| Languages of Russia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Official | Russian[1] |
| Semi-official | Thirty-five languages |
| Minority | Dozens of languages of the Indo-European, Northeast Caucasian, Northwest Caucasian, Uralic, Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic and Paleosiberian language families |
| Foreign | 13–20% have foreign language knowledge[2][3][4] |
| Signed | Russian Sign Language |
| Keyboard layout | |
Of all the languages of Russia, Russian, the most widely spoken language, is the only official language at the national level. There are 25 other official languages, which are used in different regions of Russia. These languages include; Ossetic, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Buryat, Kalmyk, Chechen, Ingush, Abaza, Adyghe, Tsakhur, Lezgian, Cherkess, Kabardian, Altai, Bashkir, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Karachay-Balkar, Khakas, Nogai, Tatar, Tuvan, Yakut, Erzya, Komi, Hill Mari, Meadow Mari, Karelian, Moksha, Veps, Ingrian, Ludian, and Udmurt.[6] There are over 100 minority languages spoken in Russia today.[7]
Official languages
Although Russian is the only official language of Russia at the federal level, there are several other officially recognized languages within Russia's various constituencies – article 68 of the Constitution of Russia only allows the various republics of Russia to establish official languages other than Russian. This is a list of the languages that are recognized as official in constitutions of the republics of Russia, as well as the number of native speakers according mostly to the 2010 census or more recent ones:[8]
| Language | Language family | Federal subject(s) | Speakers in Russia[8] | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abaza | Northwest Caucasian |  Karachay-Cherkessia
|
37,831 (2010 census – 2014)[9][10] | [11] |
| Adyghe | Northwest Caucasian |  Adygea
|
128,000 (2015)[12] | [13] |
| Aghul | Northeast Caucasian |  Dagestan
|
33,200 (2020–2021 census) | |
| Avar | Northeast Caucasian | Dagestan
|
800,000 (2010 Census)[14] | [15] |
| Altai | Turkic |  Altai Republic
|
55,720 (2010 census) | [16][17] |
| Azerbaijani | Turkic | Dagestan
|
116,907 (2020–2021 census) | |
| Bashkir | Turkic |  Bashkortostan
|
1,152,404 (2010 census)[18] | [19] see also regional law |
| Buryat | Mongolic |  Buryatia
|
265,000 (2010 census)[20] | [21] |
| Chechen | Northeast Caucasian |  Chechnya Dagestan
|
1,354,705 (2010 census) | [22] |
| Chuvash | Turkic |  Chuvashia
|
1,042,989 (2010 census) | [23] |
| Crimean Tatar | Turkic |  Republic of Crimea[b]
|
308,000 (2010 census) | [25] |
| Erzya | Uralic |  Mordovia
|
36,726 (2010 census) | [26] |
| Ingush | Northeast Caucasian |  Ingushetia
|
305,868 (2010 census) | [27] |
| Kabardian | Northwest Caucasian |  Kabardino-Balkaria Karachay-Cherkessia
|
590,000 (2010 census) | [11][28] |
| Kalmyk | Mongolic |  Kalmykia
|
80,546 (2010 census) | [29] |
| Karachay-Balkar | Turkic | Kabardino-Balkaria Karachay-Cherkessia
|
305,364 (2010 census) | [11][28] |
| Karelian | Uralic |  Karelia
|
around 14,000 (2020–2021 census)[30] | [31] |
| Khakas | Turkic |  Khakassia
|
43,000 (2010 census) | [32] |
| Komi-Zyrian | Uralic |  Komi Republic
|
160,000 (2010 census) | [33] |
| Hill Mari, Meadow Mari | Uralic |  Mari El
|
470,000 (2012)[34] | [35] |
| Moksha | Uralic | Mordovia
|
130,000 (2010 census) | [26] |
| Nogai | Turkic | Karachay-Cherkessia Dagestan
|
87,119 (2010 census) | [11] |
| Ossetian | Indo-European (Iranian) |  North Ossetia–Alania
|
451,431 (2010 census) | [36] |
| Tatar | Turkic |  Tatarstan
|
4,280,718 (2010 Census) | [37] |
| Tuvan | Turkic |  Tuva
|
280,000 (2010) | [38] |
| Udmurt | Uralic |  Udmurtia
|
324,338 (2010 census) | [39] |
| Ukrainian | Indo-European (Slavic) | Republic of Crimea[b]
|
1,129,838 (2010 census) | [25] |
| Yakut | Turkic |  Sakha
|
450,140 (2010 census) | [40] |
