CN
People’s Republic of China
China
Summary
China is a country in Asia that is home to 1,412,600,000 people. It is also home to 281 living indigenous languages. One of these, Mandarin Chinese, is the official language of the country. Others—Central Tibetan, Kyrgyz, and Uyghur—are official languages in parts of the country. China was also home to 2 indigenous languages that are now extinct. In addition, 25 living non-indigenous languages are established within the country. In formal education, 7 indigenous languages are used as languages of instruction.
At a Glance
Languages
Families
Sino-Tibetan (149) Kra-Dai (51) Hmong-Mien (36) Austro-Asiatic (19) Mongolic (8) Turkic (7) Tungusic (5) Mixed language (2) Sign language (2) Austronesian (1) Indo-European (1) Unclassified (1)
Language Policy Conventions
China has adopted the following international conventions which speak to indigenous language rights.