Officially Recognized Language: Tibet Autonomous Region/China

Home Speakers: Bhutan, Nepal, India

Background
It belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family and is closely related to the languages of the “Bhotia” group. It is spoken by over 6 million people. Written Tibetan is reported to be based on a southern dialect, but probably includes many separate languages. Other written styles include Dzongkha (national language of Buthan) and Ladakhi in north-west India. It is distantly related to Chinese and Burmese. However, of the major languages of Asia, Tibetan has the most in common with Burmese, as both languages belong to the same branch of the Sino-Tibetan family.Tibetan is written in an Indian-derived script introduced around the 7th century A.D, probably based on the Sanskrit.

Reprinted from www.unhchr.ch/udhr/