List of languages by number of native speakers
Half of the world's population speak the 13 most populous languages, the other half of the world speak the rest. The following table lists the languages of the world with the largest number of native speakers as estimated by the Swedish Nationalencyklopedin (2007, 2010).
Since the distinction of language and dialect is often arbitrary, some mutually intelligible idioms with separate national standards or self-identification have been unified, including Indonesian and Malay; Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian; etc., but not Standard Hindi and Urdu.
For a list of languages with the smallest numbers of native speakers, see Lists of endangered languages.
Nationalencyklopedin
The following table contains the top 100 languages by estimated number of speakers in the 2007 edition of Nationalencyklopedin. As census methods in different countries vary to a considerable extent, and some countries do not record language in their censuses, any list of languages by native speakers, or total speakers, is based on estimates. Updated estimates from 2010 are also provided.[1]
Hindustani has been divided into the sociolinguistic units of Hindi and Urdu, while a number of northern Indian languages have been partially merged into "Hindi", reflecting self-identity reported in the Indian census. This Hindi is thus not a language in the linguistic sense.
Note: Languages with an asterisk (*) have been updated with figures from the 2010 edition of the Nationalencyklopedin.
| Language | Native speakers (millions) |
% of world population | Mainly spoken in | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mandarin 官话 |
955* | 14.4% | China, Taiwan, Singapore | Part of Chinese language family | |||||
| Spanish Español |
405* | 6.15% | Spain, Mexico, United States, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela, Equatorial Guinea, Western Sahara |
Partially mutually intelligible with Portuguese[2][3][4] | |||||
| English | 360* | 5.43% | United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Commonwealth of Nations | ||||||
| Hindi हिन्दी |
310* | 4.70% | India, Nepal | Part of Hindi languages family. Includes approx. 100 million speakers of other Hindi languages not counted below. Mutually intelligible with Urdu. | |||||
| Arabic العربية |
295* | 4.43% | Arab League | The Arabic language contains many different dialects. Many are not mutually intelligible. See Varieties of Arabic | |||||
| Portuguese Português |
215* | 3.27% | Portugal, Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea-Bissau, Timor-Leste | Partially mutually intelligible with Spanish[2][3][4] | |||||
| Bengali বাংলা |
205* | 3.11% | Bangladesh, India (West Bengal, Tripura, Assam) | ||||||
| Russian Русский |
155* | 2.33% | Russia, Ukraine, Commonwealth of Independent States | Partially mutually intelligible with Ukrainian[5] and Belarusian[5] | |||||
| Japanese 日本語 |
125* | 1.90% | Japan | ||||||
| Punjabi ਪੰਜਾਬੀ نجابی |
102* | 1.44% | India, Pakistan (Punjab region) | ||||||
| German Deutsch |
89* | 1.39% | Germany, Austria, Belgium (Eupen-Malmedy), Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Italy (South Tirol) | ||||||
| Javanese ꦧꦱꦗꦮ |
82 | 1.25% | Indonesia (Java) | Javanese is the largest language without an official status anywhere (and thus the largest minority language in the world), despite being used throughout Southeast Asia and Suriname. | |||||
| Wu 吳語 吴语 |
80 | 1.20% | China (Zhejiang, Shanghai, southern Jiangsu) | Part of Chinese language family | |||||
| Malay/Indonesian Bahasa Melayu Bahasa Indonesia |
77 | 1.16% | Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore | ||||||
| Telugu తెలుగు |
76 | 1.15% | India (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry) | ||||||
| Vietnamese Tiếng Việt |
76 | 1.14% | Vietnam | ||||||
| Korean 한국어/조선말 |
76 | 1.14% | South Korea, North Korea | ||||||
| French Français |
74 | 1.12% | France and its territories, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, other Francophonie members | ||||||
| Marathi मराठी |
73 | 1.10% | India (Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat) | ||||||
| Tamil தமிழ் |
70 | 1.06% | India (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry), Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius | ||||||
| Urdu اُردُو |
66 | 0.99% | India, Pakistan | Mutually intelligible with Hindi | |||||
| Persian فارسی |
