Leonese (Leonese: Llionés, Asturian: Lleonés) is a set of vernacular Romance language varieties currently spoken in northern and western portions of the historical region of León in Spain (the modern provinces of León, Zamora, and Salamanca) and a few adjoining areas in Portugal. In this narrow sense, Leonese is distinct from the dialects grouped under the Asturian language. There is no real linguistic division, though; it is only a purely political and identitary division, as dialectal areas (western, central, eastern...) are in fact shaped along a north-south axis (thus encompassing lands both north and south of the mountains, both in Asturias and in Castile and León), following the migration of population from north to south during the Middle Ages (Reconquista). In the past, it was spok