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7,000 languages
- About 7,000 languages are spoken around the world today. The actual number depends on where the line is drawn between language and dialect—an arbitrary decision, because languages are always in flux.
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The World Factbook, produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), estimates the ten most spoken languages (L1 + L2) in 2022 as follows: Most spoken languages, CIA, 2022 [46] Language
LanguageFamilyBranchFirst-language (l1) SpeakersEnglish (excl. creole languages )380 millionMandarin Chinese (incl. Standard Chinese, ...939 millionHindi (excl. Urdu )345 millionSpanish (excl. creole languages )485 millionMar 28, 2024 · 1. Chinese — 1.3 Billion Native Speakers. Numbers vary widely — Ethnologue puts the number of native speakers at 1.3 billion native speakers, roughly 900 million of whom speak Mandarin — but there’s no doubt it’s the most spoken language in the world.
Feb 15, 2020 · Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, and French round out the top five. However, this is only one piece in the full fabric of languages. The metrics for native speakers tell a slightly different tale, as Mandarin Chinese shoots up to 918 million —almost 2.5x that of English native speakers.
Feb 9, 2024 · Ever wondered what the most widely spoken languages are in the world? Although there are currently more than 7,000 languages, more than half of the world's population speak 23 of them only. Whether it's the melodic tones of Spanish, the rich intricacies of Mandarin, or the rhythmic cadence of English, mastering these top tongues will open doors ...
- English – 1.452 Billion Speakers. In total, there are approximately 1.452 billion people who speak English. It’s the official language of 67 countries and is also an official language of many large international organizations.
- Mandarin Chinese – 1.118 Billion Speakers. There are around 1.118 billion speakers of Mandarin Chinese, and it has been spoken in China for more than 3,000 years.
- Hindi – 602.2 Million Speakers. Hindi is one of the two official languages of India (the other is English). There are many different dialects of Hindi, but not all dialects can be understood by each other.
- Spanish – 548.3 Million Speakers. Spanish, also known as Castilian in Spain, is the official language of 20 countries. It’s one of the official languages of the United Nations, as well as other international organizations, including the African Union and the European Union.
Below is a list of the 25 languages with the highest number of total speakers, according to data from the Ethnologue language catalog in the early 2020s. For a list of languages that counts only the number of native speakers, see languages by number of native speakers.
Below is a list of the 25 languages with the highest number of native speakers, according to data from the Ethnologue language catalog in the early 2020s. For a list that also counts people who speak the language non-natively but proficiently, see languages by total number of speakers. Chinese (1,346,000,000 [Mandarin: 939,237,350])