65 | 0.99% | Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan | ||||||
| Turkish Türkçe |
63 | 0.95% | Turkey, Cyprus | ||||||
| Italian Italiano |
59 | 0.90% | Italy, Switzerland, San Marino | ||||||
| Cantonese 粤语 粵語 |
59 | 0.89% | China (Guangdong (Canton), southern Guangxi), Hong Kong, Macau | Part of Chinese language family | |||||
| Thai ภาษาไทย |
56 | 0.85% | Thailand | ||||||
| Gujarati ગુજરાતી |
49 | 0.74% | India ( Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli) | ||||||
| Jin 晋语 |
48 | 0.72% | China (Shanxi, parts of Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi) | Part of Chinese language family | |||||
| Min Nan 闽南语 |
47 | 0.71% | China (Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan), Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore | Part of Chinese language family | |||||
| Polish Język Polski |
40 | 0.61% | Poland | ||||||
| Pashto پښتو |
39 | 0.58% | Afghanistan, Pakistan | ||||||
| Kannada ಕನ್ನಡ |
38 | 0.58% | India (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra) | ||||||
| Xiang 湘语 |
38 | 0.58% | China (Hunan) | Part of Chinese language family | |||||
| Malayalam മലയാളം |
38 | 0.57% | India (Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mahé) | ||||||
| Sundanese ᮘᮞ ᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ |
38 | 0.57% | Indonesia (Java) | Sundanese is the second largest language (after Javanese) without an official status anywhere (not counting Chinese dialects such as Wu, Yue, Jin, Min Nan, Xiang). | |||||
| Hausa هَرْشَن هَوْسَ |
34 | 0.52% | Nigeria | ||||||
| Oriya ଓଡ଼ିଆ |
33 | 0.50% | India (Odisha) | - | Burmese မြန်မာစာ |
33 | 0.50% | Burma | |
| Hakka 客家话 |
31 | 0.46% | China (Southern) | Part of Chinese language family | |||||
| Ukrainian українська мова |
30 | 0.46% | Ukraine | ||||||
| Bhojpuri भोजपुरी |
29 | 0.43% | India (Bihar) | Part of Bihari. This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. | |||||
| Tagalog | 28 | 0.42% | Philippines | ||||||
| Yoruba èdè Yorùbá |
28 | 0.42% | Nigeria, Benin, Togo | ||||||
| Maithili मैथिली, মৈথিলী |
27 | 0.41% | India (Bihar), Nepal | Part of Bihari. This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. | |||||
| Swahili Kiswahili |
26 | 0.39% | Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda | ||||||
| Uzbek Oʻzbek Ўзбек اوزبیک |
26 | 0.39% | Uzbekistan | ||||||
| Sindhi سنڌي सिन्धी ਸਿੰਧੀ |
26 | 0.39% | India, Pakistan (Sindh) | ||||||
| Amharic አማርኛ |
25 | 0.37% | Ethiopia | ||||||
| Fula Fulfulde |
24 | 0.37% | West and Central Africa, from Senegal to Sudan | ||||||
| Romanian Daco-Romanian |
24 | 0.37% | Romania, Moldova | ||||||
| Oromo Afaan Oromo |
24 | 0.36% | Ethiopia, Kenya | ||||||
| Igbo Asụsụ Igbo |
24 | 0.36% | Nigeria | ||||||
| Azerbaijani | 23 | 0.34% | Azerbaijan, Iran | ||||||
| Awadhi अवधी |
22 | 0.33% | India (Uttar Pradesh) | Part of Hindi languages family. This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. | |||||
| Gan 赣语 |
22 | 0.33% | China (Jiangxi) | Part of Chinese language family | |||||
| Cebuano | 21 | 0.32% | Philippines (Central and Southern) | ||||||
| Dutch Nederlands |
21 | 0.32% | Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders, Brussels), Suriname | ||||||
| Kurdish كوردی |
21 | 0.31% | “Kurdistan” (Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria) | ||||||
| Serbo-Croatian |
19 | 0.28% | Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo | ||||||
| Malagasy |
18 | 0.28% | Madagascar | ||||||
| Saraiki سرائیکی |
17 | 0.26% | Pakistan (Sindh) | ||||||
| Nepali नेपाली |
17 | 0.25% | Nepal, India (Sikkim) | ||||||
| Sinhalese සිංහල |
16 | 0.25% | Sri Lanka | ||||||
| Chittagonian টগাঁইয়া বুলি |
16 | 0.24% | Bangladesh (Chittagong) | ||||||
| Zhuang 话壮 |
16 | 0.24% | China (Guangxi) | ||||||
| Khmer ភាសាខ្មែរ |
16 | 0.24% | Cambodia | ||||||
| Assamese অসমীয়া |
15 | 0.23% | India Assam (India) | ||||||
| Madurese Madhura |
15 | 0.23% | Indonesia ( Madura, and Java) | ||||||
| Somali Af-Soomaali |
15 | 0.22% | Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Dijibouti, Yemen | ||||||
| Marwari मारवाड़ी |
14 | 0.21% | India, Pakistan (Rajasthan) , Nepal | This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. | |||||
| Magahi मगही |
14 | 0.21% | India (Bihar) | Part of Bihari | |||||
| Haryanvi हरियाणवी |
14 | 0.21% | India (Haryana) | Part of Hindi languages family | |||||
| Hungarian Magyar |
13 | 0.19% | Hungary | ||||||
| Chhattisgarhi छत्तीसगढ़ी |
