This December, Plataforma per la Llengua has published a guide to publicise the Catalan language to a foreign audience wanting information about the language situation in the Catalan-speaking territories. The publication, in English, French and German, can now be read on the organisation's website and will be sent to more than 240 places around the world, including international institutions and organisations, universities and Catalan foreign bureaux.

The guide, which runs to 20 pages, includes some of the most important statistics about the situation of the language in terms of its dimensions, vitality and demographic importance. It also explains the cultural importance of the language, the historical resilience that has enabled it to survive and the legal recognition it currently enjoys. In addition, it points out the threats and challenges Catalan has to face before it can achieve a situation of normality.

The Catalan NGO has printed more than 1,200 copies of the guide and, over the next few weeks, it will send them to the United Nations, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions, the Council of Europe, the European Language Equality Network (ELEN), the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), the European Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity (NPLD), the International Federation of Catalan Organisations and the Catalan Government's foreign bureaux.

The guide will also be e-mailed to the more than 120 universities that teach courses in the Catalan language and culture making up the Llull network, and the more than 100 Catalan communities abroad.

The publication of the document is one of the international actions carried out abroad by Plataforma per la Llengua to explain the situation Catalan is in and to build relationships to promote the protection of the language rights of Catalan-speakers.