ETHNOLOGUE
BIBLI OGRAPHY
PUBLICATIONS
SOFTWARE
WHO WHO WE ARE
SHOPPING CART
SIT E SEARCH
SITE MAP
Ethnologue > Web version > Statistical Statistical summ aries
Saiical Saiic al Smmaie Smma ie Part I, Languages Language s of the World, World, provides language-by-language information. information. This section steps back b ack from the detail to offer a summary view of the world language situation. Specifically, it offers numerical tabulations tabulati ons of languages and number of o f speakers by world area, area, by language size, size, by language famil familyy, and by country country.. World area
Language sie
Language f am am il il
Cou nt ntr
Smma b langage ie A striking fact shown in table 1 is that there there is a huge dispari d isparity ty between the mean size of languages and t median size. It turns out that 389 (or nearly 6%) of the world’s languages language s have at least one million million speake account for 94% of the world’s population. By contrast, contrast, the remaining 94% of languages are spoken spo ken by o the world’s people. Table 2 summarizes the distribution of languages by size. The Count columns give the actual number of languages withi w ithinn the specifi specified ed populati po pulation on range and the total number of first-l first-language anguage speakers of those languages. The Percent columns give the share of the count coun t for that population population range as a percentage of number listed listed at the bottom of the Count Co unt column. Note that there are still still a few hundred languages for whi Ethnologue does not have a population estimate; the calculation of percentages for speakers is therefore to take those languages into account. The Cumulative columns give the cumulative sums of the percenta going from top to bottom in the column. Table 3 list listss the largest languages of the world wo rld in descending order o rder of population of first-language first-language speake wh ich the primary entry entry for the language is given in Part 1 Primar Countr column names the country in which book. The Total Countries column gives the number of countries in which the language languag e is listed either wit entry or as an immi immigrant grant language in the country header. The Speakers column gives the number of firstlanguage speakers spea kers in millions. millions. The table rows in ital italic ic type represent macrolanguages (see Introduction: Macrolanguages); in these cases the Total Countries and Speakers columns are totals for all the individu languages listed in the macrolanguage entry as members of the macrolanguage. Individual languages th members of a macrolanguage are not n ot counted in the ranking, but are listed as indented entries below the macrolanguage. Note that the indented list listing ing of individual languages does doe s not include all a ll member langua includes only those over the threshold size given in the table caption. Table 2. Diibion of langage b n mbe of fi-langage fi-langage p eake Pop l ai o n a n g e
Liing l angage
N m b e of pe a ke
C o o n
P e r c e n n
C m m l l a a i e e
8
0 .1
77
1,000 ,0 00 to 9,999 ,9 99 100 ,0 00 to 999 ,9 99
100 ,0 00,000 to 9 99,999 ,9 99 10,00 0,000 to 99 ,9 99,999
C o o n n
P e rc rc e n n
C m m l a a i e e
0.1%
2,30 8,548,84 8
38.737 21
38.737 21%
1 .1
1.2%
