte.pdf Desparicion del Euskara por el norte y el este] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120327223934/http://www.osoa.net/Articles/Desaparicion_del_Euskara_por_el_este_y_norte.pdf |date=27 March 2012 }} (in Spanish): ''En San Sebastián [...] se habla gascón desde el siglo XIV hasta el 1919''</ref>
** In the Americas, Occitan speakers exist:
*** in the United States, in [[Valdese, North Carolina]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Ghigo |first=F. |year=1980 |title=The Provençal speech of the Waldensian colonists of Valdese, North Carolina |location=Valdese |publisher=Historic Valdese Foundation }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Holmes |first=U. T. |year=1934 |title=Waldensian speech in North Carolina |journal=Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie |volume=54 |pages=500–513 }}</ref>
*** in Canada, in [[Quebec]] where there are Occitan associations such as ''Association Occitane du Québec'' and ''Association des Occitans''.<ref>[http://www.expatries-france.com/resultVille.php?co=0&mots=24&mot2=14 Expatries-france.com<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414130217/http://www.expatries-france.com/resultVille.php?co=0&mots=24&mot2=14 |date=14 April 2021 }}, Selection Villes</ref>
*** [[Pigüé|Pigüé, Argentina]] – Community settled by 165 Occitans from the Rodez-Aveyron area of Cantal in the late 19th century.
*** [[Guanajuato|Guanajuato, Mexico]] – A sparse number of Occitan settlers are known to have settled in that state in the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mexicofrancia.org/articulos/p17.pdf |title=De mitos y realidades: la emigracíon barcelonette a México 1845–1891 |last=Siller |first=Javier Pérez |language=es |publisher=México–Francia |access-date=31 August 2021 |archive-date=3 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140403221359/http://www.mexicofrancia.org/articulos/p17.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Traditionally Occitan-speaking areas===
* [[Aquitaine]] – excluding the Basque-speaking part of the [[Pyrénées-Atlantiques]] in the western part of the department and a small part of [[Gironde]] where the ''langue d'oïl'' [[Saintongeais dialect]] is spoken.
* [[Midi-Pyrénées]] – including one of France's largest cities, [[Toulouse]]. There are a few street signs in Toulouse in Occitan, and since late 2009 the [[Toulouse Metro]] announcements are bilingual French-Occitan,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2009/08/03/648785-on-va-parler-occitan-dans-le-metro-des-la-rentree.html|title=Toulouse. On va parler occitan dans le métro dès la rentrée|website=ladepeche.fr|access-date=22 September 2019|archive-date=22 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922215320/https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2009/08/03/648785-on-va-parler-occitan-dans-le-metro-des-la-rentree.html|url-status=live}}</ref> but otherwise the language is almost never heard spoken on the street.
* [[Languedoc-Roussillon]] (from "Lenga d'òc") – including the areas around the medieval city of [[Carcassonne]], excluding the large part of the [[Pyrénées-Orientales]] where Catalan is spoken ([[Fenolheda]] is the only Occitan-speaking area of the Pyrénées-Orientales).
* [[Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur]] – except for the Roya and Bévéra valleys, where there is a transitional dialect between Ligurian and Occitan, (''Roiasc'', including the [[Brigasc dialect]] of Ligurian). In the [[Departments of France|department]] of [[Alpes-Maritimes]] there were once isolated towns that spoke [[Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]] called Figún,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ronjat |first=Jules (1864–1925) Auteur du texte |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k58339580 |title=Grammaire istorique des parlers provençaux modernes.... Partie 1,Tome 1 / Jules Ronjat |date=1930–1941 |language=EN}}</ref> but those varieties are now extinct. The [[Mentonasc dialect]] of Ligurian, spoken in [[Menton]], is a Ligurian transition dialect with a strong Occitan influence. French is the dominant language of the Alpes-Maritimes, [[Dauphiné]] and [[French Riviera]] areas.
* In [[Monaco]], Occitan, imported by immigrants coexisted in the 19th and 20th centuries with the [[Monégasque dialect]] of Ligurian. [[French language|French]] is the dominant language.
* [[Poitou-Charentes]] – Use of Occitan has declined here in the few parts it used to be spoken, replaced by French. Only Charente Limousine, the eastern part of the region, has resisted. The natural and historical languages of most of the region are the ''langues d'oïl'' [[Poitevin dialect|Poitevin]] and Saintongeais.
* [[Limousin]] – A rural region (about 710,000 inhabitants) where Limousin is still spoken among the oldest residents. French is the dominant language.
* [[Auvergne (region)|Auvergne]] – The language's use has declined in some urban areas. French is the dominant language. The department of [[Allier]] is divided between a southern, Occitan-speaking area and a northern, French-speaking area.
* [[Centre-Val de Loire]] – Some villages in the extreme South speak Occitan.
* [[Rhône-Alpes]] – While the south of the region is clearly Occitan-speaking, the central and northern [[Lyonnais]], [[Forez]] and [[Dauphiné]] parts belong to the [[Franco-Provençal language]] area. French is the dominant language.
* [[Occitan Valleys]] ([[Piedmont]]) – Italian region where Occitan is spoken only in the southern and central Alpine valleys.
* [[Val d'Aran]] – part of Catalonia that speaks a mountain dialect of Gascon.