Editing Asturleonese language (section)

== Number of speakers ==
There is no known, exact number of Asturleonese speakers, as not enough statistical research has been conducted in this area and many dialects are not accounted for due to their close similarities with Spanish. It is believed that there are over 100,000 Asturian speakers within Spain and Portugal.<ref>{{Cite book |title=International encyclopedia of linguistics|date=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|author=William Frawley|isbn=0-19-530745-3|edition=2nd |location=Oxford|oclc=316065519}}</ref> However, a study conducted in 1991 on the specific Asturian dialect, showed that there could be as many as 450,000 speakers within the Asturias region, with about 60,000 to 80,000 able to read and write the language. The same study indicated that another 24 percent of the population could understand Asturian.<ref>{{Citation|last=García Arias|first=Xosé Lluis|title=Corrección toponímica en el Principado de Asturias/Principáu d'Asturies|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110314953.61|work=Lengua, espacio y sociedad|year=2013 |pages=61–80 |place=Berlin, Boston|publisher=DE GRUYTER|doi=10.1515/9783110314953.61 |isbn=978-3-11-031456-4 |access-date=2021-11-10|url-access=subscription}}</ref> This also explains the diverse range of knowledge and familiarity that those within the region have of the Asturleonese language, as there exist some speakers, some who can only understand the language, and a very small portion of the population who are able to read and write.