A total of 7,139 languages are spoken by humans around the world, according to Ethnologue. Asia has 2,300 languages, followed by Africa with 2,144, followed by the Pacific region with 1,313 languages and the Americas with 1,061 languages, while Europe has 287 different languages.
These seven maps and charts previewed by the Washington Post will help you understand how other parts of the world are different when it comes to languages.
1. Some continents have more languages than others
Not all continents are equally diverse in terms of the number of languages spoken. While Asia leads the statistics with 2,301 languages, Africa follows closely with 2,138.
There are approximately 1,300 languages in the Pacific and 1,064 in South America and in South America. the Pacific. North. Despite its numerous nation states, Europe is at the bottom of the table, with just 286.
2. These are some of the languages with the highest number of native speakers.
Chinese has more native speakers than any other language, followed by Hindi and Urdu, which have the most native speakers greater number of native speakers. same number of native speakers. native language. in northern India. English follows, with 527 million native speakers. Arabic is spoken by nearly 100 million more native speakers than Spanish.
These numbers are fascinating because they reflect the fact that two-thirds of the world's population are only twelve years. years. native speakers of the language. This data was recently published by Ulrich Ammon of the University of Düsseldorf, who conducted a 15-year study.
Your numbers are surprising compared to those presented. in the CIA fact book. According to the CIA, Spanish is spoken by 4.85% of the world's population and its use is even more widespread than English, spoken by 4.83%. However, the CIA figures include only the first native languages. Many people are bilingual, and although Spanish is the first language, English can be the second. Ammon has first and second native speakers.
3. This map shows the countries with the greatest and least linguistic diversity.
As our visualization of the Greenberg Diversity Index shows, the United States is not as linguistically diverse as many other countries.
For example, if you randomly select two people in Cameroon, there is a 97% chance that they have different native languages. In the United States the probability of this happening is only 33%. You can click on the different countries on the map above to compare the United States with other countries.
4. Many popular languages are spoken in more than one country.
The reason why English, French and Spanish are among the most spoken languages in the world is that its roots in the imperial past. of the nations from which they come.
5. English is often used as an official language
However, whether a country has English as an official language says little about how its citizens communicate actually between them. Yes. In some of the countries mentioned above, only a small minority have learned English as their first language.
Willow Stella