China | Ethnologue Free

Summary

China is a country in Asia that is 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. In addition, 25 non-indigenous languages are established within the country. The literacy rate in China is 97%. In formal education, 7 indigenous languages are used as languages of instruction.

Population

Geography
Size
1,412,600,000
total✵
281
languages✵
97% (2018 UNESCO)
literate✵
Vitality
1. Institutional
  12
2. Stable
  117
3. Endangered
  153
4. Extinct
  2
Details
This graph shows the profile of languages in China with respect to their level of language vitality.
Institutional — The language has been developed to the point that it is used and sustained by institutions beyond the home and community.
Stable — The language is not being sustained by formal institutions, but it is still the norm in the home and community that all children learn and use the language.
Endangered — It is no longer the norm that children learn and use this language.
Extinct - The language is no longer used and no one retains a sense of ethnic identity associated with the language.
These four summary levels have been derived by grouping levels in the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS), which is the more fine-grained scale that Ethnologue uses to assess the status of every language in terms of development versus endangerment; see Language Status for a description of the levels of that scale. See also the pages on Development and Endangerment for more discussion.

Languages

zchCentral Hongshuihe Zhuang

hmcCentral Huishui Miao

ywtCentral Lalo

hmmCentral Mashan Miao

cslChinese Sign Language

cdaChoni

cqdChuanqiandian Cluster Miao

zehEastern Hongshuihe Zhuang

hmeEastern Huishui Miao

yitEastern Lalu

emqEastern Minyag

nosEastern Nisu

hmqEastern Qiandong Miao

muqEastern Xiangxi Miao

hujNorthern Guiyang Miao

hmiNorthern Huishui Miao

hmpNorthern Mashan Miao

heaNorthern Qiandong Miao

mvfPeripheral Mongolian

sfmSmall Flowery Miao

ysgSonaga

bfsSouthern Bai

kmcSouthern Dong

hmySouthern Guiyang Miao

yspSouthern Lolopo

hmaSouthern Mashan Miao

hmsSouthern Qiandong Miao

qxsSouthern Qiang

tjsSouthern Tujia

hmgSouthwestern Guiyang Miao

hmhSouthwestern Huishui Miao

lsnTibetan Sign Language

hmwWestern Mashan Miao

wmgWestern Minyag

mmrWestern Xiangxi Miao

Families

Language Policy Conventions

CPPDCE (2007)
CSICH (2004)
UNCRPD (2008)
UNDRIP (2007)

Contributions

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Summary

Population

Geography

Size

Vitality

Languages

Families

Language Policy Conventions

Contributions

Editorial Action