The world's nearly 6,000 languages are celebrated on International Mother Language Day (21 February), an event aimed at promoting linguistic diversity and multilingual education.

The International Mother Language Day, proclaimed by the General Conference of UNESCO in November 1999, has been observed yearly since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. It originated as the international recognition of Language Movement Day, which has been commemorated in Bangladesh since 1952.

Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue. Throughout the world, communities are discovering that by using their languages in new arenas of their lives, they can begin discovering solutions to the challenges stated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Language-based development plays a significant role in giving communities the tools to work out steps to meet these goals.

The tenth International Mother Language Day on 21 February 2009 is not only an opportunity to celebrate language diversity and multilingualism. This year's celebration also coincided with the closure of the International Year of Languages, which has mobilized hundreds of partners worldwide for the protection and promotion of all languages, especially endangered ones. On this occasion UNESCO has launched a new edition of the Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger of Disappearing.

The electronic version of the new edition of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger of Disappearing has been presented to the press at UNESCO Headquarters on the eve of International Mother Language Day. The Atlas is published for the first time as an interactive, digital tool with updated information on over 2500 endangered languages.