2,34 6,900,75 7
39.380 76
78.117 97%
304
4 .4
5.6%
95 1,916,45 8
15.973 06
94.091 03%
895
13 .0
1 8.6%
28 3,116,71 6
4.750 67
98.841 70%
10,000 to 99,999 1,000 to 9,999
1,824 2,014
26.4 29.2
45.0% 74.1%
60,780,797 7,773,810
1.01990 0.13044
99.86160% 99.99204%
100 to 999
1,038
15.0
89.2%
461,250
0.00774
99.99978%
10 to 99
339
4.9
94.1%
12,560
0.00021
99.99999%
1 to 9
133
1.9
96.0%
521
0.00001
100.00000%
Unknown
277
4.0
100.0%
6,909
100.0
5,959,511,717
100.00000
Totals
Table 3. Lang age ih a lea 3 million fi-langag e peak e Rank 1
L a ng a g e Chinese [ho]
Pi m a C o n China
Toal Conie
Speake (million)
31
1,213
Chinese, Gan [gan]
China
1
20.6
Chinese, Hakka [hak]
China
17
30.0
Chinese, Huizhou [czh]
China
1
4.6
Chinese, Jinyu [cjy]
China
1
45.0
Chinese, Mandarin [cmn]
China
20
845
Chinese, Min Bei [mnp]
China
2
10.3
Chinese, Min Dong [cdo]
China
7
9.1
Chinese, Min Nan [nan]
China
10
47.3
Chinese, Min Zhong [czo]
China
1
3.1
Chinese, Wu [wuu]
China
2
77.2
Chinese, Xiang [hsn]
China
2
36.0
Chinese, Yue [yue]
China
20
55.5
2
Spanish [spa]
Spain
44
329
3
English [eng]
United Kingdom
112
328
4
Arabic [ara]
Saudi Arabia
57
221
Arabic, Algerian Spoken [arq]
Algeria
6
22.4
Arabic, Egyptian Spoken [arz]
Egypt
10
54.0
Arabic, Gulf Spoken [afb]
Iraq
10
3.6
Arabic, Hijazi Spoken [acw]
Saudi Arabia
2
6.0
Arabic, Libyan Spoken [ayl]
Libya
3
4.3
Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken [acm]
Iraq
5
15.1
Arabic, Moroccan Spoken [ary]
Morocco
10
21.0
Arabic, Najdi Spoken [ars]
Saudi Arabia
7
10.0
Arabic, North Levantine Spoken [apc]
Syria
16
14.4
Arabic, North Mesopotamian Spoken [ayp]
Iraq
4
6.3
Arabic, Sa'idi Spoken [aec]
Egypt
1
19.0
Arabic, Sanaani Spoken [ayn]
Yemen
1
7.6
Arabic, South Levantine Spoken [ajp]
Jordan
9
6.2
Arabic, Sudanese Spoken [apd]
Sudan
6
16.8
Arabic, Ta'izzi-Adeni Spoken [acq]
Yemen
8
7.1
Arabic, Tunisian Spoken [aeb]
Tunisia
5
9.4
5
Hindi [hin]
India
20
182
6
Bengali [ben]
Bangladesh
10
181
7
Portuguese [por ]
Portugal
37
178
8
Russian [rus]
Russian Federation
33
144
9
Japanese [jpn]
Japan
25
122
German, Standard [deu]
Germany
43
90.3
1 1 Javane se [jav]
Indonesia
5
84.6
12
Pakistan
8
78.3
10
Lahnda [lah]
13
Panjabi, Western [pnb]
Pakistan
7
62.6
Seraiki [skr ]
Pakistan
3
13.8
Telugu [tel]
India
10
69.8
14 Vietnamese [vie]
Viet Nam
23
68.6
15
Marathi [mar ]
India
5
68.1
16
French [fra]
France
60
67.8
17
Korean [kor ]
Korea, South
33
66.3
18
Tamil [tam]
India
17
65.7
19
Italian [ita]
Italy
34
61.7
20
Urdu [urd]
Pakistan
23
60.6
21
Turkish [tur ]
Turkey
36
50.8
2 2 Guj ara ti [guj]
India
20
46.5
23
Polish [pol]
Poland
23
40.0
24
Mala [msa ]
Malasia
14
39.1
Malay [zlm ]
Malaysia
7
10.3
25
Bhojpuri [bho]
India
3
38.5
26
Awadhi [awa]
India
2
38.3
2 7 U krai ni an [ukr ]
Ukraine
27
37.0
2 8 Ma la ya la m [mal]
India
11
35.9
29
Kannada [kan]
India
3
35.3
30
Maithili [mai ]
India
2
34.7
31
Sunda [sun]
Indonesia
1
34.0
32
Burm ese [mya]
Myanmar
5
32.3
33
Oriya [ori]
India
2
31.7
34
Persian [fas]
Iran
29
31.4
35
Farsi, Eastern [prs]
Afghanistan
Farsi, Western [pes]
Iran
Marwari [mw r ]
India
3
7.6
27
23.9
3
31.1
Dhundari [dhd]
India
1
9.0
Marwari [rwr ]
India
3
5.6
Merwari [wry]
India
1
3.9
Shekhawati [swv]
India
1
3.0
36
Panjabi, Eastern [pan]
India
12
28.2
37
Filipino [fil]
Philippines
1
25.0
38
Hausa [hau]
Nigeria
13
25.0
39
Tagalog [tgl]
Philippines
8
