Castilian (), that is,
Spanish, is the native language of the Castilians. Its origin is traditionally ascribed to an area south of the
Cordillera Cantábrica, including the upper
Ebro valley, in northern Spain, around the 8th and 9th centuries; however, the first written standard was developed in the 13th century in the southern city of
Toledo. It is descended from the
Vulgar Latin of the
Roman Empire, with
Arabic influences, and perhaps
Basque as well. During the
Reconquista in the Middle Ages, it was brought to the south of Spain where it replaced the languages that were spoken in the former
Moorish controlled zones, such as the local form of related
Latin dialects now referred to as
Mozarabic, and the
Arabic that had been introduced by the Muslims. In this process Castilian absorbed many traits from these languages, some of which continue to be used today. Outside of Spain and a few Latin American countries, Castilian is now usually referred to as
Spanish. The language was brought to the
New World by Castilian
Conquistadors during the
Spanish colonization of the Americas. Due to this gradual process, the
Hispanophone world was created. As Castilian was the language of the Crown, it became the official language of all of Spain, used side by side with other languages in their regions for centuries. During the years of the
Francoist State (1939 to 1975), there was an attempt to suppress the regional languages in favour of Castilian as the sole official language, causing a backlash against the use of Castilian in some regions after his death. In Spanish, the word (Castilian) is often used to refer to the Spanish language, alongside (Spanish). (See
Names given to the Spanish language.) ==Demographics==