Itelmen (autonym:
itənmən) 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
2002 Census counted 3,180 ethnic
Itelmen, virtually all of whom are now monolingual in
Russian. However, there are attempts to
revive the language, and it is being taught in a number of schools in the region.