Russian language

Russian (русский язык, russkij jazyk, IPA: [ˈruskʲɪj jɪˈzɨk]) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living East Slavic languages,[lower-alpha 8] and is also a part of the larger Balto-Slavic languages. It was the de facto and de jure[24] official language of the former Soviet Union.[25] Russian has remained an official language in independent Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and is still commonly used as a lingua franca in Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and to a lesser extent in the Baltic states and Israel.[26][27][28][29]

Quick facts: Russian, Pronunciation, Native to, Regio... ▼

Russian
русский язык[lower-alpha 1]
Pronunciation	[ˈruskʲɪj jɪˈzɨk] (listen)
Native to	Russia, other areas of the former Soviet Union
Region	Russian-speaking world
Ethnicity	Russians
Native speakers	150 million (2012)[1] L2 speakers: 110 million (2012)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Balto-Slavic Slavic East Slavic Russian
Early forms	Proto-Indo-European Proto-Balto-Slavic Proto-Slavic Old East Slavic
Writing system	Cyrillic (Russian alphabet) Russian Braille
Official status
Official language in	5 UN member states  Russia (state)[2]  Belarus (co-official)[3]  Kazakhstan (co-official)[4]  Kyrgyzstan (co-official)[5]  Tajikistan (as inter-ethnic language designated by the constitution)[6] As inter-ethnic language but with no official status, or as official in regional level  Uzbekistan[lower-alpha 2] (as inter-ethnic language despite having no de jure status)[7][8][9]  Moldova:  Gagauzia (co-official)[10] Left Bank of the Dniester (co-official)  Ukraine:  Autonomous Republic of Crimea[lower-alpha 3] Partially recognized states  Abkhazia[lower-alpha 4](co-official)[11]  Nagorno-Karabakh[lower-alpha 5](co-official)[12]  South Ossetia[lower-alpha 6](co-official)[13]  Transnistria[lower-alpha 7](state)[14] Organizations  United Nations: IAEA ICAO UNESCO WHO CIS EAEU CSTO SCO OSCE ATS ISO
Recognised minority language in	List  China[15]  Romania[16]  Armenia[17]  Poland[17]  Czech Republic[18]  Slovakia[17]  Moldova[19]  Mongolia[20]  Ukraine[21]
Regulated by	Russian Language Institute[22] at the Russian Academy of Sciences
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ru
ISO 639-2	rus
ISO 639-3	rus
Glottolog	russ1263
Linguasphere	53-AAA-ea < 53-AAA-e (varieties: 53-AAA-eaa to 53-AAA-eat)
Russian is a majority language   Russian is a minority language   Russian is a spoken language

Russian has over 258 million total speakers worldwide.[30] It is the most spoken Slavic language,[31] and the most spoken native language in Europe,[32] as well as the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia.[31] It is the world's seventh-most spoken language by number of native speakers, and the world's eighth-most spoken language by total number of speakers.[33] Russian is one of two official languages aboard the International Space Station,[34] as well as one of the six official languages of the United Nations.[35]

Russian is written using the Russian alphabet of the Cyrillic script; it distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without—the so-called "soft" and "hard" sounds. Almost every consonant has a hard or soft counterpart, and the distinction is a prominent feature of the language. Another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Stress, which is often unpredictable, is not normally indicated orthographically,[36] though an optional acute accent may be used to mark stress – such as to distinguish between homographic words (e.g. замо́к (zamók, 'lock') and за́мок (zámok, 'castle')), or to indicate the proper pronunciation of uncommon words or names.