The document discusses the threat facing endangered languages around the world. It estimates that as many as half of the approximately 6,000 languages currently spoken may become extinct by the end of the 21st century. Several factors are contributing to this decline, including nation-state building processes, universal education, and the spread of dominant languages like English, French, Spanish, and Arabic. While documentation of endangered languages is important, long-term preservation requires communities where the language is spoken and transmitted between generations.

1. Endangered Languages How Many Will Survive?

45. Commercial whaling

46. Inuit children at residential school, Roman Catholic mission, Cape Dorset, NWT 1951