23.9
40
Rom anian [ron]
Romania
20
23.4
41 Indonesian [ind]
Indonesia
6
23.2
42
Dutch [nld]
Netherlands
12
21.7
43
Sindhi [snd]
Pakistan
8
21.4
44
Thai [tha]
Thailand
5
20.4
45
Pushto [pus]
Pakistan
9
20.3
46
Pashto, Central [pst]
Pakistan
1
7.9
Pashto, Northern [pbu]
Pakistan
7
9.7
Ubek [ub]
Uzbek, Northern [uzn] 47
Rajasthani [raj]
Ubekistan
14
Uzbekistan India
20.3
12 3
18.8 20.0
Hadothi [hoj]
India
1
4.7
Malvi [mup]
India
1
10.4
48
Yoruba [yor ]
Nigeria
6
19.4
49
Aerbaijani [ae]
Iran
17
19.1
Azerbaijani, North [azj] Azerbaijani, South [azb]
Azerbaijan Iran
10 8
7.5 12.6
50
Igbo [ibo]
Nigeria
1
18.0
51
Am haric [amh]
Ethiopia
6
17.5
52 Chhattisgarhi [hne]
India
1
17.5
53
Ethiopia
4
17.3
Oromo [orm ]
Oromo, Borana-Arsi-Guji [gax]
Ethiopia
3
3.8
Oromo, Eastern [hae]
Ethiopia
1
4.5
Oromo, West Central [gaz]
Ethiopia
2
8.9
5 4 Assa me se [asm]
India
4
16.8
55
Serbia
28
16.4
56
Serbo-Croatian [hbs]
Croatian [hrv]
Croatia
14
5.5
Serbian [srp]
Serbia
22
7.0
Kurdish [kur ]
Iraq
Kurdish, Central [ckb]
Iraq
Kurdish, Northern [kmr ]
Turkey
Kurdish, Southern [sdh]
Iran
32
16.0
2
3.7
32
9.3
2
3.0
57
Cebuano [ceb]
Philippines
2
15.8
58
Sinhala [sin]
Sri Lanka
8
15.6
59
Rangpuri [rkt]
Bangladesh
2
15.0
60
Thai, Northeastern [tts]
Thailand
1
15.0
61
Zhuang [ha]
China
2
14.9
62
Malagas [ml g]
Madagascar
4
14.7
Malagasy, Plateau [plt]
Madagascar
4
7.5
63
Nepali [nep]
Nepal
5
13.9
64
Som ali [som]
Somalia
13
13.9
65 Khmer, Central [khm]
Cambodia
7
13.6
66
Indonesia
2
13.6
6 7 Bavari an [bar ]
Austria
4
13.3
68
Greece
38
13.1
69 Chittagonian [ctg]
Bangladesh
1
13.0
7 0 H aryan vi [bgc]
India
1
13.0
71
Magahi [mag]
India
1
13.0
72
Deccan [dcc]
India
1
12.8
7 3 H unga ri an [hun]
Hungary
14
12.5
74
Senegal
19
12.3
Madura [mad] Greek [ell]
Fulah [ful]
Pulaar [fuc]
Senegal
6
3.7
75
Catalan-Valencian-Balear [cat]
Spain
18
11.5
76
Shona [sna]
Zimbabwe
5
10.8
77
Zulu [zul]
South Africa
6
10.3
78
Sylheti [syl]
Bangladesh
10
10.3
79
Quechua [que]
Peru
6
10.1
Quechua, South Bolivian [quh]
Bolivia
2
3.6
80
Kanauji [bjj]
India
1
9.5
81
Czech [ces]
Czech Republic
12
9.5
82
Lom bard [lm o]
Italy
3
9.1
8 3 Bul ga ri an [bul]
Bulgaria
16
9.1
84
Uyghur [uig]
China
15
8.8
85
Nyanja [nya]
Malawi
6
8.7
Belarus
16
8.6
8 6 Bel arusan [bel]
87 88
Kazakh [kaz] Swedish [swe]
Kazakhstan Sweden
14 8
8.3 8.3
89
Akan [aka]
Ghana
1
8.3
90
Xhosa [xho]
South Africa
3
7.8
91
Bagheli [bfy]
India
2
7.8
92
Haitian [hat]
Haiti
10
7.7
93
Konkani [kok]
India
4
7.6
Konkani [knn]
India
2
4.0
Konkani, Goan [gom ]
India
3
3.6
94
Rwanda [kin]
Rwanda
4
7.5
95
Gikuyu [kik]
Kenya
1
7.2
96
Napoletano-Calabrese [nap]
Italy
1
7.0
97
Baluchi [bal]
Pakistan
8
7.0
Balochi, Southern [bcc] 98
Ilocano [ilo]
Pakistan
4
3.4
Philippines
2
7.0
India
1
7.0
10 0 Turkm en [tuk]
Turkmenistan
14
6.6
101
Tatar [tat]
Russian Federation
19
6.5
102
German, Swiss [gsw]
Switzerland
5
6.5
103
Hmong [hm n]
China
10
6.5
10 4 Arm en ian [hye]
Armenia
30
6.4
105
Democratic Republic of the Congo
1
6.3
10 6 Ven eti an [vec]
Italy
4
6.2
10 7 San ta li [sat]
India
4
6.2
108
Belgium
5
6.1
109 Sotho, Southern [sot]
Lesotho
4
6.0
110
Thai, Northern [nod]
Thailand
2
6.0
111
Lam badi [lmn]
India
1
6.0
112
Kongo [kon]
Democratic Republic of the Congo
3
6.0
99 Varhadi-Nagpuri [vah]
Luba-Kasai [lua]
Vlaam s [vls]
Koongo [kng] 113
Albanian [sqi]
Democratic Republic of the Congo Albania
