Itelmen language

Itelmen
Western Kamchadal, Western Itelmen
итэнмэн Itənmən
Native to	Russia
Region	Kamchatka Peninsula
Ethnicity	2,596 Itelmens (2021)
Native speakers	808 (2020 census)[1]
Language family	Chukotko-Kamchatkan Kamchatkan Itelmen
Writing system	Cyrillic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	itl
Glottolog	itel1242
ELP	Itelmen
Pre-contact distribution of Itelmen and other Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages
Itelmen is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Itelmen (Itelmen: Itənmən^[2]) or Western Itelmen, formerly known as Western Kamchadal, is a language of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan family spoken on the western coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Fewer than a hundred native speakers, mostly elderly, in a few settlements in the southwest of Koryak Autonomous Okrug, remained in 1993. The 2021 Census counted 2,596 ethnic Itelmens, virtually all of whom are now monolingual in Russian. However, there are attempts to revive the language,^[3] and it is being taught in a number of schools in the region.

(Western) Itelmen is the only surviving Kamchatkan language. It has two dialects, the Southern dialect of Khayryuzovo and the Northern dialect of Sedanka.