In 1999 UNESCO proclaimed February 21 to commemorate International Mother Language Day, since there are approximately 7,000 languages, of which almost 50 percent are in danger of extinction. In Mexico there are 69 national languages, 68 of which are indigenous and the other is Spanish, and for this reason it is among the top 10 nations with the most native languages, occupying the second place with this characteristic in Latin America, Brazil occupies the first place.
Mexico has almost 7 million speakers of some indigenous language and more than 25 million Mexicans are recognized as indigenous, most of them are located in the southeast of the country and it is where the largest population of speakers of these languages is registered. In Mexico, approximately 860,000 people speak the Mayan language, the second most spoken language in the country after Nahuatl.
There are 364 linguistic variants spoken in Mexico, coming from 68 groups and there are 11 linguistic families, which are: Alica, Totonaca, Yuto-nauha, Cichimí-nahua, Cmiique Litom (Seri), Oto-mange, Maya, Purépecha (Tarascan), Mixe-zoque, Chontal de Oaxaca and Ombeayüiits (Huave).
