A list of endangered languages (with fewer than 1000 speakers or with very fast decline).

In order to judge if a language is actually endangered, the number of speakers is less important than the age distribution; there may be 500,000 speakers of the Breton language over 50 years of age, but fewer than 2,000 under 25 years of age - it is likely Breton will die out in the next half-century. On the other hand, while there are 30,000 Ladin speakers left, almost all children still learn it as their mothertongue, thus Ladin is not endangered in the 21st century.

Africa

• Bung language, 3 speakers

Americas

• indigenous languages of Canada:
  • Abenaki, 10 speakers
  • Beaver , 300 speakers
  • Cayuga , 360 speakers
  • Delaware (Munsee ), fewer than 10 speakers
  • Han , few speakers
  • Hare , 600 speakers
  • Michif, spoken by fewer than 1,000 people in western Canada
  • Onandaga , fewer than 100 speakers
  • Oneida, 200 speakers
  • Potawatomi , 100 speakers
  • Sarcee , 10 speakers
  • Seneca , 25 speakers
• indigenous languages of the USA:
  • Catawba - Last fluent speaker died in 1996.
  • Coos - 1 or 2 speakers
  • Cowlitz - 1 or 2 speakers
  • Eyak - 1 speaker
  • Eastern Abnaki - 1 speaker
  • Kalapuya - 1 or 2 speakers in 1962
  • Klamth-Modoc - 1 speaker in 1998
  • Lipan Apache - 2 or 3 speakers
  • Menominee - 65 first or second language speakers (1997)
  • Serrano - 1 speaker
  • Tagish - 2 speakers
  • Upper Chehalis - 2 speakers
  • Wappo - 1 speaker
• indigenous languages of South America
  • Ofayé - around 15 speakers, in Mato Grosso do Sul, Central Brazil

Asia

• Ainu, Northern Japan, 1,000 speakers
• Aramaic, Lebanon, Kurdistan
• Chukchi, Siberia, circa 10,400 speakers (2001)
• Chulym, Russia, approx. 100 fluent speakers
• Manchu, northeast China, less than 100 speakers
• Udmurt, Udmurtia, Russia
• Northern indigenous peoples of Russia
• Macaista Chapado (also called Patuá)

Australasia

• most Australian Aboriginal languages
  • Yanyuwa, four speakers
• Maori

Europe

• European Union
  • Alsatian (France) very fast decline
  • Aragonese (Spain) very fast decline
  • Aromanian (Greece and the Balkans) very fast decline
  • Breton (France) very fast decline
  • Corsican (France) very fast decline
  • Griko (south Italian Greek) (Italy) very fast decline
  • Italkian (Judeo-Italian) (Italy) probably extinct
  • Kashubian (Pomeranian) (Poland) very fast decline
  • Karaim
  • Leonese (Spain) very fast decline
  • Livonian, Estonia and Latvia, approx. 35 speakers
  • Molise Slavic (Italy) very fast decline
  • Occitan (France) very fast decline
  • Sami languages, (Scandinavia), some having fewer than 100 speakers
  • Samogitian language, (Lithuania), very fast decline
  • Scottish Gaelic (United Kingdom) very fast decline
  • Tsakonian (Greece)
  • Lower Sorbian, (Germany) very fast decline
  • West Flemish (France) very fast decline
  • Wymysojer (Poland), less than 100 speakers
• Outside of the European Union
  • Belarusian, very low usage in Belarus
  • Istro-romanian, Istria Croatia, 500 speakers
  • Krimchak (Judeo-Crimean Tatar)
  • Mordvin (Russia), steady decline
    • Erzya language
    • Moksha language
  • Votian, Russia, 50 speakers

See also

• endangered language
• list of extinct languages
• List of revived languages
• Language families and languages
• Language policy
• The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire

External link

• UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages