Kildin Sámi
| Kildin Sámi | |
|---|---|
| кӣллт са̄мь кӣлл kiillt saamʹ kiill | |
| Native to | Russia |
| Region | Kola Peninsula (Murmansk Oblast) |
Native speakers | c. 341 (primarily Kildin) (2020 census) |
| Cyrillic | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sjd |
| Glottolog | kild1236 |
| ELP | Kildin Saami |
Kildin Sami language area (red) within Sápmi (grey) | |
Kildin Saami is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010) | |
Kildin Sámi, also spelt as Kildin Saami is a Sámi language spoken on the Kola Peninsula of northwestern Russia by the Kildin Sámi, who have historically inhabited the peninsula.
The Sámi languages closest to Kildin are Ter Sámi and Akkala Sámi, in Soviet tradition sometimes considered to be dialects of Kildin Sámi. From a strictly geographical point of view, only Kildin and Ter, spoken on the Peninsula, could be regarded as Kola Sámi. It is the largest of the Eastern Sámi languages by number of speakers. However, unlike its close relatives Skolt Sámi or Inari Sámi Kildin is today only used actively by very few people.