China
PrintPrimary tabs
Official Name
People’s Republic of China
Population Full
1,392,730,000 (2018 World Factbook)
Principal Languages
Mandarin Chinese
Literacy Rate
97% (2018 UNESCO)
International Conventions
CPPDCE (2007), CSICH (2004), UNCRPD (2008), UNDRIP (2007)
General References
Bradley 1997, Bradley 2005, Bradley 2007a, Campbell and King 2011, Dreyer 1976, Janhunen 1989, Janhunen 2003, Li 1973, Matisoff et al 1996, Pelkey 2008, Pelkey 2011, Ramsey 1987, Salminen 2007, Wurm et al 1987, Xiong and Yang 1991
Deaf Population
20,540,000 (2012 China Disabled Persons’ Federation)
Recognized Nationalities
Minority languages in China are associated with one or more officially recognized nationalities by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission
Language Counts
The number of established languages listed for China is 306. Of these, 305 are living and 1 is extinct. Of the living languages, 279 are indigenous and 26 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 15 are institutional, 32 are developing, 88 are vigorous, 140 are in trouble, and 30 are dying. Also listed are 2 unestablished languages and 3 macrolanguages.