Inuit languages

The Inuit languages are a closely related group of Native American languages traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and to some extent in the subarctic in Labrador. The related Yupik languages are spoken in western and southern Alaska and in the far east of Russia, but are severely endangered in Russia today and spoken only in a few villages on the Chukchi Peninsula. The Inuit live primarily in three countries: Greenland, Canada (specifically in the Nunatsiavut region of Labrador, the Nunavik region of Quebec, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories), and the United States (specifically the coast of 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 speakers of varieties of Inuit there at roughly 50,000, while Canadian estimates are at roughly 35,000. These two countries count the bulk of speakers of Inuit language variants, although about 7,500 Alaskans speak varieties of Inuit out of a population of over 13,000 Inuit.

Inuit

Inuit (pronounced /ˈɪnuːɪt/ or /ˈɪnjuːɪt/; Inuktitut: ᐃᓄᐃᑦ, "the people") are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada, and Alaska. Inuit is a plural noun; the singular is Inuk. The oral Inuit languages are classified in the Eskimo-Aleut family, whereas Inuit Sign Language is a critically endangered language isolate spoken in Nunavut.

In the United States and Canada the term "Eskimo" was commonly used to describe the Inuit, and Alaska's Yupik and Inupiat. "Inuit" is not accepted as a term for the Yupik, and "Eskimo" is the only term that includes Yupik, Iñupiat and Inuit. However, Aboriginal peoples in Canada and Greenland view "Eskimo" as pejorative, and "Inuit" has become more common. In Canada, sections 25 and 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 named the "Inuit" as a distinctive group of Aboriginal Canadians who are not included under either the First Nations or the Métis.

The Inuit live throughout most of the Canadian Arctic and subarctic in the territory of Nunavut; "Nunavik" in the northern third of Quebec; "Nunatsiavut" and "NunatuKavut" in Labrador; and in various parts of the Northwest Territories, particularly around the Arctic Ocean. These areas are known in Inuktitut as the "Inuit Nunangat". In the United States, Inupiat live on the North Slope in Alaska and on Little Diomede Island. The Greenlandic Inuit are the descendants of migrations from Canada and are citizens of Denmark, although not of the European Union.

Inuit (disambiguation)

The Inuit are a group of indigenous peoples living in the most northern parts of North America.

Inuit may also refer to: