Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger

“A language is endangered if it is not being passed on to younger generations,” the Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger states. This report was published by the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) in the year 2010. It notes that while information technologies have helped in the dissemination of knowledge at an unprecedented speed, “humanity’s linguistic diversity has been shrinking.” The report classifies 2,500 endangered languages across the globe into one of five categories: ‘vulnerable’, ‘definitely endangered’, ‘severely endangered’, ‘critically endangered’ and ‘extinct’. The first edition of the Atlas was published in 1996 covering 600 languages whereas the second edition – published in 2001 – reported on 900 languages. As many as 28 authors from different countries contributed to the various region-specific chapters in this report. The Atlas was edited by Christopher Moseley of University College, London, and carries maps by cartographer Alexandre Nicolas. Teasing out the common theme among the conditions of such languages, the report highlights that they often lack prestige and economic power coupled with low levels of literacy – even among their native speakers. The Atlas aims to bring awareness about the loss of linguistic diversity in the world...