Friulian (furlan/marilenghe)

Friulian is a Romance language with about 526,000 speakers in the
Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of north-east Italy. There are Friulian
speakers in the provinces of province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia and
Trieste. Friulian is also know as eastern Ladin and is closely related
to Ladin.

Until the 1960s, the Friulian-speaking areas were very poor and many
Friulians emigrated to France, Belgium, and Switzerland, and also to Canada,
Australia, Argentina, Brazil, the USA and South Africa.

Friulian started to appear in writing during the 11th century, and
there is Friulian literature and poetry dating back to the early 14th
century. In the 20th century there was a revival of interest in the
language. It is taught in some schools and used, to a limited extent, in
the media.