Name used by its speakers (Endonym): Inuktitut (in syllabics: ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦ )
Native speakers (estimated): 38,000
Total speakers, including second-language (estimated): 42,000
Where it’s spoken: The Inuit languages are a closely related group of languages spoken across the North American Arctic and subarctic regions by the native Inuit, whose name means “the people”. Inuktitut is the most widely spoken of these languages in Canada and has official status in Nunavut (along with English and French), the Northwest Territories (alongside eight other native tongues), and within northern regions of both Labrador and Quebec. Some variation exists in the terminology for these languages; both Inuktitut and Inuktut have been used to refer collectively to all Inuit languages of Canada, but specific names are also used for regional languages/dialects, such as Inuinnaqtun and Inuvialuktun (spoken in the Central and Western Arctic, respectively).
Language family: Eskaleut or Eskimo-Aleut family, Eskimoan branch. However, the term Inuit-Yupik-Unangan family has also been proposed because the term ‘Eskimo’ is considered unacceptable by many within these communities.
Related languages: Inuktitut is most closely related to the other Inuit languages, including Inuinnaqtun (which some consider a dialect rather than separate language); the Inupiat language of Alaska; and Greenlandic, or Kalaallisut, which claims a higher number of native speakers (57,000) than Inuktitut. The next most closely related are the Yupik languages, spoken in western Alaska and (by very few) in eastern Siberia. The most distant branch of this family is Aleut, spoken in the Aleutian Islands and considered a critically endangered language.
Pop Culture: FILM — “Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner” is a 2001 Canadian film which was the first feature ever written and acted entirely in Inuktitut. This epic retells a historic Inuit legend in which the title character (among other things) narrowly survives an attempt on his life. It won the Caméra d’Or (Golden Camera) at the Cannes film festival, was the top-grossing Canadian movie of 2002, and in 2015 was named the all-time greatest Canadian film by poll of critics and filmmakers. Inuk director Zacharias Kunuk has since been recognized with multiple honors, including the Order of Canada and membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
TELEVISION — In another Inuit first, the comedy “North of North” is the first Canadian original series on Netflix and recently premiered in 2025 (also on CBC). Co-created by Inuit writer/producers Stacey Aglok-MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, the series stars Anna Lambe as a young Inuk mother in the fictional Arctic town of Ice Cove, and is filmed on location in Iqualuit, the capital of Nunavut. While predominantly in English, the show offers a rare window into the Inuit community and at least some Inuktitut is bound to show up from time to time. At least we hope so.
Links to more from Netflix and The Canadian Press:
North of North: Release Date, Plot, Photos, Trailer – Netflix Tudum