The Belfast Agreement of April 1998 was the first official document to mention Ulster Scots, stating that it represents "part of the cultural wealth of the island of Ireland".
Under the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages, approved in 1992 and signed recently by the United Kingdom, Ulster-Scots became an officially recognised regional language of Europe. Proponents claim that around 150,000 people throughout the original nine counties of Ulster speak the language.
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