What is the world's most spoken language?

Answer 1

In case you were wondering, here is a list of the 30 most spoken languages in the world and the areas in which they are spoken.

1. Mandarin / China, Malaysia, Taiwan
2. English / USA, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand
3. Hindi / North and Central India
4. Spanish / The Americas, Spain
5. Arabic / Middle East, Arabia, North Africa
6. Russian / Russia, Central Asia
7. Portuguese / Brazil, Portugal, Southern Africa
8. Bengali / Bangladesh, Eastern India
9. Malay, Indonesian / Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore
10. French Indo-European / France, Canada, West Africa, Central Africa
11. Japanese / Japan
12. German / Germany, Austria, Central Europe
13. Farsi (Persian) / Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia
14. Urdu / Pakistan, India
15. Punjabi / Pakistan, India
16. Vietnamese / Vietnam, China
17. Tamil / Southern India, Sri Lanka, Malyasia
18. Wu / China
19. Javanese / Indonesia
20. Turkish / Turkey, Central Asia
21. Telugu / Southern India
22. Korean / Korean Peninsula
23. Marathi / Western India
24. Italian / Italy, Central Europe
25. Thai / Thailand, Laos
26. Cantonese / Southern China
27. Gujarati / Western India, Kenya
28. Polish / Poland, Central Europe
29. Kannada / Southern India
30. Burmese / Myanmar

This question is a very interesting one that has a rather complicated answer. Estimates of how many people speak a language are quite general and can vary considerably. For example, English estimates vary from 275 to 450 million, Spanish from 150 to over 300 million, Hindi from 150 to 350 million, and Russian from 150 to 180 million.

To further complicate matters, the definition of "speaker" can be vague. Some surveys of languages give information on native speakers only. Others count both native speakers and secondary speakers (those who use the language regularly or primarily even though it is not their native language).

Lastly, it is important to consider not only the population (number) of language speakers, but also the geographic distribution of these languages. Some languages have relatively large populations of native speakers but are used almost exclusively in a few countries. On the other hand, other languages have relatively small populations of native speakers but are used in many different countries as an official or national language.

The Summer Institute for Linguistics (SIL) Ethnologue Survey (1999) lists the following as the top languages by population:

(number of native speakers in parentheses)

1. Chinese* (937,132,000)

2. Spanish (332,000,000)

3. English (322,000,000)

4. Bengali (189,000,000)

5. Hindi/Urdu (182,000,000)

6. Arabic* (174,950,000)

7. Portuguese (170,000,000)

8. Russian (170,000,000)

9. Japanese (125,000,000)

10. German (98,000,000)

11. French* (79,572,000)

This question is a very interesting one that has a rather complicated answer. Estimates of how many people speak a language are quite general and can vary considerably. For example, English estimates vary from 275 to 450 million, Spanish from 150 to over 300 million, Hindi from 150 to 350 million, and Russian from 150 to 180 million.

To further complicate matters, the definition of "speaker" can be vague. Some surveys of languages give information on native speakers only. Others count both native speakers and secondary speakers (those who use the language regularly or primarily even though it is not their native language).

Lastly, it is important to consider not only the population (number) of language speakers, but also the geographic distribution of these languages. Some languages have relatively large populations of native speakers but are used almost exclusively in a few countries. On the other hand, other languages have relatively small populations of native speakers but are used in many different countries as an official or national language.

Answer 2

This question is a very interesting one that has a rather complicated answer. Estimates of how many people speak a language are quite general and can vary considerably. For example, English estimates vary from 275 to 450 million, Spanish from 150 to over 300 million, Hindi from 150 to 350 million, and Russian from 150 to 180 million.

To further complicate matters, the definition of "speaker" can be vague. Some surveys of languages give information on native speakers only. Others count both native speakers and secondary speakers (those who use the language regularly or primarily even though it is not their native language).

Lastly, it is important to consider not only the population (number) of language speakers, but also the geographic distribution of these languages. Some languages have relatively large populations of native speakers but are used almost exclusively in a few countries. On the other hand, other languages have relatively small populations of native speakers but are used in many different countries as an official or national language.

The Summer Institute for Linguistics (SIL) Ethnologue Survey (1999) lists the following as the top languages by population:

(number of native speakers in parentheses)

1. Chinese* (937,132,000)

2. Spanish (332,000,000)

3. English (322,000,000)

4. Bengali (189,000,000)

5. Hindi/Urdu (182,000,000)

6. Arabic* (174,950,000)

7. Portuguese (170,000,000)

8. Russian (170,000,000)

9. Japanese (125,000,000)

10. German (98,000,000)

11. French* (79,572,000)

This question is a very interesting one that has a rather complicated answer. Estimates of how many people speak a language are quite general and can vary considerably. For example, English estimates vary from 275 to 450 million, Spanish from 150 to over 300 million, Hindi from 150 to 350 million, and Russian from 150 to 180 million.

To further complicate matters, the definition of "speaker" can be vague. Some surveys of languages give information on native speakers only. Others count both native speakers and secondary speakers (those who use the language regularly or primarily even though it is not their native language).

Lastly, it is important to consider not only the population (number) of language speakers, but also the geographic distribution of these languages. Some languages have relatively large populations of native speakers but are used almost exclusively in a few countries. On the other hand, other languages have relatively small populations of native speakers but are used in many different countries as an official or national language.

For the source and more detailed information concerning your request, click on the related links section indicated below. English is the worlds most spoken language. See http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/reprints/weber/rep-weber.htm for further details. The language is the official language of many countries around the world, it is a second language of huge numbers of people and also studied by huge numbers of people; at the time the website above was launched was being stuided by nearly a quarter of China's population.

Answer 3

Mandarin Chinese is the world's most spoken language, with over a billion native speakers.

Answer 4

English