Swiss Languages: Official and Less

Switzerland has four official languages, but some are less official than others. Romansh is a case in point. A Latin-based language spoken by a tiny minority of the Swiss population, Romansh is one of Switzerland's four national languages but it remains with little representation in the country. It receives federal support and is spoken in the southeastern canton of Graubünden but in the rest of the country few people know it. For federal administrative purposes Romansh is used alongside of German, Italian, and French in Switzerland. Materials for federal elections are available in Romansh. Speakers of Romansh also speak German as natives and sometimes prefer it to their own language for practical purposes.