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| Korean | |
|---|---|
| 한국어, 조선말 Hangugeo, Chosŏnmal | |
 Two names for Korean, Hangugeo and Chosŏnmal, written vertically in hangul | |
| Native to | South Korea North Korea Jilin·Liaoning·Heilongjiang, China |
| Native speakers | 76 million (2007) |
| Language family | |
| Early forms: | Old Korean
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| Dialects | |
| Writing system | Hangul (primary) Hanja (mixed script) Korean Braille Cyrillic (Koryo-mar) |
| Official status | |
| Official language in |  South Korea North Korea Yanbian, China |
| Regulated by | South Korea: The National Institute of the Korean Language 국립국어원/ 國立國語院North Korea: Sahoe Kwahagwon Ŏhak Yŏnguso The Language Research Institute of Social Science 사회과학원 어학연구소/ 社會科學院 語學研究所 |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | ko |
| ISO 639-2 | kor |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously: kor – Modern Korean okm – Middle Korean oko – Old Korean |
| Linguist List | okm Middle Korean |
| oko Old Korean | |
| Linguasphere | 45-AAA-a |
 Countries with native Korean-speaking populations. (Established immigrant communities in green) | |
The Korean language is spoken mainly in North and South Korea. It is spoken by more than 78 million people (most are North or South Koreans).
In South Korea, it is called hangukmal (한국말) or hangugeo (Hangeul: 한국어, Hanja: 韓國語). In North Korea, however, it is called choseonmal (조선말) or choseoneo (조선어, 朝鮮語). They are named differently because the common names for North and South Korea are different. Additionally, Koreans usually call their language urimal (Hangeul: 우리말) or urinara mal (Hangeul: 우리나라 말), meaning "our language" or "our country's language." view more...
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