The language and national identity of the population of Catalonia at the start of the 21st century

Abstract

This study analyses, first of all, the evolution of Catalonia’s population in relation to its habitual language and to the language or languages with which it identifies the most in recent years. Secondly, it also seeks to identify the relation of these concepts to place of birth and national identity. The information sources are the Survey on Language Uses of the Population (2003-2013) and the Government of Catalonia Omnibus Survey (2011-2015).
The main results show that there is a direct relationship between the language with which Catalans most identify and their national identity, as could be expected in the context of Catalonia. Moreover, the results underscore the importance of language in identity building, especially in citizens who identify themselves as Catalan or Spanish alone.
However, some citizens of Catalonia who identify themselves as Catalan alone have Spanish as their language of identity. Furthermore, the trend shows that the sector of population which identifies itself as more Catalan than Spanish, identifies itself with the Catalan language and not with both languages.

Keywords: language of identity, national identity, Catalonia, Catalan language, identity, self-categorization.