Minority Languages of China

Abstract

This chapter looks at language endangerment in the People ‘s Republic of China, focusing on three of the main factors that influence language maintenance in China today: increased contact due to population movements and changes in the economy; the population policies of the government, particularly the identification of nationalities and languages; and the education system, particularly bilingual education. Finally, we give a brief account of the major efforts to document endangered languages. China officially recognizes fifty-six nationalities (minzú), with the Han nationality comprising about 91.5 per cent of the population of 1.24 billion people, and the other fifty-five nationalities plus 734,438 unclassified people making up only 8.5 per cent of the population (2000 census).