Languages of Bolivia

{{Languages of

| country = Bolivia

|image=Colonia Okinawa.jpg

|caption=Sign in Okinawa Uno (a colonia in Bolivia),
in Spanish and Okinawan

|official= {{collapsible list| framestyle="border: none; padding: 0;"

| title =37 languages|Aymara, Araona, Baure, Bésiro, Canichana, Cavineño, Cayubaba, Chácobo, Chimán, Ese Ejja, Guaraní, Guarasu'we, Guarayu, Itonama, Leco, Machajuyai-Kallawaya, Machineri, Maropa, Mojeño-Ignaciano, Mojeño-Trinitario, Moré, Mosetén, Movima, Pacawara, Puquina, Quechua, Sirionó, Spanish, Tacana, Tapieté, Toromona, Uru-Chipaya, Weenhayek, Yaminawa, Yuki, Yuracaré, Zamuco}}

| main = Spanish

|minority=Standard German, Plautdietsch

| indigenous = Arawakan languages, Pano-Tacanan languages, Quechuan languages, Tupian languages, others

| foreign = English

|vernacular=Bolivian Spanish, Portuñol

| sign = Bolivian Sign Language

|keyboard = Spanish Latinamerican QWERTY

|keyboard image = 200px

}}{{Culture of Bolivia}}

The languages of Bolivia include Spanish and several dozen indigenous languages, most prominently Aymara, Quechua, Chiquitano, Guaraní and the Bolivian Sign Language (closely related to the American Sign Language). Indigenous languages and Spanish are official languages of the state according to the 2009 Constitution. The constitution says that all indigenous languages are official, listing 36 specific indigenous languages, of which some are extinct. Spanish and Quechua are spoken primarily in the Andes region, Aymara is mainly spoken in the Altiplano around Lake Titicaca, Chiquitano is spoken in the central part of Santa Cruz department, and Guarani is spoken in the southeast on the border with Paraguay and Argentina.

List of official languages

File:El castellano como lengua materna (censo nacional 2001).png speakers: 44.89%.]]

File:Distribucion de los quechuas por municipios (censo nacional 2001).png speakers: 25.08%.]]

File:Distribucion_de_los_aymaras_por_municipios_(censo_nacional_2001).png speakers: 16.77%.]]

File:Indigenous_languages_of_Bolivia.png

The following languages are listed as official languages in the Constitution of Bolivia.[http://bolivia.justia.com/nacionales/nueva-constitucion-politica-del-estado/primera-parte/titulo-i/capitulo-primero/ Political Constitution of the State - Article 5]

In 2019, the Bolivian government and the Plurinational Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures (Ipelec) announced plans to extend constitutional recognition to three additional indigenous languages.{{Cite web|title=Three new indigenous languages to be officially added to Bolivian Constitution|url=https://constitutionnet.org/news/three-new-indigenous-languages-be-officially-added-bolivian-constitution|access-date=2022-01-03|website=ConstitutionNet|language=en}}

Demographics

class="wikitable" !Language	Number of speakers	Percent
Quechua	2,281,198	25.08%
Aymara	1,525,321	16.77%
Guaraní	62,575	0.69%
Other native	49,432	0.54%
All native	3,918,526	43.09%
Only native	960,491	10.56%

Native and Spanish	2,739,407	30.12%
Only Spanish	4,082,219	44.89%
Spanish	6,821,626	75.01%

Foreign	250,754	2.76%
Spanish or foreign	4,115,751	45.25%

Official status

The Bolivian government and the departmental governments are required to use at least two languages in their operation, one being Spanish, and the other being selected according to the circumstances and the needs of the territory in question. These requirements appear in Article 234 of the 2009 Constitution and the General Law of Linguistic Rights and Policies (Law 269 of August 2, 2012); the law provided a three-year deadline to government functionaries, although there was no immediate punishment for officials who failed to comply.{{Cite news|url=http://www.paginasiete.bo/nacional/2015/7/29/funcionarios-deben-hablar-lengua-originaria-desde-agosto-64741.html|title=Funcionarios deben hablar una lengua originaria desde agosto|date=2015-07-29|work=Página Siete|accessdate=2018-03-21}} Departmental and municipal autonomous governments are required to use the languages of their territory, always including Spanish.Nueva Constitución Política Del Estado, Aprobada en grande, detalle y revisión. December 2007, article 5.

Following the National Education Reform of 1994, all thirty indigenous languages were introduced alongside Spanish in the country's schools.Hornberger, Nancy. 1997. [http://www.gse.upenn.edu/~hornberg/papers/LanguageinSociety27(4)1998.pdf Language policy, language education, language rights: Indigenous, immigrant, and international perspectives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915024341/http://www.gse.upenn.edu/~hornberg/papers/LanguageinSociety27(4)1998.pdf |date=2012-09-15 }}. Language in Society 27:443. Retrieved on April 28, 2009. However, many schools did not implement the reforms, especially urban schools.{{Citation needed|date=May 2013}}

Bolivia's national anthem has been translated into six indigenous languages: Aymara, Bésiro-Chiquitano, Guaraní, Guarayu, Quechua, and Mojeño-Trinitario.{{Cite web |last=Cuevas |first=Aleja |date=August 9, 2017 |title=6 de 34 pueblos logran traducir el Himno Nacional - La Razón |url=http://www.la-razon.com/sociedad/pueblos-logran-traducir-Himno-Nacional_0_2761523856.html |url-status=dead |access-date=2018-03-21 |website=La Razón |language=es |archive-date=2018-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321130807/http://www.la-razon.com/sociedad/pueblos-logran-traducir-Himno-Nacional_0_2761523856.html }}

Bolivia has 12 million inhabitants. Only 5 languages of Bolivia are spoken by more than 30,000 people: Spanish monolingual (5 million speakers), Kichwa (2.4 million speakers), Aymara (1.5 million), Low German (Plattdeutsch) (100,000 speakers) and Guaraní (33,000 speakers). Of these all are official except Plattdeutsch. There are 8 official languages spoken by between 1,000 and 8,000 people each. So of the 37 languages declared official by the constitution of 2009, 23 are spoken by fewer than 1,000 people and 2 are extinct (puquina and machajuyai-kallawaya).{{Cn|date=January 2023}}

Languages without official status

Standard German is spoken by 160,000 of whom about 70,000 are Mennonites in Santa Cruz Department. These Mennonites speak Plautdietsch, a German dialect, as everyday language but use Standard German for reading and writing and as formal language e.g. in church.[http://www.ethnologue.com/country/BO Ethnologue: Paraguay] Portuguese is also spoken near Bolivia's border with Brazil and around 0.2% of Bolivia speaks it as their mother tongue.{{Cite web |url=http://inecloud.ine.gob.bo/owncloud/index.php/s/w2ZCFwI7qJrwTwD/download |title=Censo de Población y Vivienda 2012 - BOLIVIA CARACTERÍSTICAS DE LA POBLACIÓN |access-date=2019-12-27 | language=es |archive-date=2021-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801173154/https://inecloud.ine.gob.bo/owncloud/index.php/s/w2ZCFwI7qJrwTwD/download |url-status=dead }}

References

External links

[http://www.ru.nl/lenguasdebolivia/ Lenguas de Bolivia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904080403/http://www.ru.nl/lenguasdebolivia/ |date=2019-09-04 }} (online edition)