Which Countries Spoke Latin?
Latin as Official Language
Official Language
Latin as Official Language
4 countries
Country↑ | Latin as Official Language | Additional Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Croatia | Official Language | Latin was the official language of Croatian Parliament (Sabor) from the 13th to the 19th century |
 | Hungary | Official Language | From the 11th to the mid 19th century |
 | Poland | Official Language | Officially recognised and widely used between the 10th and 18th centuries |
 | Vatican City | Official Language | Vatican City is the only country in which Latin is still an official language and the only country that regularly uses Latin at a national level (Latin is spoken during mass.) |
- Countries listed are those which have used Latin as an official language within the past 500 years. During the height of the Roman Empire (Approx 300 BC-450 AD), Latin was used more widely, thought often as a secondary language.
- Latin is no longer spoken regularly. It is used primarily in the scientific naming of organisms and for liturgical purposes by the Roman Catholic Church.
- However, many modern languages, including Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Catalan, Romansh and other Romance languages, are direct descendants of Latin. There are also many Latin borrowings in English and Albanian, as well as a few in German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish.
- Therefore, although use of Latin has faded, the many languages it evolved into are very much alive today.
Latin is an ancient language that was spoken for centuries and still is used in some settings today. Latin is a so-called “dead language,” which means it is not spoken anymore (except in very rare religious settings). During the Middle Ages, Latin gradually gave birth to a number of Romance languages spoken in regions and countries that comprised the Roman Empire. Languages like Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian, evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken in the provinces of the Western Roman Empire, in regions that pretty much correspond to such modern countries as Spain, France, Italy, and Romania.
Latin is one of the most important languages of the ancient and medieval periods. During the Middle Ages in Europe, it was widely used for scholarly, religious, and administrative purposes. It also left a lasting legacy as the foundation for many scientific, legal, and academic terms still in use. Today, Latin is found in everyday math language, in law, and also in medicine. It is used in human anatomy to name parts, and nearly all species in the animal and plant kingdoms have Latin names as part of the binomial nomenclature system introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus.
What Countries Spoke Latin?
During the height of the Roman Empire, around the 2nd century AD, Latin was spoken primarily in the Western Roman Empire and its territories. Those included regions that are now modern-day Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Romania, and parts of England, Belgium, Switzerland, and North Africa. Latin spread through Roman conquests, eventually becoming the dominant language in these regions and evolving into the Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian) after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD.
Today, people learn Latin or elements of it in an attempt to improve fluency in their own native tongues while also deepening their comprehension of literature. It is still widely used in the Vatican City in documents, in many rituals and ceremonies, prayers, and among scholars who don’t share a common language.
Why is Latin Not Spoken Today?
As the Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, etc.) began to form from Vulgar Latin after the fall of the Roman Empire, Latin gradually stopped being spoken in everyday life. However, Classical Latin continued and continues to be used in scholarly, religious, and legal contexts, even centuries after the Romance languages had fully developed.
