Sámi languages

Sámi
Sami, Saami, Samic
Geographic
distribution
Sápmi (Finland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden)
EthnicitySámi
Native speakers
(30,000 cited 1992–2013)
Linguistic classificationUralic
  • Sámi
Proto-languageProto-Sámi
Subdivisions
  • Eastern
       Mainland
       Peninsular
  • Western
       Central
       South
Language codes
ISO 639-2 / 5smi
Variously:
sma  Southern
sju  Ume
sje  Pite
smj  Lule
sme  Northern
sjk  Kemi
smn  Inari
sms  Skolt
sia  Akkala
sjd  Kildin
sjt  Ter
Glottologsaam1281
Distribution of the Sami languages (circa 2023): 1. Southern Sami, 2. Ume Sami, 3. Pite Sami, 4. Lule Sami, 5. Northern Sami, 6. Inari Sami, 7. Skolt Sami, 8. Kildin Sami, 9. Ter Sami. Striped areas are multilingual or overlapping.

The Sámi languages (/ˈsɑːmi/ SAH-mee), also rendered in English as Sami and Saami, are a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Indigenous Sámi peoples in Northern Europe (in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden, and extreme northwestern Russia). There are, depending on the nature and terms of division, ten or more Sami languages. Several spellings have been used for the Sámi languages, including Sámi, Sami, Saami, Saame, Sámic, Samic and Saamic, as well as the exonyms Lappish and Lappic. The last two, along with the term Lapp, are now often considered pejorative.