written language, Landsmål, based on selected rural Norwegian dialects, was launched as an alternative to Dano-Norwegian, but it did not replace the existing written language. Landsmål, renamed Nynorsk, is currently used by around 12% of the population, mostly in western Norway; it had reached its height in the 1940s. The Norwegian language conflict is an ongoing controversy within Norwegian culture and politics related to these two official versions of the Norwegian language. Modern developments Nowadays, the term Bokmål officially refers only to the written language of that name (and possibly to its use in the media, by actors etc.). There are, however, a number of spoken varieties of Norwegian that are close or largely identical to written Bokmål, sometimes even in a conservative form similar to historical Dano-Norwegian - notably, the higher sociolect in Oslo and in other cities in Eastern Norway. A socially less distinct variety known as (Standard East Norwegian) is increasingly becoming the standard spoken language of a growing part of Eastern Norway. Colloquially, the latter form is also called the Oslo dialect, which is misleading since the Oslo dialect predates the Dano-Norwegian koiné, and though both influenced by and partially replaced by , it is still in use, and since the koiné language is not a dialect. Over the years the spoken Dano-Norwegian standard and its successors, on the one hand, and Modern Norwegian dialects on the other hand have influenced each other. Nowadays, no clear dividing line can be drawn between the two. The term Dano-Norwegian is seldom used with reference to contemporary Bokmål and its spoken varieties. The nationality of the language has been a hotly debated topic, and its users and proponents have generally not been fond of the implied association with Danish (hence the neutral names Riksmål and Bokmål, meaning state language and literary language respectively). The debate intensified with the advent of a new Norwegian written language in the 19th century, now known as Nynorsk, which is based on Modern Norwegian dialects and puristic opposition to Danish and Dano-Norwegian. Historically, many Nynorsk supporters have held that Nynorsk is the only genuinely Norwegian language, since Riksmål/Bokmål is a relic of the dual monarchy; therefore, the term Dano-Norwegian applied to Bokmål can be used to stigmatize or delegitimize the language. Many Bokmål users consider this association to be offensive, and it is therefore mainly confined to the Nynorsk-supporting side of heated discussions. See