Ngarinyin is found only within the local region of Northern Kimberley, Australia, and other local languages are found in the surrounding region instead due to the small population of Ngarinyin speakers, including the Worrorran languages of Wunambal and Worrorra.

Ngarinyin is found at the centre of the region, and the other Aboriginal languages in the area face similar levels of endangerment.

[9] Kriol is often used by younger generations instead of Ngarinyin, though some knowledge of the language is still retained by these people.

[10] Ngarinyin places great emphasis on the classification of family members and is similar to the neighbouring Aboriginal languages of Worrorra and Wunambal to the point of being virtually identical, though it is still considered unusual among those that study kinship systems of Aboriginal languages.

[11] One of the most noticeable features of this system is the use of identical terms given to kin usually separated by generation level.