Dagestan's constitution defines "Russian and the languages of the peoples of Dagestan" as the state languages.[41] 14 of these languages (including Russian) are literary written languages; therefore they are commonly considered to be the official languages of Dagestan. These are, besides Russian, the following: Aghul, Avar, Azerbaijani, Chechen, Dargwa, Kumyk, Lak, Lezgian, Nogai, Rutul, Tabasaran, Tat and Tsakhur. All of these, except Russian, Chechen and Nogai, are official only in Dagestan and in no other Russian republic. In the project of the "Law on the Languages of the Republic of Dagestan", 32 languages are listed; however, this law project never came to life.[42]
Karelia is the only republic of Russia with Russian as the only official language.[43] However, there exists the special law about state support and protection of the Karelian, Vepsian and Finnish languages in the republic.[44]
Other recognized languages
The Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan adopted the "Law on the Languages of Nations", which is one of the regional laws aimed at protecting and preserving minority languages.[45][46][47] In Bashkortostan, the equality of the languages is recognized. Equality is a combination of the rights of peoples and people to preserve and fully develop their native language, and freedom of choice and use of the language of communication. The writing of names of geographical objects and the inscription, road and other signs along with the state language of Bashkortostan can be done in the languages of Bashkortostan in the territories where they are concentrated. Similar laws were adopted in Mari El, Tatarstan, Udmurtia, Khakassia and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
The federal law "On the Languages of the Peoples of the Russian Federation", adopted in 1991,[48] allows the federal subjects to establish additionally official languages in the areas where minority groups live. The following 15 languages benefit from various degrees of recognition in various regions under this law:
- Buryat in the Agin-Buryat Okrug
- Chukchi in Sakha
- Dolgan in Sakha
- Even in Sakha
- Evenki in Sakha
- Finnish in Karelia
- Karelian in Karelia
- Kazakh in Altai
- Khanty in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
- Komi-Permyak in the Komi-Permyak Okrug
- Mansi in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
- Nenets in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
- Selkup in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
- Veps in Karelia
- The Yukaghir languages in Sakha
Migrant languages
 | This section needs to be updated. (January 2026) |
As a result of mass migration to Russia from the former republics of the Soviet Union, especially from the Caucasus and Central Asia, many non-indigenous languages are spoken by migrant workers. For example, in 2014, 2.4 million Uzbek citizens and 1.2 million Tajik citizens entered Russia.[49]
For comparison, Russian citizens with ethnicities matching these of home countries of migrant workers of are much lower (from 2010 census, in thousands):
| Armenian | 830 |
| Azerbaijani | 515 |
| Kazakh | 472 |
| Uzbek | 245 |
| Kyrgyz | 247 |
| Tajik | 177 |
| Georgian | 102 |
| Romanian | 90 |
Endangered languages in Russia
 |
There are many endangered languages in Russia. Some are considered to be near extinction and put on the list of endangered languages in Russia, and some may have gone extinct since data was last reported. On the other hand, some languages may survive even with few speakers.
Some languages have doubtful data, like Serbian whose information in the Ethnologue is based on the 1959 census.
Languages near extinction
| This section needs to be updated. (September 2020) |
Most numbers are according to Michael Krauss (1995). Given the time that has passed, languages with extremely few speakers might be extinct today. Since 1994, Kerek, Aleut (in Russia), Medny Aleut, Akkala Sami, Oroch and Yugh have become extinct.
