Valencian ( or ; endonym: valencià, llengua valenciana, or idioma valencià) is the variety of Catalan as spoken in the Valencian Country, Spain. In the Valencian Country, Valencian is the traditional language and is co-official with Spanish. It is often considered a distinct language from Catalan by people from the Valencian Country; however, linguists consider it a dialect of Catalan. A standardized form exists, based on the Southern Valencian dialect.