Editing China (section)

=== Languages ===
{{Main|Languages of China|List of endangered languages in China}}
[[File:Lihaozhai High School - P1360829.JPG|thumb|left|A sign at a high school in [[Jianshui]], Yunnan, written in [[Hani language|Hani]] using the Latin alphabet, [[Nisu language|Nisu]] using the [[Yi script]], and Chinese.]]

There are as many as 292 [[living language]]s in China.<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=CN Languages of China] – from Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, TX: SIL International.</ref> The languages most commonly spoken belong to the [[Sinitic languages|Sinitic branch]] of the [[Sino-Tibetan language family]], which contains [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] (spoken by 80% of the population),<ref>{{Cite news |title=Over 80 percent of Chinese population speak Mandarin |last1=Zhao |first1=E'nuo |last2=Wu |first2=Yue |date=16 October 2020 |url=http://en.people.cn/n3/2020/1016/c90000-9769716.html |access-date=15 September 2023 |work=People's Daily}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kaplan |first1=Robert B. |title=Language Planning and Policy in Asia: Japan, Nepal, Taiwan and Chinese characters |last2=Baldauf |first2=Richard B. |year=2008 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |isbn=978-1-8476-9095-1 |page=42}}</ref> and [[Varieties of Chinese|other varieties]] of [[Chinese language]]: [[Jin Chinese|Jin]], [[Wu Chinese|Wu]], [[Min Chinese|Min]], [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]], [[Yue Chinese|Yue]], [[Xiang Chinese|Xiang]], [[Gan Chinese|Gan]], [[Huizhou Chinese|Hui]], [[Pinghua|Ping]] and unclassified Tuhua ([[Shaozhou Tuhua]] and [[Xiangnan Tuhua]]).<ref>{{Cite book |publisher=Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong |page=8 |year=2012 |trans-title=Language Atlas of China |edition=2nd |title-link=Language Atlas of China |orig-date=1987 |script-title=zh:中国语言地图集 |place=Beijing |volume=1: Dialects |isbn=978-7-100-07054-6}}</ref> Languages of the [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman branch]], including [[Lhasa Tibetan|Tibetan]], [[Qiang language|Qiang]], [[Naxi language|Naxi]] and [[Nuosu language|Yi]], are spoken across the [[Tibetan Plateau|Tibetan]] and [[Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau]]. Other ethnic minority languages in [[southwestern China]] include [[Zhuang languages|Zhuang]], [[Thai language|Thai]], [[Kam language|Dong]] and [[Sui language|Sui]] of the [[Kra–Dai languages|Tai-Kadai family]], [[Hmongic language|Miao]] and [[Mienic languages|Yao]] of the [[Hmong–Mien languages|Hmong–Mien family]], and [[Wa language|Wa]] of the [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic family]]. Across [[Northeast China|northeastern]] and [[northwestern China]], local ethnic groups speak [[Altaic languages]] including [[Manchu language|Manchu]], [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] and several [[Turkic languages]]: [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]], [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]], [[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]], [[Salar language|Salar]] and [[Western Yugur language|Western Yugur]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Li Yang |date=17 November 2015 |title=Yugur people and Sunan Yugur autonomous county |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/gansu/2015-11/17/content_22479011.htm |access-date=23 February 2024 |work=China Daily}}</ref> [[Korean language|Korean]] is spoken natively along the border with [[North Korea]]. [[Sarikoli language|Sarikoli]], the language of [[Chinese Tajiks|Tajiks in western Xinjiang]], is an [[Indo-European language]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Joo |first1=Ian |last2=Hsu |first2=Yu-Yin |date=September 2021 |title=A Preliminary Survey of Linguistic Areas in East Asia Based on Phonological Features |url=https://kb.osu.edu/items/a24b1342-748d-44da-a314-faa4d24ca8cb |journal=Buckeye East Asian Linguistics |language=en-US |publication-place=Hong Kong Polytechnic University |volume=5 |pages=58 |issn=2378-9387 |quote=Sarikoli, an Indo-European language spoken in northwestern China, shows some connection to Turkic languages (Kazakh and Uyghur) spoken nearby. |via=Ohio State University Knowledge Bank}}</ref> [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples]], including a small population on the mainland, speak [[Austronesian languages]].<ref name="language">[https://web.archive.org/web/20130725061022/http://english.gov.cn/2005-08/16/content_23691.htm "Languages"]. 2005. Government of China. Retrieved 31 May 2015.</ref>

[[Standard Chinese]], a variety based on the [[Beijing dialect]] of Mandarin, is the national language of China, having de facto official status.<ref name="Adamson & Feng"/> It is used as a [[lingua franca]] between people of different linguistic backgrounds.<ref name="langlaw">{{Cite law |date=31 October 2000 |title=Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language (Order of the President No. 37) |url=http://www.gov.cn/english/laws/2005-09/19/content_64906.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724204951/http://www.gov.cn/english/laws/2005-09/19/content_64906.htm |archive-date=24 July 2013 |access-date=21 June 2013 |publisher=Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China |quote=For purposes of this Law, the standard spoken and written Chinese language means Putonghua (a common speech with pronunciation based on the Beijing dialect) and the standardized Chinese characters.}}</ref> In the [[autonomous regions of China]], other languages may also serve as a lingua franca, such as Uyghur in Xinjiang, where governmental services in Uyghur are constitutionally guaranteed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dwyer |first=Arienne M. |title=The Xinjiang Conflict: Uyghur Identity, Language Policy, and Political Discourse |year=2005 |publisher=East-West Center Washington |isbn=978-1-9327-2828-6 |pages=43–44}}</ref>