12 | 0.19% | India (Chhattisgarh) | Part of Hindi languages family. This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. | |||||
| Greek ελληνικά |
12 | 0.18% | Greece, Cyprus | ||||||
| Chewa | 12 | 0.17% | Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe | ||||||
| Deccan | 11 | 0.17% | India (Deccan) | Part of Urdu | |||||
| Akan | 11 | 0.17% | Ghana, Ivory Coast | ||||||
| Kazakh | 11 | 0.17% | Kazakhstan] | ||||||
| Min Bei | 10.9 | 0.16% | China (Fujian) | Part of Chinese language family | |||||
| Sylheti | 10.7 | 0.16% | Bangladesh, India | ||||||
| Zulu | 10.4 | 0.16% | South Africa | ||||||
| Czech | 10.0 | 0.15% | Czech Republic | ||||||
| Kinyarwanda | 9.8 | 0.15% | Rwanda | Part of Rwanda-Rundi | |||||
| Dhundhari | 9.6 | 0.15% | India (Rajasthan) | ||||||
| Haitian Creole | 9.6 | 0.15% | Haiti | ||||||
| Min Dong | 9.5 | 0.14% | China (Fujian) | Part of Chinese language family | |||||
| Ilokano | 9.1 | 0.14% | Philippines (Luzon) | ||||||
| Quechua | 8.9 | 0.13% | Peru, Bolivia | A language family, not a language | |||||
| Kirundi | 8.8 | 0.13% | Burundi, Uganda | Part of Rwanda-Rundi | |||||
| Swedish | 8.7 | 0.13% | Sweden, Finland | ||||||
| Hmong | 8.4 | 0.13% | Laos | A language family, not a language | |||||
| Shona | 8.3 | 0.13% | Zimbabwe | ||||||
| Uyghur ئۇيغۇرچە |
8.2 | 0.12% | China (Xinjiang) | ||||||
| Hiligaynon | 8.2 | 0.12% | Philippines (Western Visayas) | ||||||
| Mossi | 7.6 | 0.11% | Burkina Faso | ||||||
| Xhosa | 7.6 | 0.11% | South Africa] | ||||||
| Belarusian | 7.6 | 0.11% | Belarus | only half this many use it as their home language | |||||
| Balochi | 7.6 | 0.11% | Iran, Pakistan (Balochistan) | ||||||
| Konkani | 7.4 | 0.11% | India (Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra) |
See also
- Global language system
- Linguistic demography
- Linguistic Diversity Index
- List of ISO 639-3 codes
- List of languages by total number of speakers
- List of languages by number of native speakers in India (uses a different definition of Hindi)
- List of most widely spoken languages (by number of countries)
- List of sign languages by number of native signers
- Lists of languages
References
- ^ Nationalencyklopedin "Världens 100 största språk 2007" The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007. In parentheses are the 2010 estimates for the top languages.
- ^ a b GAVILANES LASO, J. L. (1996) Algunas consideraciones sobre la inteligibilidad mutua hispano-portuguesa In: Actas del Congreso Internacional Luso-Español de Lengua y Cultura en la Frontera, Cáceres, Universidad de Extremadura, 175–187.
- ^ a b "Comparação Português e Castelhano". Omniglot.com. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ^ a b "Algumas observações sobre a noção de língua portuguesa" (PDF). Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ^ a b Alexander M. Schenker. 1993. "Proto-Slavonic," The Slavonic Languages. (Routledge). Pp. 60–121. Pg. 60: "[The] distinction between dialect and language being blurred, there can be no unanimity on this issue in all instances..."
C.F. Voegelin and F.M. Voegelin. 1977. Classification and Index of the World's Languages (Elsevier). Pg. 311, "In terms of immediate mutual intelligibility, the East Slavic zone is a single language."
Bernard Comrie. 1981. The Languages of the Soviet Union (Cambridge). Pg. 145–146: "The three East Slavonic languages are very close to one another, with very high rates of mutual intelligibility...The separation of Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian as distinct languages is relatively recent...Many Ukrainians in fact speak a mixture of Ukrainian and Russian, finding it difficult to keep the two languages apart...
External links
- Ethnologue's most recent list of languages arranged by number of speakers
- List of top 100 languages in 13th edition of Ethnologue (1996)
- Different lists of the most spoken languages (the Ethnologue list is from a previous, not the 2005, edition).
- Ethnologue – SIL's Ethnologue, widely referenced source for the world's languages
- Languages Spoken by More Than 10 Million People (Archived 2009-10-31) – Encarta list, based on data from Ethnologue, but some figures (e.g. for Arabic) widely vary from it
- Top 30 languages of the world
- 30 most widely spoken world languages
- Interactive world map of language distribution
- Map of World Languages. Download of MP3 audio files in 1600 language combinations.