Inuit languages

The Inuit languages are a closely related group of <a href="/facts/Indigenous_languages_of_the_Americas/phwWNwhJ">indigenous American languages</a> traditionally spoken across the <a href="/facts/North_American_Arctic/Lr3WdMhn">North American Arctic</a> and the adjacent subarctic regions as far south as <a href="/facts/Labrador/Yo4K7DJ2">Labrador</a>. The Inuit languages are one of the two branches of the <a href="/facts/Eskimoan_languages/h8YnvLuY">Eskimoan language family</a>, the other being the <a href="/facts/Yupik_languages/4LQ5jAct">Yupik languages</a>, which are spoken in <a href="/facts/Alaska/LlDNr2uR">Alaska</a> and the <a href="/facts/Russian_Far_East/BT7sYGTP">Russian Far East</a>. Most <a href="/facts/Inuit/wJaIGexN">Inuit</a> people live in one of three countries: <a href="/facts/Greenland/aagXRTB7">Greenland</a>, a self-governing territory within the <a href="/facts/Danish_Realm/SErkFD5m">Kingdom of Denmark</a>; Canada, specifically in <a href="/facts/Nunavut/aFaAad0W">Nunavut</a>, the <a href="/facts/Inuvialuit_Settlement_Region/LRYYcs0a">Inuvialuit Settlement Region</a> of the <a href="/facts/Northwest_Territories/au0ajf7T">Northwest Territories</a>, the <a href="/facts/Nunavik/UI1QKUKk">Nunavik</a> region of <a href="/facts/Quebec/4hhNvb4t">Quebec</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Nunatsiavut/zxzWMwfQ">Nunatsiavut</a> and <a href="/facts/NunatuKavut/7J0yYkpN">NunatuKavut</a> regions of Labrador; and the United States, specifically in northern and western Alaska.
The total population of Inuit speaking their traditional languages is difficult to assess with precision, since most counts rely on self-reported census data that may not accurately reflect usage or competence. Greenland census estimates place the number of Inuit language speakers there at roughly 50,000. According to the <a href="/facts/2021_Canadian_census/eswC1hxC">2021 Canadian census</a>, the Inuit population of Canada is 70,540, of which 33,790 report Inuit as their first language. Greenland and Canada account for the bulk of Inuit speakers, although about 7,500 Alaskans speak some variety of an Inuit language out of a total population of over 13,000 Inuit. An estimated 7,000 <a href="/facts/Greenlandic_people_in_Denmark/FPfJFff5">Greenlandic Inuit live in Denmark</a>, the largest group outside of North America. Thus, the total population of Inuit speakers is about 100,000 people.
Although they are from two different <a href="/facts/Language_families/IpJv9o5S">language families</a>, Inuit also speak both <a href="/facts/Inuit_Sign_Language/0ndC9Ya3">Inuit Sign Language</a> (IUR) in Canada and <a href="/facts/Greenlandic_Sign_Language/z3aHn5Vk">Greenlandic Sign Language</a> in Greenland. It is unknown to academia if the two sign languages are related. It also remains unknown to what extent IUR is spoken across <a href="/facts/Inuit_Nunangat/9QAcFdKy">Inuit Nunangat</a>. Finally, even though IUR is slowly being replaced by <a href="/facts/American_Sign_Language/MGTCXaGb">American Sign Language</a>, there are efforts to support the native sign language underway.

Inuit languages open-in-new

Inuit languages