Algherese (Standard Catalan: alguerès, pronounced [əlɣəˈɾɛs]; Algherese: alguerés [alɣaˈɾes]) is the variant of Old Catalan spoken in the city of Alghero (L'Alguer in Catalan), in the northwest of Sardinia, Italy. The dialect has its roots in 1372, when Catalan-speaking colonists were allowed to repopulate Alghero and expel the native population, after several revolts. Catalan was replaced as the official language by Spanish, then by Italian in the mid-18th century. Today the language has semi-official recognition alongside Italian.