The great biological diversity of present-day Nepal is matched by its cultural and linguistic diversity. Comprising an small area of 147,181 square kilometres with a length of 885 kilometres from east to west and a mean breadth of 193 kilometres from north to south, the topography of Nepal is rich and varied. Inhabiting these different climatic and ecological zones are 100 officially-recognised caste and ethnic groups who speak around 126 languages (Ethnologue, 2005). Of them there are 59 indigenous groups who speak nearly 80 distinct languages of four genetic stocks (Sino-Tibetan, Indo-European, Austro-Asiatic and Dravidian) plus one language isolate (viz. Kusunda). 

In linguistically diverse countries, minority languages are being gradually lost. According to an estimate (Krauss, 1992:7), 90% of human languages will face extinction by the end of the 21st century (Crystal,2000). Nepal, a multilingual nation coupled with its biological diversity as well as ‘single language’ policy, is not immune from this global trend of language endangerment. But how does a language become threatened? What is required to preserve and revitalize a language? These issues are complex and obscure. To understand them, it is necessary to see an intricate matrix of relevant variables and their interaction involved in the process of language endangerment.   

This paper is an attempt to investigate the situation of languages spoken by indigenous peoples in Nepal from the perspective of their endangerment and suggest a viable language policy for their preservation and revitalization. In order to do so, a number of key variables (including the eight criteria for assessing language vitality and endangerment (proposed by an International Expert meeting on UNESCO program “Safeguarding of the Endangered Languages”, March 10-12, 2003)) have been selected for use in this study. These criteria are mainly inter-generational language transmission, absolute number of speakers, proportion of speakers within the total population, loss of existing language domains, materials for language education and literacy, government and institutional language attitudes and policies including official status and use, community members' attitude towards their own languages, amount and quality of documentation, economic and socio-economic status of speakers, access, motivation, age of speakers, and migration to urban areas and foreign countries for job or education. Relevant information on these variables has been gleaned from secondary sources in addition to  the fieldworks wherever required.
This paper is organized into three sections. Section 1 deals with the state-of-the –art situation of the indigenous languages spoken in Nepal. Section 2 presents an evaluation of the degrees of language endangerment among indigenous peoples in terms the selected variables. In section 3 we sum up the findings of the study with focus on a viable and appropriate language policy to be adopted in Nepal.