Thursday, May 10, 2012

Languages in Danger on Google Maps


The First Peoples' Language Map of B.C. Google Map displays information about the languages spoken by the 203 First Nation communities in British Columbia.

If you zoom in on an area on the map then markers will appear that show the languages spoken in that region. If you open an information window you can click through to view details about how many fluent speakers of the selected language are left.



Did you know that there are 192 endangered or dead languages in the United States? That figure includes Coushatta, which is spoken by 350 members of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana. It also includes Paviotso, which is spoken by 400 people in Oregon, Nevada, California and Idaho.

The UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger highlights the endangered languages listed in UNESCO’s Atlas. It is possible to browse the world's endangered languages on the Google Map via a search box or by zooming into individual countries on the map.

The languages are shown on the map by coloured markers. The map markers reflect the level of danger to the language. Black markers indicate languages that are already dead, red markers those that are critically endangered.

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