[4] Bavarian is spoken by approximately 12 million people in an area of around 125,000 square kilometres (48,000 sq mi), making it the largest of all German dialects.

[14] The word Bavarian is derived from the name of the people who settled Bavaria along with their tribal dialect.

In turn, Bojer (Latin: Boii, German: Boier) originated as the name for former Celtic inhabitants of the area, with the name passing to the mixed population of Celts, Romans, and successive waves of German arrivals during the early medieval period.

[15] The local population eventually established the Duchy of Bavaria, forming the south-eastern part of the kingdom of Germany.

Three main dialects of Bavarian are: Differences are clearly noticeable within those three subgroups, which in Austria often coincide with the borders of the particular states.

Also, there is a marked difference between eastern and western central Bavarian, roughly coinciding with the border between Austria and Bavaria.

Educated Bavarians and Austrians can almost always read, write and understand Standard German, but they may have very little opportunity to speak it, especially in rural areas.

Regional authors and literature may play a role in education as well, but by and large, Standard German is the lingua franca.

Poetry is written in various Bavarian dialects, and many pop songs use the language as well, especially ones belonging to the Austropop wave of the 1970s and 1980s.

Ludwig Thoma was a noted German author who wrote works such as Lausbubengeschichten in Bavarian.

[17] Notes: Vowel phonemes in parentheses occur only in certain Bavarian dialects or only appear as allophones or in diphthongs.

Examples of this are: Bayerish iz a grupe dialektn afn dorem funem daytshishn shprakh-kontinuum.