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___ Languages of the World

Language is the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of acoustic as well as kinesic signals to express thoughts and feelings, and language is used for the exchange of knowledge and experiences. 

The problem on this planet is the language systems vary greatly from region to region. The variety may be so different that one individual does not understand the language of a member from another region or country. 

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Geographic Distribution of Living Languages (2009)

  Total Living Languages

Percentage   Number of speakers  

 Africa

Countries in Africa2,110 30.5 %   726,453,403  

 The Americas

Countries in the Americas and the Caribbean

993 14.4 %   50,496,321  

 Asia

Countries in Asia2,322 33.6 %   3,622,771,264  

 Australia/Pacific

Countries in Australia/Pacific1,250 18.1 %   6,429,788  

 Europe

Countries in Europe234 3.4 %   1,553,360,941  

Total 

6,909 100 %   5,959,511,717  

Source: Ethnologue

 

Top 20 of the most widely spoken languages by "First language" speakers (2009)

Rank Language Primary CountryNumber of total countries where the language is

Speakers (millions) 

spoken

1 Chinese China 31 1,213  

2 Spanish Spain 44 329  

3 English United Kingdom 112 328  

4 Arabic Saudi Arabia 57 221  

5 Hindi India 20 182  

6 Bengali Bangladesh 10 181  

7 Portuguese Portugal 37 178  

8 Russian Russian Federation

33 144  

9 Japanese Japan 25 122  

10 German, Standard Germany 43 90.3  

11 Javanese Indonesia 5 84.6  

12 Lahnda Pakistan 8 78.3  

13 Telugu India 10 69.8  

14 Vietnamese Viet Nam 23 68.6  

15 Marathi India 5 68.1  

16 French France 60 67.8  

17 Korean Korea 33 66.3  

18 Tamil India 17 65.7  

19 Italian Italy 34 61.7  

20 Urdu Pakistan 23 60.6  

Source: Ethnologue

 

More about Languages:

Official and National Languages of the World by Continent. 

Languages of Africa List of Languages of Africa by Countries. 

Languages of the AmericasList of Languages of the Americas and the Caribbean by Countries. 

Languages of AsiaList of Languages of Asia by Countries. 

Languages of Australia and the PacificsList of Languages of the Pacifics by Countries. 

Even more about Languages:

Most spoken Languages of the WorldList of Languages most widely spoken in the world.

Countries by LanguagesMegalanguages around the World - List of Chinese, English, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, and French speaking countries.

Languages around the World with International Language CodesLanguages of the World and where they are spoken, a list of Language Names in English and French with ISO 639-2 Alpha-3 as well as some of the Alpha-2 language identification codes. 

Languages of Europe