3 18
5.0 5.8
Albanian, Gheg [aln]
Serbia
9
4.2
Albanian, Tosk [als]
Albania
10
3.0
11 4 Tig ri gna [tir ]
Ethiopia
6
5.8
115
Hiligaynon [hil]
Philippines
2
5.8
116
Mongolian [mo n]
Mongolia
6
5.7
Mongolian, Peripheral [mvf ]
China
2
3.4
11 7 Kashm iri [kas]
India
4
5.6
118
Danish [dan]
Denmark
8
5.6
119
Minangkabau [mi n]
Indonesia
1
5.5
120
Sukum a [suk]
Tanzania
1
5.4
121
Hebrew [heb]
Israel
8
5.3
122
Mòoré [mos]
Burkina Faso
7
5.1
123
Slovak [slk]
Slovakia
12
5.0
12 4 Fin ni sh [fin]
Finland
7
5.0
125
Mewati [wtm]
India
1
5.0
126
Afrikaans [afr ]
South Africa
12
4.9
127
Guarani [grn]
Paragua
5
4.9
Guaraní, Paraguayan [gug]
Paraguay
2
4.8
128
Mainfränkisch [vmf ]
Germany
1
4.9
129
Rundi [run]
Burundi
4
4.9
130
Bikol [bik]
Philippines
1
4.8
13 1 Si cil ian [scn]
Italy
1
4.8
13 2 N orw egi an [nor ]
Norway
1
4.6
133
Mandingo [ma n]
Guinea
8
4.5
134
Tswana [tsn]
Botswana
4
4.5
135
Thai, Southern [sou]
Thailand
1
4.5
136
Tajiki [tgk]
Tajikistan
8
4.5
137
Dholuo [luo]
Kenya
2
4.4
13 8 Georgi an [kat]
Georgia
13
4.3
139
Kituba [ktu]
Democratic Republic of the Congo
1
4.2
140
Ganda [lug]
Uganda
1
4.1
141 Sotho, Northern [nso]
South Africa
2
4.1
142
Um bundu [umb]
Angola
2
4.0
143
Wolof [wol]
Senegal
6
4.0
144
Kam ba [kam]
Kenya
1
4.0
145
Kanuri [kau]
Nigeria
6
4.0
Kanuri, Central [knc]
Nigeria
6
3.2
146
Dom ari [rmt]
Iran
14
4.0
147
Musi [mui]
Indonesia
1
3.9
148
Dogri [doi]
India
1
3.8
149
Mina [myi]
India
1
3.8
150
Tsonga [tso]
South Africa
4
3.7
151
Bem ba [bem ]
Zambia
4
3.6
152
Banjar [bjn]
Indonesia
2
3.5
153
Aceh [ace]
Indonesia
1
3.5
154
Bugis [bug]
Indonesia
2
3.5
155
Bali [ban]
Indonesia
1
3.3
156
Shan [shn]
Myanmar
3
3.3
157
Gilaki [glk]
Iran
1
3.3
158
Mazanderani [mzn]
Iran
1
3.3
159 Jamaican Creole English jam [ ]
Jamaica
7
3.2
16 0 Gal ici an [glg]
Spain
2
3.2
161
Lao [lao]
Laos
7
3.2
162
Lithuanian [lit]
Lithuania
19
3.2
163 Tamazight, Central Atlas [tzm]
Morocco
3
3.2
164
Kabyle [kab]
Algeria
3
3.1
165
Hassaniyya [mey]
Mauritania
8
3.1
166
Éwé [ewe]
Ghana
2
3.1
167
Piemontese [pms]
Italy
3
3.1
16 8 Ma khu wa [vmw]
Mozambique
1
3.1
16 9 Godw ari [gdx]
India
1
3.0
17 0 H unsri k [hrx]
Brazil
5
3.0
17 1 Ki mbund u [kmb]
Angola
1
3.0
172
Morocco
3
3.0
Tachelhit [shi]
Part of the Ethnologue, 16th Edition, M. Paul Lewis, Editor. Copyright © 2009, SIL International. All rights reserved. Copies of the Ethnologue may be obtained from the online Publications Catalog or
SIL International Publications* 7500 West Camp Wisdom Road Dallas, Texas 75236-5629 USA Tel: (972) 708-7404 Fax: (972) 708-7433 E-mail:
[email protected] *formerly the International Academic Bookstore If you have questions, comments, or updates on the Ethnologue, see the Feedback page. This web edition of the Ethnologue contains all the content of the print edition and may be cited as: Lei, M. Pal (ed.), 2009. Ehnologe: Lan gage of he Wold, Sieenh ediion. Dal la, Te.: SIL Inenaional. Online eion: hp://.ehnologe.com/ . Seach
Ethnologue: Web | Ethnologue: Print | Bibliography | Publications Catalog | Software | Email Updates Who we are | Shopping cart | Site search | Site map | Home U R L : http://www.ethnologue.com/ethno_docs/distribution.asp?b=sie Conac Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | External links Copyright © 2012 SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics)