- Enets (70)
- Ingrian (100)
- Negidal
- Orok (30–82)
- Sami, Ter (2)
- Tofalar (25–30)
- Udege (100)
- Votic (8, 60 non-native)
- Ket (20 speakers) (2019)
- Yukaghir, Northern (30–150)
- Yukaghir, Southern (10–50)
- Yupik (550-900)
Foreign languages
| This section needs to be updated. (January 2026) |
According to the various studies made in 2005–2008 by Levada Center,[2] 15% of Russians know a foreign language. From those who claim knowledge of at least one language:
| English | 80% |
| German | 16% |
| French | 4% |
| Turkish | 2% |
| Others | 9% |
| From 1775 respondents aged 15-29, November 2006 | |
| English | 44% |
| German | 15% |
| Ukrainian, Belarusian and other Slavic languages | 19% |
| Other European languages | 10% |
| All others | 29% |
| From 2100 respondents of every age, January 2005 | |
Knowledge of at least one foreign language is common among younger and middle-aged people. Among those aged 18–24, 38% can read and "translate with a dictionary", 11% can freely read and speak. Among those aged 25–39, these numbers are 26% and 4% respectively.
Knowledge of a foreign language varies among social groups. It is most appreciable (15-18%) in big cities with 100,000 or more inhabitants, while in Moscow it rises up to 35%. People with higher education and high economic and social status are more likely to know a foreign language.
The new study by Levada-Center in April 2014 reveals such numbers:[3]
| English | 11% |
| German | 2% |
| Spanish | 2% |
| Ukrainian | 1% |
| French | <1% |
| Chinese | <1% |
| Others | 2% |
| Can speak a foreign language but with difficulty | 13% |
|---|---|
| Do not speak a foreign Language at all | 70% |
| From 1602 respondents from 16 and older, April 2014 | |
The age and social profiling are the same: knowledge of a foreign language is predominant among the young or middle-aged population, those with a high level of education and high social status, and those who live in big cities.
In 2015, a survey taken in all federal subjects of Russia showed that 70% of Russians could not speak a foreign language. Almost 30% could speak English, 6% could speak German, 1% could speak French, 1% could speak Spanish, 1% could speak Arabic and 0.5% could speak another language.[50]
| Language | % of speakers in Russia (2003) | % of speakers in Russia (2015) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 16 | 30 |  14
|
| German | 7 | 6 |  1
|
| French | 1 | 1 | 
|
English
Source:[50]
| Knowledge | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Can speak English to a degree | 30% |
| Can read and translate using a dictionary | 20% |
| Can understand colloquial language | 7% |
| Can speak very fluently | 3% |
History
In the 18th and 19th centuries, French was a common language among upper class Russians. The impetus came from Peter the Great's orientation of Russia towards Europe and accelerated after the French Revolution. After the Russians fought France in the Napoleonic Wars, Russia became less inclined towards French.[51]
Languages of education
| This section needs to be updated. (January 2026) |
Every year, the Ministry of Education and Science publishes statistics on the languages used in schools. In 2014/2015 the absolute majority (13.1 million or 96%) of 13.7 million Russian students used Russian as a medium of education.[52] Around 1.6 million or 12% students studied their (non-Russian) native language as a subject. The most studied languages are Tatar, Chechen and Chuvash with 347,000, 253,000 and 107,000 students respectively.
