Korean language

Korean
한국어, 조선말 Hangugeo, Chosŏnmal
Two names for Korean, Hangugeo and Chosŏnmal, written vertically in hangul
Native to	South Korea North Korea Jilin·Liaoning·Heilongjiang, China
Native speakers	76 million (2007)[1]
Language family	Koreanic Buyeo Sillan Korean
Early forms	Old Korean Middle Korean
Dialects	Jeju
Writing system	Hangul (primary) Hanja (mixed script) Korean Braille Cyrillic (Koryo-mar)
Official status
Official language in	South Korea  North Korea Yanbian, China
Regulated by	South Korea: The National Institute of the Korean Language 국립국어원/ 國立國語院 North Korea: Sahoe Kwahagwon Ŏhak Yŏnguso The Language Research Institute of Social Science 사회과학원 어학연구소/ 社會科學院 語學研究所
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ko
ISO 639-2	kor
ISO 639-3	Variously: kor – Modern Korean okm – Middle Korean oko – Old Korean
Linguist List	okm Middle Korean
	oko Old Korean
Glottolog	kore1280
Linguasphere	45-AAA-a
Countries with native Korean-speaking populations. (Established immigrant communities in green)

The Korean language is spoken mainly in North and South Korea. It is spoken by more than 78 million people (most are North or South Koreans).

In South Korea, it is called hangukmal (한국말) or hangugeo (Hangeul: 한국어, Hanja: 韓國語). In North Korea, however, it is called choseonmal (조선말) or choseoneo (조선어, 朝鮮語). They are named differently because the common names for North and South Korea are different. Additionally, Koreans usually call their language urimal (Hangeul: 우리말) or urinara mal (Hangeul: 우리나라 말), meaning "our language" or "our country's language."

1. ↑ Nationalencyklopedin "Världens 100 största språk 2007" The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007