Friulian (in its own language: furlan or affectionately marilenghe) is a Romance language, belonging to the Rhaeto-Romance group, spoken in Friuli (that is, the greatest part of the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia) in northeastern Italy.
This minority language is widely used by a large part of the population, is cultivated by a dynamic cultural movement and has the status of a protected language, but Italian remains the dominant language.