# Countries that spoke or still speak Latin?



## Tulip87

*what were or are the countries that spoke or still speak Latin?*


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## XiaoRoel

La pregunta es muy general.
Respondiendo también muy generalmente, el latín fué lengua oficial en todo el Imperio romano de occidente. 
Se habló, además de usarse a nivel oficial, en todos los territorios que hoy hablan lenguas romances, y tambien en Gran Bretaña, Magreb y la antigua Iliria, donde prevalecieron después, respectivamente, lenguas célticas, germánicas, eslavas, norteafricanas o árabe.


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## Nallybaba

Latin was spoken throughout the Roman empire. It is no longer spoken today except by those who study the ancient texts. However, today there are many latin based languages still in existence, including Spanish, French, Italian, English (by extension through French), Portuguese, and several others.


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## Kevin Beach

Latin is still the official language of one internationally-recognised sovereign state - the Vatican City.

It is not only the language of official documents, but is often spoken among prelates who have no modern language in common.


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## CapnPrep

Kevin Beach said:


> Latin is still the official language of one internationally-recognised sovereign state - the Vatican City.


Insofar as Vatican City has an official language, it is Italian.


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## berndf

CapnPrep said:


> Insofar as Vatican City has an official language, it is Italian.


Italian is the official language of Vatican City and Latin is the an officially used language of the Holy See. There is a difference between the two.


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## francisgranada

The latin was even used in the middle ages (and even longer) in most of the european countries by the church, scientists, physicians, etc.... but not as a spoken language.

For example, Sir Isaac Newton published his theory about the principles of the nature in 1687/1713/1726 in latin _(Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica). _


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## Wikislav

Up today in 2010, Latin persisted as the main official language of modern scientific Botany: The new original discoveries of plants anywhere in world *must* be published in Latin language, or at least preceded by a Latin Synopsis. Otherwise written only in modern languages, these texts are internationally not recognized nor authorized, being treated as a popular scribbling. 

Except Vatican, the Croatian Principality of Austrian Empire up to 1848 was also the second last state with official public Latin: its provincial parliament discussed in Latin, official decisions and laws were in Latin, and even the first Croatian newspaper _'Ephemerides Zagrabienses'_ appeared in Latin. Then up to 1930ies Latin was there extensively used in parallel with Croatian, chiefly in science and in solemn occasions. Endly in Tito's Yugoslavia after 1972 it was politically eliminated from public life and schools as a 'clero-fascist' language. So now only the elders communicate in Latin there at solemn anniversaries.


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