Papua New Guinea Languages, Literacy, Maps, Endangered Languages, Population, Official Use (PG)

Summary:

Papua New Guinea is a country in the Pacific that is home to 10,516,000 people. It is also home to 840 living indigenous languages. One of these, Tok Pisin, is an official language of the country. Papua New Guinea was also home to 12 indigenous languages that are now extinct. In addition, 3 living non-indigenous languages are established within the country. One of these, English, is also an official language of the country. In formal education, 23 indigenous languages are used as languages of instruction.

Dashboard

Country Location
Click a country to learn about its languages
Demographics
10,516,000
people
840
living indigenous languages
64%
literate
Indigenous Language Vitality Count
1. Institutional
  25
2. Stable
  501
3. Endangered
  314
4. Extinct
  12
Details
This graph shows a profile of languages indigenous to Papua New Guinea with respect to their level of language vitality.
Institutional — The language has been developed to the point that it is used and sustained by institutions beyond the home and community.
Stable — The language is not being sustained by formal institutions, but it is still the norm in the home and community that all children learn and use the language.
Endangered — It is no longer the norm that children learn and use this language.
Extinct - The language is no longer used and no one retains a sense of ethnic identity associated with the language.
These four summary levels have been derived by grouping levels in the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS), which is the more fine-grained scale that Ethnologue uses to assess the status of every language in terms of development versus endangerment; see Language Status for a description of the levels of that scale. See also the pages on Development and Endangerment for more discussion.

Want to Know More?

Ethnologue Subscriptions

Looking for deeper insights into the languages of Papua New Guinea? Upgrade to an Essentials or Standard subscription for unlimited access to Ethnologue’s complete collection of country and language profiles—featuring expert-vetted data, interactive maps, and statistics on over 7,000 languages worldwide.

Perfect for researchers, linguists, and anyone passionate about language diversity

View Subscriptions

Ethnologue Country Digests

Browse Country Digests

Explore all 843 languages used in Papua New Guinea with Ethnologue: Languages of Papua New Guinea—a downloadable PDF document that provides detailed analysis presented in formats not available in the online version of Ethnologue. It includes:

Comprehensive country overview.
Statistical summaries by language status, size, and family.
Alphabetical listing of languages in the country, with in-depth descriptions.
Full-color language map(s) for visual reference.
Listings by population, status, family, and region.
Indexes of ISO 639 codes and alternate language names.

Want to explore more countries? Visit our online store for additional Ethnologue Country Digests! Or upgrade to a Standard subscription for unlimited access to the entire collection

Summary:

Dashboard

Country Location

Demographics

Indigenous Language Vitality Count

Want to Know More?

Ethnologue Subscriptions

Ethnologue Country Digests

Indigenous Languages

Families

Language Policy Conventions

Contributions

Editorial Action