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Language > Languages > A note: Countries Compared

Edria Murray, Staff editor

Author: Edria Murray, Staff editor

In response to <i>digs</i>:<br>
<p>The language with the most speakers is Mandarin Chinese with 874,000,000 speakers. English by comparison, has a global total of 508,000,000 speakers including 341,000,000 first language speakers.

<p>In terms of total number of first language speakers, the languages with the most speakers are:
<ul><li>Mandarin Chinese</li><li>English</li><li>Spanish</li><li>Bengali</li><li>Hindi</li><li>Portuguese </li><li>Russian</li><li>Japanese</li><li>German</li><li>Wu Chinese</li></ul></p>

<p>For more information on world languages see the SIL International <a href=http://www.ethnologue.com/>Ethologue</a>.</p>
COUNTRY DESCRIPTION
American Samoa most people are bilingual
Denmark English is the predominant second language
East Timor there are a total of about 16 indigenous languages, of which Tetum, Galole, Mambae, and Kemak are spoken by significant numbers of people
Georgia Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia
Kyrgyzstan in December 2001, the Kyrgyzstani legislature made Russian an official language, equal in status to Kyrgyz
Nicaragua English and indigenous languages on Atlantic coast
Northern Mariana Islands 86% of population speaks a language other than English at home
Norway small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Panama many Panamanians bilingual
Papua New Guinea 715 indigenous languages
Solomon Islands 120 indigenous languages
Sri Lanka English is commonly used in government and is spoken competently by about 10% of the population
Sudan program of "Arabization" in process
Sweden small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Tanzania Kiswahili (Swahili) is the mother tongue of the Bantu people living in Zanzibar and nearby coastal Tanzania; although Kiswahili is Bantu in structure and origin, its vocabulary draws on a variety of sources, including Arabic and English, and it has become the lingua franca of central and eastern Africa; the first language of most people is one of the local languages

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Interesting observations about Language > Languages > A note

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In response to <i>digs</i>:<br>
<p>The language with the most speakers is Mandarin Chinese with 874,000,000 speakers. English by comparison, has a global total of 508,000,000 speakers including 341,000,000 first language speakers.

<p>In terms of total number of first language speakers, the languages with the most speakers are:
<ul><li>Mandarin Chinese</li><li>English</li><li>Spanish</li><li>Bengali</li><li>Hindi</li><li>Portuguese </li><li>Russian</li><li>Japanese</li><li>German</li><li>Wu Chinese</li></ul></p>

<p>For more information on world languages see the SIL International <a href=http://www.ethnologue.com/>Ethologue</a>.</p>

Posted on 26 Mar 2005

Edria Murray, Staff editor

Edria Murray, Staff editor

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