Athabaskan ( ; also spelled Athabascan, Athapaskan or Athapascan), also known as Dene ( ; also spelled Dené), is a large branch of the Na-Dene language family of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific Coast and Southern (or Apachean). Kari and Potter (2010:10) place the total territory of the 53 Athabaskan languages at 4022000 km2.