A
minority language is a
language spoken by a
minority of the
population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities. With a total number of 193
sovereign states recognized internationally (as of 2008) and an estimated number of roughly 5,000 to 7,000
languages spoken worldwide, it follows that the vast majority of languages are minority languages in every country in which they are spoken. Some minority languages are simultaneously also
official languages, including the
Irish language in
Ireland. Likewise, some
national languages are often considered minority languages, insofar as they are the national language of a
stateless nation.