SPARQL (pronounced "sparkle" ) is an RDF query language; its name is a recursive acronym that stands for SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language. It is standardized by the RDF Data Access Working Group (DAWG) of the World Wide Web Consortium. Initially released as a Candidate Recommendation in April 2006, but returned to Working Draft status in October 2006, due to two open issues. In June 2007, SPARQL advanced to Candidate Recommendation once again. On 12th November 2007 the status of SPARQL changed into Proposed Recommendation. On 15th January 2008, SPARQL became an official W3C Recommendation.