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Entrace to the Institut Ramon Llull headquarters at Barcelona
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The Institut Ramon Llull (Catalan pronunciation: [instiˈtud rəˈmoɲ ˈʎuʎ], English: "Ramon Llull Institute"), also known by the acronym IRL, is a Catalan organization constituted in 2002 in order to "promote Catalan language and culture internationally".[1] The founding members are the autonomous governments of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands with the collaboration of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
In the 2004-2008 period, the Balearic regional government left the institution, a decision reversed with the government change in this autonomous community in 2008.
IRL headquarters are shared between Barcelona (Catalonia) and Palma (Balearic Islands).[2] On May 21, 2008, the Vives Network (the network of Catalan language universities) was integrated into the IRL.[3]
The institute constitutes the Ramon Llull Foundation (FRL) together with other political institutions from the Països Catalans: the government of Andorra, the General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales, the city council of Alghero and the Network of Valencian Cities.[4] The latter is an association of a few Valencian city councils that joined together in order to participate in the FRL, in spite of the fact that the Valencian regional government has declined to enter the IRL.[5][6]
Both the institute and the foundation are named after Ramon Llull, a Majorcan medieval writer and philosopher, who is considered the first notable writer in Catalan.[7][8]
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The Ramon Llull Institute's main objective is to promote Catalan language and culture abroad, in all its variants.[9] In order to achieve its mission, IRL carries out several activities including, but not limited to, promoting the establishment of Catalan language classes in educational institutions beyond its natural linguistic domain, holding certifications tests for students of Catalan, promoting Catalan literature by endorsing translations into different languages, and promoting the works of Catalan artist, performers, scientists and researchers.[9]
IRL's activities are coordinated by three main departments:[10]
On 27 November 2004, the President of the Catalan government, Pasqual Maragall inaugurated the International Book Fair at Guadalajara, Mexico, which presented the "Catalan Culture" its "yearly guest of honor", with a total attendance of 450.000.[11] On 10 October 2007, "Catalan Culture" was the guest of honor of the Frankfurt Book Fair.[12] The government of Andorra collaborated with IRL in this event before the creation of FRL.
The main resources of this institution are the ones allocated by its participant regions for this purpose.[2]