Northern Bavarian or North Central Bavarian (German: "Nordbairisch", "Nordmittelbairisch") is a dialect of the Bavarian language. Though mostly spoken in Weiden in der Oberpfalz, Northern Bavarian is also spoken in Upper, Lower Bavaria and Upper Franconia. There is one subvariant called West Northern Bavarian or West Northern Central Bavarian. It is spoken in the west, up in the north of Bavaria. The dialects of the Upper Palatinate and the Bavarian Forest are also called “"Waidlerische"”. Linguistically, these are North Bavarian, North Central Bavarian and Central Bavarian dialects, with the North Bavarian elements gradually increasing towards the north. 