View source for Languages of Azerbaijan

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox country languages
 |country        = Azerbaijan
 |image          = Street sign about the COVID-19 pandemic in Azerbaijan 02.jpg

 |image size     = 
 |caption        = Sign about the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] in Azerbaijani 
 |official       = [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]
 |semi-official  = 
 |national       = 
 |unofficial     = 
 |main           = 
 |indigenous     = 
 |regional       = 
 |vernacular     = 
 |minority       = [[Lezgian language|Lezgian]], [[Talysh language|Talysh]], [[Avar language|Avar]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Tat language (Caucasus)|Tat]], [[Tsakhur language|Tsakhur]], [[Khinalug language|Khinalug]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]]
 |immigrant      = 
 |foreign        = [[English language|English]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]]
 |sign           = [[Azerbaijani Sign Language]]
 |keyboard       = [[Keyboard_layout#QÜERTY_(Azerbaijani)|QÜERTY]] and [[Keyboard_layout#PÜŞUD_(Azerbaijani)|PÜŞUD]]
 |keyboard image = [[File:KB_Azerbaijan.png|200px]]
 |source         = 
}}
[[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]] is the sole official language of [[Azerbaijan]] and is spoken by the majority of its population. However, several minority languages also exist in the country, including [[Lezgian language|Lezgian]], [[Talysh language|Talysh]], [[Avar language|Avar]], [[Russian language|Russian]], and [[Tat language (Caucasus)|Tat]]. Additionally, languages such as [[Tsakhur language|Tsakhur]] and [[Khinalug language|Khinalug]] are spoken by a small percentage of the population.

== General ==
[[File:Azerbaijan ethnic map 2024.png|300px|thumb|Ethnicities of Azerbaijan (2024, after the collapse of the [[List of states with limited recognition|breakaway]] [[Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh]] and the [[flight of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians]] in 2023).]]
[[File:Azerbaijan ethnic map 1994-2020.png|300px|thumb|Ethnicities of Azerbaijan (1994-2020, after the [[First Nagorno-Karabakh War]] and before the [[Second Nagorno-Karabakh War]]).]]
The primary and official language of Azerbaijan is [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Azerbaijan|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/country/AZ|publisher=www.ethnologue.com|access-date=14 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan |url=http://ask.org.az/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Konstitusiya_ENG.pdf |website=President of the Republic of Azerbaijan |publisher=Official Website of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan |access-date=31 August 2020}}</ref> a [[Turkic languages|Turkic language]] closely related to and partially [[mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]] with [[Turkish language|Turkish]].<ref name=innerAsia>{{cite book|last=Sinor|first=Denis|title=Inner Asia. History-Civilization-Languages. A syllabus|year=1969|publisher=Bloomington|isbn=0-87750-081-9|pages=71–96|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vn-xZ3O1G-cC&pg=PA71}}</ref>  Together with Turkish, [[Turkmen language|Turkmen]] and [[Gagauz language|Gagauz]], Azerbaijani is a member of [[Oghuz languages|Oghuz]] branch of [[Turkic languages]] family.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World 1st Edition|last1=Keith|first1=Brown|last2=Ogilvie|first2=Sarah|publisher=Elsevier Science|year=2008|isbn=9780080877754|pages=110}}</ref>

== Present ==
According to the 2019 census of the country, Azerbaijani is spoken as a native language by 96% of the population,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Samadov (www.anarsamadov.net) |first=Anar |title=Population of Azerbaijan |url=https://www.stat.gov.az/source/demoqraphy/ap/?lang=en |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=The State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan |language=en}}</ref> whereas [[Russian language|Russian]] and [[English language|English]] play significant roles as languages of education and communication. More than half of Azerbaijani speakers are monolingual.<ref name=":1" /> [[Lezgian language|Lezgian]], [[Talysh language|Talysh]], [[Avar language|Avar]], [[Georgian language|Georgian]], [[Budukh language|Budukh]],<ref name="Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages">{{Cite web|url=http://www.helsinki.fi/~tasalmin/chris.html|title=Published in: Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages. Edited by Christopher Moseley. London & New York: Routledge, 2007. 211–280.}}</ref> [[Juhuri language|Juhuri]],<ref name="Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages" /> [[Khinalug language|Khinalug]],<ref name="Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages" /> [[Kryts language|Kryts]],<ref name="Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages" /> [[Jek language|Jek]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www2.unil.ch/slav/ling/textes/MARR-31a/txt.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028081841/http://www2.unil.ch/slav/ling/textes/MARR-31a/txt.html|url-status=dead|title=Н. МАРР : "Яфетические языки", Большая сов. энциклопедия, 1-е изд., т. 65, Москва : Сов. Энц., 1931, стр. 841.|archive-date=October 28, 2012}}</ref> [[Rutul language|Rutul]],<ref name="Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages" /> [[Tsakhur language|Tsakhur]],<ref name="Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages" /> [[Tat language (Caucasus)|Tat]],<ref name="Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages" /> and [[Udi language|Udi]]<ref name="Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages" /> are all spoken by minorities. All the aforementioned languages<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/|title=Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger|publisher=[[UNESCO]]}}</ref> (except Lezgian, Talysh, Avar, and Georgian, which have far larger numbers of speakers outside Azerbaijan but steadily declining numbers within the country) are considered [[endangered language]]s. They are threatened with extinction, as they have few (below 10,000) or very few (below 1,000) speakers and their use continues to decline with emigration and modernization.

According to 2019 research, [[English language]] proficiency in Azerbaijan was the lowest among the European countries surveyed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ef.com/ca/epi/regions/europe/|title=EF EPI 2019 – Europe|website=www.ef.com|language=en-CA|access-date=2019-11-08}}</ref>

An entire issue of [[International Journal of the Sociology of Language|the ''International Journal of the Sociology of Language'']], edited by Jala Garibova, was devoted to the matter of languages and language choices in Azerbaijan, vol. 198 in 2009.<ref>International Journal of the Sociology of Language, Volume 2009, Issue 198 (Jul 2009), http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ijsl.2009.2009.issue-198/issue-files/ijsl.2009.2009.issue-198.xml</ref>

Azerbaijan has not ratified the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]] to which it became a signatory in 1992, under the [[Popular Front of Azerbaijan|Popular Front]]. In 2001, the then President of Azerbaijan [[Heydar Aliyev]] issued a statement whereby "the Republic of Azerbaijan is not in the power to guarantee the implementation of the Charter regulations until its territory occupied by the Republic of Armenia is liberated".<ref>[http://www.e-qanun.az/framework/2902 Azərbaycan Respublikasının Regional dillər və ya azlıqların dilləri haqqında Avropa Xartiyasına dair bəyanatı]. 20 December 2001. Retrieved 17 February 2017.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Ancient Azari language]]
* [[History of Azerbaijan]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=AZ Ethnologue page on Azerbaijan]
*[https://www.academia.edu/29247992/Language_situation_in_Azerbaijan Language situation in Azerbaijan] 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190422075816/http://azerbaijan.az/portal/General/Language/language_01_e.html Azerbaijani Language]

== Further reading ==
* [http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/audio/languagelessons/azerbaijan/AZ_Azerbaijan_Language_Lessons.pdf Azerbaijani manual]

{{Languages of Azerbaijan}}
{{Languages of the Caucasus}}
{{Azerbaijan topics}}
{{Asia in topic|Languages of}}
{{Languages of Europe}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Languages Of Azerbaijan}}
[[Category:Languages of Azerbaijan| ]]