Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Old Irish. The 2001 census of Scotland showed that a total of 58,652 in Scotland could speak Gaelic at that time, with the Outer Hebrides being the main stronghold of the language. The census results indicate a decline of 7,300 Gaelic speakers from 1991. Despite this decline, revival efforts exist and the number of younger speakers of the language has increased. Scottish Gaelic is not an official language of the European Union, nor of the United Kingdom. However, it is classed as an autochthonous language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which the British government has ratified. In addition, the Gaelic Language Act 2005 gave official recognition to the language and established an official language development body, Bòrd na Gàidhlig. Outside of Scotland, dialects of the language known as Canadian Gaelic exist in Canada on Cape Breton Island, Glengarry County in present-day Eastern Ontario and other isolated areas of the Nova Scotia mainland. The number of present day speakers in Nova Scotia is estimated at around 2,000 with between 300 and 1,000 on Cape Breton Island. Wikipedia [ - ]

Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the... [ + ]