Latin script

The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Cumaean Greek version of the Greek alphabet used by the Etruscans. Several Latin-script alphabets exist, which differ in graphemes, collation and phonetic values from the classical Latin alphabet.

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (October 2017)

Latin Roman
Script type	Alphabet (impure) and Bicameral
Time period	c. 700 BC – present
Direction	left-to-right
Languages	Most Western European languages, including Latin Many Turkic, Finno-Ugric and Eskimo–Aleut languages Basque Some African, Austronesian, and Austroasiatic languages Official script in: 132 sovereign states  Albania  Andorra  Angola  Antigua and Barbuda  Argentina  Australia  Austria  Azerbaijan  Bahamas  Barbados  Belgium  Belize  Benin  Bolivia  Botswana  Brazil  Burkina Faso  Burundi  Cameroon  Canada  Cape Verde  Central African Republic  Chile  Colombia  Congo  Democratic Republic of Congo  Costa Rica  Cote D'Ivoire  Croatia  Cuba  Czech Republic  Denmark  Dominica  Dominican Republic  East Timor  Ecuador  El Salvador  Equatorial Guinea  Estonia  Eswatini  Fiji  Finland  France  Gabon  Gambia  Ghana  Germany  Grenada  Guatemala  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Guyana  Haiti  Honduras  Hungary  Iceland  Indonesia  Ireland  Italy  Jamaica  Kenya  Kiribati  Latvia  Lesotho  Liberia  Liechtenstein  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Madagascar  Malawi  Malaysia  Mali  Malta  Marshall Islands  Mauritius  Mexico  Micronesia  Moldova  Monaco  Mozambique  Namibia  Nauru  Netherlands  New Zealand  Nicaragua  Niger  Nigeria  Norway  Palau  Panama  Papua New Guinea  Paraguay  Peru  Philippines  Poland  Portugal  Romania  Rwanda  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Samoa  San Marino  São Tomé and Príncipe  Senegal  Seychelles  Sierra Leone  Slovakia  Slovenia  Solomon Islands  South Africa  South Sudan  Spain  Suriname  Sweden   Switzerland  Tanzania  Togo  Tonga  Trinidad and Tobago  Turkey  Turkmenistan  Tuvalu  Uganda  United Kingdom  United States  Uruguay  Uzbekistan  Vanuatu   Vatican City  Venezuela  Vietnam  Zambia  Zimbabwe Co-official script in: 14 sovereign states  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Brunei  Chad  China  Comoros  Djibouti  Eritrea  India  Kazakhstan  Kosovo  Montenegro  Pakistan  Singapore[lower-alpha 1]  Somalia  Sudan  European Union  United Nations
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian hieroglyphs Proto-Sinaitic script Phoenician alphabet Greek alphabet Old Italic script Latin
Child systems	Fraser alphabet (Lisu) Osage script Latin alphabet (partially) several phonetic alphabets, such as IPA, which have been used to write languages with no native script Deseret alphabet (partially) Pollard script (Miao) (partially) Caroline Island script (Woleaian) (indirectly) Cherokee syllabary (indirectly, partially) Yugtun script
Sister systems	Cyrillic script Glagolitic script Armenian alphabet Georgian script Coptic alphabet Runes
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Latn, 215 , ​Latin
Unicode
Unicode alias	Latin
Unicode range	See Latin characters in Unicode
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The Latin script is the basis of the International Phonetic Alphabet, and the 26 most widespread letters are the letters contained in the ISO basic Latin alphabet.

Latin script is the basis for the largest number of alphabets of any writing system[1] and is the most widely adopted writing system in the world (commonly used by about 70 percent of the world's population). Latin script is used as the standard method of writing for most Western and Central, and some Eastern, European languages as well as many languages in other parts of the world.