Wa language

Wa is an Austroasiatic language of the Palaungic branch's Waic subfamily, spoken by the Wa people across the region between the Salween and Mekong rivers in Myanmar, China, Laos and Thailand. Estimates of speakers vary, with figures citing roughly 900,000 speakers as of the 2000s, including about 500,000 in Myanmar and 322,000 in China. The language is recognized as a state language by the government of Wa State and is written in a Latin-based script, though it has historically also been recorded with Chinese characters and Shan script, with three competing orthographic traditions in use: a 1931 Bible orthography, a 1956 orthography adopted in China, and a more recent Wa State orthography. UNESCO classifies Wa as severely endangered.