Editing Tatar language (section)

== Geographic distribution ==
The Tatar language is spoken in [[Russia]] by about 5.3&nbsp;million people, and also by communities in [[Azerbaijan]], [[China]], [[Finland]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Israel]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Romania]], [[Turkey]], [[Ukraine]], the [[United States]], [[Uzbekistan]], and several other countries.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} Globally, there are more than 7 million speakers of Tatar.

Tatar is also the mother tongue for several thousand [[Mari people|Mari]], a [[Finnic peoples|Finnic]] people;{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} [[Mordva]]'s [[Qaratay]] group also speak a variant of Kazan Tatar.

In the [[Russian Census (2010)|2010 census]], 69% of Russian Tatars claimed at least some knowledge of the Tatar language.<ref>Russian Census 2010. [http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/Documents/Vol4/pub-04-06.pdf Владение языками населением] {{in lang|ru}}</ref> In Tatarstan, 93% of Tatars and 3.6% of [[Russians]] claimed to have at least some knowledge of the Tatar language. In neighbouring [[Bashkortostan]], 67% of Tatars, 27% of [[Bashkirs]], and 1.3% of Russians claimed to understand basic Tatar language.<ref>Russian Census 2010. [http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/Documents/Vol4/pub-04-07.pdf Владение языками населением наиболее многочисленных национальностей по субъектам Российской Федерации] {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

=== Official status ===
[[File:Kazan Millennium tamğa.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|The word ''[[Kazan|Qazan]]'' – قازان is written in Arabic script in the semblance of a [[Zilant]].]]
[[File:Söyälmäskä.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|Bilingual guide in [[Kazan Metro]]]]
[[File:Kazan metro sign.JPG|thumb|right|upright=0.9|A subway sign in Tatar (top) and Russian]]

Tatar, along with Russian, is the official language of the [[Republic of Tatarstan]]. The [[official script]] of the Tatar language is based on the [[Cyrillic script]] with some additional letters. The Republic of Tatarstan passed a law in 1999, which came into force in 2001, establishing an official Tatar Latin alphabet. A Russian federal law overrode it in 2002, making Cyrillic the sole official script in Tatarstan since. Unofficially, other scripts are used as well, mostly Latin and Arabic. All official sources in Tatarstan must use Cyrillic on their websites and in publishing. In other cases, where Tatar has no official status, the use of a specific alphabet depends on the preference of the author.

The Tatar language was made a ''de facto'' official language in Russia in 1917, but only within the [[Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]]. Tatar is also considered to have been the official language in the short-lived [[Idel-Ural State]], briefly formed during the [[Russian Civil War]].

The usage of Tatar declined during the 20th century. By the 1980s, the study and teaching of Tatar in the public education system was limited to rural schools. However, Tatar-speaking pupils had little chance of entering university because higher education was available in Russian almost exclusively.

As of 2001, Tatar was considered a potentially endangered language while Siberian Tatar received "endangered" and "seriously endangered" statuses, respectively.<ref>{{Cite book |publisher=Unesco Pub. |isbn=978-92-3-103798-6 |last=Wurm |first=S |author2=Unesco |title=Atlas of the world's languages in danger of disappearing |location=Paris |year=2001}}</ref> Higher education in Tatar can only be found in [[Tatarstan]], and is restricted to the [[humanities]]. In other regions Tatar is primarily a spoken language and the number of speakers as well as their proficiency tends to decrease. Tatar is popular as a written language only in Tatar-speaking areas where schools with Tatar language lessons are situated. On the other hand, Tatar is the only language in use in rural [[administrative divisions of the Republic of Tatarstan|districts of Tatarstan]].

Since 2017, Tatar language classes are no longer mandatory in the schools of Tatarstan.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=BBC Russia |url=http://www.bbc.com/russian/features-42186885 |title=Без языка: Казань отказалась от обязательных уроков татарского |date=1 December 2017 |language=ru}}</ref> According to the opponents of this change, it will further endanger the Tatar language and is a violation of the Tatarstan Constitution which stipulates the equality of Russian and Tatar languages in the republic.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=БИЗНЕС Online |url=https://www.business-gazeta.ru/article/358446 |title=Татарский язык становится "ящиком Пандоры" |date=22 September 2017 |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |publisher=БИЗНЕС Online |url=https://www.business-gazeta.ru/article/363554 |title=Исмагил Хуснутдинов: "Под лозунгом добровольности татарский язык пытаются изгнать из школ" |date=12 November 2017 |language=ru}}</ref>