List of sign languages by number of native signers information
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The following are sign languages reported to be used by at least 10,000 people. Additional languages, such as Chinese Sign Language, are likely to have more signers, but no data is available. Estimates for sign language use are very crude, and definitions of what counts as proficiency are varied. For most sign languages, there are no concrete estimates. For instance, it has been reported there are a million signers in Ethiopia, but there are only a fifth that number of deaf people, less than half of whom are fluent in sign, and in addition it is unknown how many different sign languages they use.
Language
Family or origin
Legal recognition and where spoken natively by significant population
Ethnologue estimate
Indo-Pakistani Sign Language
Related to Nepalese Sign Language and possibly others in south Asia
No legal recognition. Native to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
6,300,000 (2019)
Chinese Sign Language
Independent language family; not related to other sign language families
Legally recognized by China
4,000,000 (2021)
Indonesian Sign Language
Based on French Sign Language family
Native to Indonesia
900,000 (2016)[1]
Russian Sign Language
French Sign Language family
Native to Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania
715,000 (2014)[2]
Brazilian Sign Language
French Sign Language family
Legally recognized by law (10.436) in Brazil, on April 24, 2002[3]
600,000 (2019)
Spanish Sign Language
possibly French Sign Language family, according to others Language isolate
Officially recognized by Spanish Government. Native to Spain except Catalonia and Valencia
523,000 (2017)
Egyptian Sign Language
Arab sign-language family
Native to Egypt
474,000 (2014)[4]
American Sign Language
Old French Sign Language and Martha's Vineyard Sign Language
Native to the United States and Anglophone Canada
459,850[5]
Persian Sign Language
Language isolate
Native to Iran
325,000 (2019)[6]
Turkish Sign Language
from Ottoman Sign Language
Native to Turkey
300,000 (2019)[7]
Japanese Sign Language
JSL Family
Native to Japan.
126,000 (2019)
Mexican Sign Language
French Sign Language family
Native to Urban Mexico.
130,000 (2010 projection)
French Sign Language
French Sign Language family. Descended from Old French Sign Language
Native to France. Spoken in Switzerland, Mali, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Togo, Vietnam
100,000 (2019)
German Sign Language
German Sign Language family
Native to Germany
80,000 (2014)
British Sign Language
BANZSL
Native to United Kingdom.
80,000 (2014)
Malaysian Sign Language
French: ASL
Native to Malaysia
60,000 (2013)
Polish Sign Language
German Sign Language family
Native to Poland.
38,000 to 50,000 (2014)
Italian Sign Language
French Sign Language family
Officially Recognized language in Sicily. Native to Italy
40,000 (2014)
New Zealand Sign Language
BANZSL
An official language of New Zealand since 2006
23,000 (2018 census)[8]
Yugoslav Sign Language
French: Austro-Hungarian
Native to Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia
22,000 (2010-2014)
Uruguayan Sign Language
French Sign Language family
Legally recognized in Uruguay since 2001 under Law 17.378.[9][10]
20,000 (2019)[11]
Hong Kong Sign Language
Chinese
Native to Hong Kong
20,000 (2007)
Dutch Sign Language
French
Native to Netherlands
15,000 (2019)
Auslan
BANZSL
Native to Australia
10,000 (2016 census)
^"Indonesian Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^"Russian Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^Lei 10.436 de 24 de abril de 2002 Archived 2010-09-10 at the Wayback Machine (in Portuguese)
^"Egyptian Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^"American Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^"Iranian Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^"Turkish Sign Language". Ethnologue. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
^"2018 Census totals by topic – national highlights (updated)". Stats NZ. 30 April 2020.
^Meyers, Stephen; Lockwood, Elizabeth (2014-12-06). "The Tale of Two Civil Societies: Comparing disability rights movements in Nicaragua and Uruguay". Disability Studies Quarterly. 34 (4). doi:10.18061/dsq.v34i4.3845. ISSN 2159-8371.
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