The most studied foreign languages in 2013/2014 were as follows:
| Language | Students (in thousands) |
|---|---|
| English | 11,194.2 |
| German | 1,070.5 |
| French | 297.8 |
| Spanish | 20.1 |
| Chinese | 14.9 |
| Arabic | 3.4 |
| Italian | 2.9 |
| Others | 21.7 |
See also
- Demography of Russia
- List of languages of Russia
- Languages of the Caucasus
- Russian Academy of Sciences, the language regulator in Russia
References
- ^ "The Constitution of the Russian Federation - Chapter 3. The Federal Structure, Article 68". constitution.ru. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- ^ a b Знание иностранных языков в России [Knowledge of foreign languages in Russia] (in Russian). Levada Center. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- ^ a b Владение иностранными языками [Command of foreign languages] (in Russian). Levada Center. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- ^ Иностранные яазики: Август 2023 года [International languages August 2023] (in Russian). Levada Center. 14 September 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ Interfax (3 December 2015). "Percentage of Russians who speak English doubles to 30%". Russia Beyond. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
- ^ "What Languages Are Spoken in Russia?". WorldAtlas. 1 August 2017.
- ^ "Russia - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette". Kwintessential.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 May 2013.
- ^ a b "2010 All-Russian Population Census" (PDF). Federal State Statistics Service: 142–143.
- ^ "The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire". www.eki.ee. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
- ^ "Abaza". Ethnologue. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Конституция Карачаево-Черкесской Республики от 5 марта 1996 г. / Глава 1. Основы конституционного строя (ст.ст. 1-13)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Adyghe". Ethnologue. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Адыгея (принята на XIV сессии Законодательного Собрания (Хасэ) - Парламента Республики Адыгея 10 марта 1995 года) / Глава 1. Права и свободы человека и гражданина (ст.ст. 18 - 46)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Avar". Ethnologue. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Дагестан (принята Конституционным Собранием 10 июля 2003 г.)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Алтай (Основной Закон) (принята 7 июня 1997 г.) / Глава I. Общие положения (ст.ст. 22-26)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ Закон Республики Алтай - Глава I. Общие положения - Статья 4. Правовое положение языков [Law of the Republic of Altai - Chapter I. General provisions - Article 4. Legal status of languages] (in Russian). Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
- ^ "Bashkir". Ethnologue. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Башкортостан от 24 декабря 1993 г. N ВС-22/15 / Глава 1. Основы конституционного строя Республики Башкортостан (ст.ст. 1-16)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Buryat". Ethnologue. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Бурятия (принята Верховным Советом Республики Бурятия 22 февраля 1994 г.) / Глава 3. Государственно-правовой статус Республики Бурятия (ст.ст. 60-68)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Конституция Чеченской Республики (принята 23 марта 2003 г.) / Глава 1. Основы конституционного строя (ст.ст. 1 - 13)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Конституция Чувашской Республики (принята Государственным Советом Чувашской Республики 30 ноября 2000 г.) / Глава 1. Основы конституционного строя Чувашской Республики (ст.ст. 1 - 13)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ Tyers, Francis M.; Washington, Jonathan N.; Kavitskaya, Darya; Gökırmak, Memduh (2019). "A Biscriptual Morphological Transducer for Crimean Tatar". Proceedings of the Workshop on Computational Methods for Endangered Languages. doi:10.33011/computel.v1i.423. S2CID 201624024.
