The World Atlas of Languages

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The World Atlas of Languages is an interactive and dynamic online tool that documents different aspects and features of language status in countries and languages around the world.  It aims to provide  a detailed record of languages as communicative tools and knowledge resources in their sociocultural and socio-political contexts.

According to the World Atlas of Languages’ methodology, there are 8324 languages, spoken or signed, documented by the governments, public institutions and academic communities; out of 8324, around 7000 languages are still in use.  On the World Atlas of Languages, every language is marked distinctly according to its type, structure and affiliation, its situation, state and status and, finally, their functions, users and usage.

The World Atlas of Languages relies on a survey to collect information about languages in country from UNESCO’s Member States. These languages in country profiles are built on the official information provided by governments, national departments of statistics, public language harmonization and standardization organizations, and higher educational organizations, which are mandated to carry out fundamental research and collect official data.

The World Atlas of Languages (WAL) effects a shift from a mono to a multidimensional approach and allows the demonstration of linguistic diversity in a multi-layered manner, taking advantage of technological and scientific progress. It applies a wide definition of language that includes and embraces all communication systems created, defined, described and used. However, the prime focus is on natural human signed/spoken languages, used across and within countries, regions, and communities. This change of paradigm brings forth the implications that: 

  • language is a carrier of human heritage (in identity, historical, cultural and linguistic material);
  • language is a local knowledge repository system (in identity and ethnic issues, traditional knowledge, biodiversity);
  • language is a system for communicating between people (including in the political, sociocultural and economic domains);
  • language is a regional, national and global economic-political resource to be managed as an asset along with natural, human, financial and other resources, as part of good governance and societal development.

 

Why is the World Atlas of Languages important? 

The World Atlas of Languages is an online platform that reflects the dynamism and depths of the global linguistic diversity. It provides accurate, reliable, up-to-date and robust data on the world’s languages. By taking advantage of scientific and technological progress and drawing from data offered by trusted providers, including national governments, academia and language communities, the World Atlas of Languages is able rapidly to capture linguistic diversity shifts. More importantly - and building on the good experiences from the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger of Disappearing published in 1996, 2001 and 2010 - the World Atlas of Languages represents a major step towards a more inclusive, comprehensive, and interdisciplinary understanding of linguistic diversity.

It is vital to protect linguistic diversity as a requirement for equal participation, social cohesion and sustainable development. A prerequisite to enable the international community to meet this objective is the documentation of the languages of the world, which allows the drawing of conclusions on the situation of each particular language. Only a sound situational analysis of languages and their specific linguistic ecosystems guarantees the development of policies able to protect linguistic diversity adequately.

 

For whom is the World Atlas of Languages intended?

El Atlas Mundial de las Lenguas es una herramienta metodológica y política que puede informar, ayudar y apoyar las decisiones pertinentes, la elaboración de políticas y el seguimiento de los resultados. Como análisis basado en hechos de las lenguas y sus ecosistemas específicos, que se apoya en datos actualizados recogidos de diferentes fuentes, puede servir de base para el desarrollo de políticas capaces de proteger la diversidad lingüística. El Atlas Mundial de las Lenguas tiene como objetivo estimular la investigación y la innovación, hacia nuevas políticas lingüísticas, recursos y herramientas, proporcionando pruebas de la creación de acciones concretas centradas en la preservación, revitalización y promoción de las lenguas, para satisfacer las necesidades, retos y aspiraciones de los usuarios de las lenguas (hablantes y signantes) en todo el mundo.