Chilean Sign Language

Chilean Sign Language, known in Spanish as Lengua de Senas Chilena or LSCh, is used across Chile, with particular concentration in Santiago, Iquique, Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas, and serves as the primary means of communication for the country's deaf community through its seven deaf institutions. Its classification remains uncertain, with possible affiliation to both a Chile-Paraguay-Uruguay sign language grouping and the broader Francosign languages. About 21,000 people used LSCh as of 2011 out of an estimated 292,700 Chileans, 1.8 percent of the population, with some form of hearing loss. The language received government recognition in 2009, though Chile still has no dedicated government services or anti-discrimination employment protections specifically for deaf signers; roughly twenty schools nationwide serve deaf students under varying regional approaches, and the language uses a 27-letter Spanish-based manual alphabet for fingerspelling.