- ^ a b "Constitution of the Republic of Crimea". Article 10 (in Russian). State Council, Republic of Crimea. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ a b "Конституция Республики Мордовия (принята 21 сентября 1995 г.) / Глава 1. Основы конституционного строя Республики Мордовия (п.п. 1 - 13)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Ингушетия (принята 27 февраля 1994 г.)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ a b "Конституция Кабардино-Балкарской Республики от 1 сентября 1997 г. N 28-РЗ (принята Парламентом Кабардино-Балкарской Республики 1 сентября 1997 г.) (в редакции, принятой Конституционным Собранием 12 июля 2006 г., республиканских законов от 28 июля 2001 г. / Глава III Государственное устройство (ст.ст. 67-77)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Степное Уложение (Конституция) Республики Калмыкия от 5 апреля 1994 г." constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Росстат — Всероссийская перепись населения 2020". rosstat.gov.ru. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ "Karelian, Vepps, and Finnish languages have got the state support in the Republic of Karelia". Archived from the original on 11 September 2018.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Хакасия (принята на XVII сессии Верховного Совета Республики Хакасия (первого созыва) 25 мая 1995 года) / Глава III. Статус и административно-территориальное устройство Республики Хакасия (ст.ст. 58 - 71)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Коми от 17 февраля 1994 г. / Глава III. Государственный статус Республики Коми и административно-территориальное устройство (ст.ст. 61 - 70)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Mari". Ethnologue. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Марий Эл (принята Конституционным Собранием Республики Марий Эл 24 июня 1995 г.) / Глава I. Основы конституционного строя (ст.ст. 1 - 16)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Северная Осетия-Алания (принята Верховным Советом Республики Северная Осетия 12 ноября 1994 г.) / Глава 1. Основы конституционного строя (ст.ст. 1-17)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Татарстан от 6 ноября 1992 г. / Глава 1. Государственный Совет Республики Татарстан (ст.ст. 67 - 88)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Тыва (принята Референдумом Республики Тыва 6 мая 2001 г.) / Глава I. Основы конституционного строя (ст.ст.1-17)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Конституция Удмуртской Республики от 7 декабря 1994 г. / Глава 1. Основы Конституционного строя (ст.ст. 1 - 15)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Конституция (Основной Закон) Республики Саха (Якутия) / Глава 3. Национально-государственный статус, административно-территориальное устройство (ст. 36 - 53)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Дагестан (принята Конституционным Собранием 10 июля 2003 г.) / Глава 1. Основы конституционного строя (ст.ст. 1 - 17)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "В Дагестане сделают государственными 32 языка". Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ "Конституция Республики Карелия / Глава 1. Основные положения (ст.ст. 1 - 15)". constitution.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ Закон Республики Карелия «О государственной поддержке карельского, вепсского и финского языков в Республике Карелия»
- ^ Law of the Republic of Bashkortostan "On the languages of the peoples of the Republic of Bashkortostan» № 216-W on February 15, 1999 (as amended up until 2010)) and amendments of 2014(in Russian)
- ^ Gabdrafikov I. The law "On the Languages of the peoples of the Republic of Bashkortostan" is adopted // Бюллетень Сети этнологического мониторинга и раннего предупреждения конфликтов, No. 23, 1999
- ^ Десять лет назад принят Закон "О языках народов Республики Башкортостан" ru:Башинформ 2009(in Russian)
- ^ "Закон РФ от 25.10.1991 N 1807-I "О языках народов Российской Федерации" (с изменениями и дополнениями) | ГАРАНТ". base.garant.ru. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
- ^ Страны, лидирующие по количеству прибытий на территорию Российской Федерации - Топ 50 по въезду в РФ за 2014 год (всего) [Countries leading by the number of arrivals to the territory of the Russian Federation - Top 50 by entry into the RF for 2014 (total)] (in Russian). RussiaTourism.ru. Archived from the original (XLS) on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
- ^ a b Percentage of Russian who speak English double to 30
- ^ Yegorov, Oleg (25 May 2017). "Why was French spoken in Russia?". Russia Beyond the Headlines.
- ^ "Статистическая информация 2014. Общее образование". Archived from the original on 9 August 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
Further reading
- Offord, Derek, Lara Ryazanova-Clarke, Vladislav Rjéoutski, and Gesine Argent. French and Russian in Imperial Russia: Language Use among the Russian Elite. Edinburgh University Press, 2015. Available at JSTOR.
External links
- Languages of European Russia (Ethnologue)
- Languages of Asian Russia (Ethnologue)
- Minority languages of Russia on the Net Archived 20 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine project, which aims at presenting the languages of Russia to the Web and at facilitating their usage on the Web (most information is in Russian; it provides scientific references on each individual language as well as links to online language descriptions, educational and scientific institutions related to the language, resources on computer-processing of the language and some sites written in this language)
- Population by mother tongue and districts in 50 Governorates of the European Russia in 1897
- "The History of the French Language in Russia." University of Bristol
