A major concern of many scientists, artists, writers, politicians, and leaders of linguistic communities is the preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity in today's world.
It is estimated that half of the current 6000 spoken languages are endangered of disapearing within the 21st century. Many factors affect the existence and usage of human languages, such as the size of the native speaking population, its use in formal communication, the geographical dispersion and the socio-economic weight of the speakers etc.
Many countries have language policies designed to favor or discourage the use of a language or certain languages. There are many ways such laws could be categorized. Here is one:
